Stayer Children’s (Self-)Positioning in Transnational Spaces: Methodological and Ethical Reflections on Data Collection

In this contribution, I will discuss the first findings of the current German-Polish project '(Self)Positioning in Transnational Spaces – Children's Narrations and Narrations about Children Living Transnationally' (TraNa). This project examines the crucial role of socialization within transnational families for children’s self-positioning in transnational contexts. Self-positioning is viewed as a process of positioning oneself in various ways and time perspectives: as current positioning in (trans)national spaces while family members live abroad as well as prospective positioning in the sense of their own future plans between mobility and staying in place. Transnational spaces emphasize and reflect the action spaces perceived by children, as well as the possible boundaries they interpret in light of their own transnational family experiences.

In the presentation I will firstly explore the consideration of the methodological and ethical reflections on data collection, which comprises biographical, map-based ("Google MyMaps") interviews with children from Poland aged 12 to 14 who live in transnational family contexts. Secondly, I would like to outline the initial findings and address two questions: How do children position themselves in transnational spaces in the present and the future, and what knowledge, resources, and interactive experiences do they draw upon? The analysis follows the methods of Grounded Theory as proposed by Strauss (1998).

The two endeavors are connected by their focus on the appropriateness of the methodological approach for research with children and their self-positioning, with particular attention given to its potential opportunities and challenges.