In pursuit of the ‘truth’: Participatory action research with children

• In Event: Higher Education in a Changing World

Proposal

This paper presentation will examine the findings of a participatory action research (PAR) project conducted with children. The researchers (who are the children themselves with the adults as the facilitators) seek to better understand the impact of the loss of peer-to-peer relationships caused by COVID-19 lockdowns on children, the potential power of having these relationships continue during and post-pandemic, and the issues and/or barriers that may arise in the process. Listening to children and having them share their lived experiences is always essential, but it is even more essential during these times as many children have been feeling isolated. Social isolation and loneliness have had a negative toll “on the mental health of previously healthy children and adolescents” (Loades et al., 2020, p. 1218). Thus, addressing this isolation through healthy peer-to-peer support, and the active participation of children is essential.
Research indicates that “interactions and relationships with peers and the forms and functions of peer groups are a fundamental component of human experience that directly impacts children’s behavioral and affective well-being” (Bukowski et al., 2018, p. 3). They are also an essential aspect of school life (Traylor et al., 2016; Gowing, 2019) and for the social development and wellbeing of children (Holder & Coleman, 2015). During the pandemic, children have been suffering due to limited or no interactions with their peers, friends, family, and community members outside their immediate households (Dangerfield, 2020; Moore et al., 2020). It is thus crucial to examine the impact of the loss of peer-to-peer relationships and the potential power of having these relationships continue during and post- pandemic and explore the issues and/or barriers that may arise in the process. This will be examined through Participatory Action Research (PAR), which is an approach that combines theory and practice with action and participation. PAR “moves social inquiry from a linear cause and effect perspective, to a participatory framework that considers the contexts of people’s lives (Macdonald, 2012, p. 36).
Kemmis and McTaggart (2000) suggest that “participatory action research is emancipatory [in its] aims to help people recover, and release themselves, from the constraints of irrational, unproductive, unjust, and unsatisfying social structures that limit their self-development and self-determination” (p. 597). Scholarship on a youth-led PAR process suggests that youth’s participation and decision making provides value for youth development, opportunity for voice, and engagement (Brown et al., 2010; Lee et al., 2021).
A children’s rights approach is at the core of the research project and all activities, and through PAR, the 10 child researchers from grades 7, 8 and 8 from the provinces of Ontario and Quebec are the ones driving the research with the adults as facilitators/supporters of their journey. The goal is to ensure that the children are the co-researchers and co-creators of knowledge, who will then share/disseminate it with their peers, friends, family and community members. The role of the adults is working with the children for the one-year duration of the research by holding workshops on children’s rights, research methods, data analysis and the dissemination of knowledge.
The research data from the project is in the form of documentation of participatory research from the workshops participated in and led by the child researchers (e.g., audio recordings of discussions and photos of flipcharts and artistic constructions), diary/journal entries by the children, as well as focus groups and interviews with children and their parents/legal guardians.
As the pandemic is still not over, research on the long-term impact of COVID-19 is still emerging. However, research indicates that thus far the pandemic has, at varying degrees, impacted the mental health and wellbeing of children in Canada and around the world (Arim et al. 2020; Chanchlani, et al. 2020). Limiting their daily in-person interaction with their peers, friends, family, and community members outside their immediate households has led many to feel alone and isolated (Loades et al., 2020). Examining the impact of the isolation that some children are feeling and its causes as well as ways to overcome it are essential. Moreover, by being labeled in the media at the beginning of the pandemic as carriers and spreaders of the virus, some have been living in fear of bringing COVID-19 to their loved ones (author, 2021). These fears and feelings of isolation have contributed to increased social media use and some children seeking virtual connections with individuals that they may not know. Social media should not be an immediate replacement for in person healthy peer-to-peer communications. Thus, using PAR, the following research questions are explored by the children: 1) How could peer-to-peer relationships affect children’s ability/opportunity to exercise their agency? 2) What is the role of peer-to-peer relationships in individual and relational experiences of personal and social development during and after the pandemic?
This research is both original and significant as the researchers are children. The findings are analyzed and disseminated with the child researchers using creative modes as decided on by the participants/researchers. The goals are to ensure that the voices of children are heard and listened to during and post-pandemic, that they feel supported and together even when they must be physically apart, and that they become active participants in the research and dissemination of knowledge.
Expected contribution to knowledge for target audiences: 1) researchers in the social sciences and humanities: the research process and the findings are essential as they can help show how children can drive research as active participants and co-creators of knowledge. 2) For educators, the findings of this research will help them approach education from a children’s rights lens and demonstrate the importance of children as active participants, as well as how they can help children build strong peer-to-peer networks; 3) To policy makers, it is essential that they see that research with children is possible and that children’s voices and participation are integral in making decisions on COVID-19 recovery plans and future policy decisions on children’s rights.

Authors

• Mindy Carter, McGill University

• Hala Mreiwed, King's University College at Western