Considering Space and Time: Power Dynamics and Relationships Between Young Children and Adults

• In Event: Student Voice Research Symposium: Theory, Methods, and Innovations From the Field

Abstract

OBJECTIVES. We have previously identified eight factors for eliciting voice with young children from birth to eight years old: Definition; Power; Inclusivity; Listening; Time and Space; Approaches; Processes and Purposes (Wall et al., 2019; Arnott & Wall, 2021). These factors can be seen to align with the Student Voice Research Framework (SVRF) in regard intersubjectivity (definition, listening and purpose), power dynamics (power and inclusivity) and context (time and space, approaches and processes), with reflexivity reflected in our intent for these factors to be used as part of dialogue as practice develops. This reflexivity is exemplified through the process undertaken by the authors in generating the eight factors, and in the discussion of particular practices from early childhood settings. In this presentation, we will focus particularly on how space and time influence voice in early childhood.

FRAMEWORKS. Student Voice 1 research and practice in early childhood (from birth to eight years-old) is an often-overlooked component of the wider voice community (Clark, 2005; Smith, 2016; Wall, 2017). There is a range of reasons for this oversight primarily pertaining to the lack of status of young children and those who work with them. This includes for example: young children learn, and associated practitioners work, outwith the formal education system; contexts vary widely; the practitioner community lacks professional recognition and a voice of their own (despite, we will argue, leading in innovative practice); and, probably most significantly, adults hold negative assumptions about young children and their abilities (Roberts, 2000; Komulainen, 2007; Bucknall, 2014). However, our youngest children have, under Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (United Nations, 1989), the same right to express their views as those who are older.

RESULTS & SIGNIFICANCE. There are also challenges associated when working to elicit voice with a group of children that includes those who are non-verbal, pre-verbal and emergent verbal. As a starting point, one cannot rely on a definition of voice that is dominated by the spoken word. In this context, the adult needs to attune to the ‘100 languages of the child’ (Malaguzzi, 1996, and applied to the field of voice by Clark, 2007), and then be translator; both are different roles to adopt when working with older children. There is, of course, a significant issue around power in this dynamic that must be considered. In addition, the methods used need to be context specific and pedagogically appropriate to the maturity and capabilities of the children involved (Blaisdell et al., 2018). Yet, if these aspects are foregrounded, then the perspectives shared by these young children can be rich and insightful, and worthy of inclusion alongside their older counterparts (Wall, 2017).

Authors

• Kate Wall, University of Strathclyde
  Presenting Author

• Claire Cassidy, University of Strathclyde
  Presenting Author

• Carol Robinson, Edgehill University
  Presenting Author

• Mhairi Catherine Beaton, Leeds Metropolitan University
  Presenting Author

• Lorna Jane Arnott, University of Strathclyde
  Presenting Author

• Elaine Hall, Legal Education and Professional Skills
  Presenting Author