What Role Does the Parent-effect Play in Child-centered Research? A Photo-Interview Study of Home Reading

• In Event: 238 - Regular Session. Children/Youth/Adolescents

Abstract

Drawing on a photo-interview study of home reading practices with 35 children (ages 5-8) this paper examines how the ‘parent-effect’ influences research with young children. Not surprisingly, we found that parental capital influences reading practices and access to literacy resources. However, it is also clear that children’s reliance on parents affected data collection. Children who had more help from parents produced better photographs and a clearer narrative about home reading practices, but parents’ use of impression management influenced the images that children produced and sometimes the photo-interview that followed. Rather than compromising children’s agency or the purity of the data, we argue that the parent-effect can be used an indicator of cultural norms about parenting; it can shed light into the dynamics of the parent-child relationships; and it can illuminate the degree to which children exert ‘child capital’ over home reading practices and the social construction of family life.

Authors

• Cathlene Hillier, University of Waterloo

• Janice Aurini, University of Waterloo