Children's Literacies of Research as Resistance: Contesting School Spaces and Advocating for Issues That Matter

• In Event: From Pitfalls to Pathways: Reexamining the Social Context of Learning in Nontraditional Spaces and Times

Abstract

This paper focuses on how nine- and ten-year-old children in a small inquiry group employed their literacies of research as forms of resistance to institutional and adult-sanctioned limitations and to my own research agenda. Children’s literacies of research are conceptualized to include their ways of knowing and exploring issues of significance in their lives. Child co-researchers drew on these practices as they challenged school spaces and policies, contested the isolating circumstances of COVID-19 and distance learning, and resisted research activities, advocating for their interests. These practices expand traditional notions of research and can illuminate new ways to approach our own projects as well as how to stand alongside children as they promote equity in schools and communities.

Author

• Kara Gavin, Teachers College, Columbia University