Centering Youth as Researchers and Co-researchers

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Handing over the Mic: Centering Youth Voices in Research and Practice

Proposal

This youth-researcher led presentation aims to define and distinguish between various ways youth are included in research, both in methodology and practice. Three different types of youth-centered research are presented, as well as recommendations on how to more meaningfully involve and engage youth. These types of research are grouped under the role of youth as research subjects and objects, co-researchers, and lead researchers. This presentation draws on research-based principles and frameworks in international education and development. Grouping research into these categories enables educational researchers to understand the different capacities in which youth voices can be leveraged and to avoid tokenizing youth in research processes.

In the first category, youth as subjects of study (Levinson, Maynes, Vavrus, 2021), youth participate in interviews, focus group discussions, and other methods led by researchers, but do not participate in the design or implementation of the research. One example of youth as research subjects and objects is interviewing youth as part of multigenerational research in education. Youth are subjects of the interviews, but do not lead the research nor are their interactions with other generations intentionally studied (Villar 2007). Another example is historical research on youth where their role, perspectives, or experiences are studied retrospectively.

The second type of research is youth as co-researchers, where youth directly collaborate in co-leading, designing, and implementing the research. This includes intergenerational research on education, where youth work with researchers from different generations through all steps of the research process. Intergenerational research aims to foster interaction, exchange, and mutual development among two or more generations (Canedo-García et al., 2017). Intergenerational co-research reshapes generational viewpoints and leverages the diversity between generations to create more relevant, inclusive, and equitable research.

In the third category, youth as lead researchers, young people are the primary leaders of research, including the design and implementation processes. One main methodology under this category is youth-participatory action research (YPAR), where youth are the experts and determine research questions, design, methodologies, and processes. While youth may receive guidance from non-youth led organizations, youth are in the driver’s seat (Wright 2019). YPAR’s primary objective is to promote agency among youth and enable them to find answers in ways that are meaningful to them.

In addition to sharing youth-centering research principles, the consequences of not intentionally centering youth in educational research are also discussed. Centering and engaging youth in research helps reach a wider audience - namely other youth. When youth are researchers or co-researchers, youth audiences can relate to both the people and product. Additionally, findings and recommendations are more relevant and responsive to the current lives of youth. For example, youth are experiencing social media and AI as part of their educational and life experience in different ways than other generations, and their perspectives are vital. Intentionally handing over the mic to youth researchers fosters care, respect, and integrity in addition to facilitating more relevant and wide-reaching implications. Research is more generative and consequential when youth are recognized, valued, and centered as critical leaders in research.

Author

• Omaer Naeem, The Brookings Institution