Whose Knowledge Counts? Reflecting on Child-Led and Co-Produced Research with Children
Language: English
The description of the session is:
Calls for decolonisation and epistemic justice have brought to the fore who is given the space and resources to produce knowledge – and the platforms to have that knowledge heard. Decolonising movements contest the prominence of Western knowledge and promote the strengthening of non-Western forms of world conceptualisation. Epistemic justice asks who is doing the research, with whom, about what, through what means, to what ends, and in whose interests. These calls for decolonisation and epistemic justice equally apply to research with and by children. The recent trend of involving children in research, not only as research participants but in a range of roles from expert advisers to co-researchers, demonstrates the power of children being recognised as knowledge producers. While given different labels, such as co-production, co-design, participatory action research or child-led research, these research forms recognise and enhance children’s experience, expertise and knowledge, with a growing number of research projects showing their influence on policy or practice change. From an insiders’ perspective, this session will draw on learning from researchers involved in such studies, both children and adults, to discuss critically the claims of child-led and co-produced research with children for their benefits and pitfalls, in addressing the calls for decolonisation and epistemic justice.