Child-Parent Research: Literacies

• In Event: Child-Parent Research: Methods, Ethics, and Literacies

Abstract

Objectives
This child-parent research focuses on Author2’s play and literacy experiences in the context of his family and nested networks over three years. Little research has examined the use of digital technology with children from two to five years longitudinally, especially with the child as a co-researcher.
Perspectives
A sociocultural frame situates this study, underscoring the importance of experiences and social interaction as part of the learning process (Krause et al., 2010; Vygotsky, 1978). Theoretical underpinnings clarify Author2 as capable and competent (Clark & Moss, 2005; Corsaro, 2005; Danby & Farrell, 2005; Dewey, 1938; James, 2007; Malaguzzi, 1994; Montessori, 1912) and underscore how the child and parent as co-researchers bring their own funds of knowledge to each experience (Moll et al., 1992, 1996). Socio-cultural theories of learning suggest that children learn best in collaboration with others and that the co-construction of knowledge and understanding can occur while being playful together as a family (Clark & Moss, 2005; Gee & Lankshear, 1997; Heath, 1983; Lankshear & Knobel, 2006; Pahl & Rowsell, 2012; Street, 1999; Vygotsky, 1978) and that the relationships and environments in which this happen are crucial to literacy experiences (Montessori, 1912).
Methods
Data sources include ethnographic participant observations and the dialogic (Bahktin, 1984) nature of play-based conversation. Both authors (mother and son) spent three years engaged in systematic participant observation and documentation that included videos, photographs, field notes, and artwork or other literacy artefacts produced. Documentation and learning stories are evolving processes that provide time for a parent or an educator to value learning and make learning visible, often in the form of a story. The criteria we used to choose what to document was informed by Seitz (2008) and Carr and Lee (2012).
Findings
This study examines the richness of home/family literacies and distinguishes between researching with and researching on a child, as well as what can come to light when the former is achieved. The findings include how Author2 developed digital literacies in play; how the research enabled diverse learning experiences for him and facilitated perspective taking; and how the research illuminated intergenerational literacy opportunities. For example, his grandparents used technology to connect with Author2 to record memories and to create family narratives together (Heydon, 2013; Heydon & O’Neill, 2017). He learned that he could connect with them virtually, share games with them, and use photographs to recount stories of their adventures together.
Significance
The examination of media engagement, juxtaposed with family research of informal learning, offers complex, but fruitful contributions to the field, especially given the careful and ethical navigation of such research of early literacies. The role of the learning stories in the analysis offered a participatory space (Moss, 2014) for Author2 to own his stories and learning. These stories presented ethical, authentic ways for both authors to co-analyze the data; for Author2, co-authoring (Carr & Lee, 2012) enabled him to exert his voice and rights to articulate his perspectives (Clark, 2003) as an active participant in the research (Sargeant & Harcourt, 2012).

Author

• Alaina Lorraine Roach O'Keefe