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A Child's-Eye View of Social Difference
In
the UK today, children can lead very different lives from each other.
Even if they live close to each other, they can have very
different views of the world and their place in it.
This research funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation with
support from Save the Children
UK (SCF), explored different
children's perspectives of their own lives.
It compared and contrasted different children's views
and experiences and sought to illuminate aspects of social difference,
inequality, social exclusion and inclusion.
Forty children, aged between eight and thirteen, consisting of separate
groups of girls and boys, participated in eight small groups.
The children were from contrasting backgrounds: twenty lived
in disadvantaged areas and participated in services provided
by Save the Children; twenty children attend fee-paying,
independent schools. The research did not involve one group of
children comparing themselves to another. Rather, the study focused
on the perceptions of children - with diverse life experiences -
about their own lives.
The research was participatory and was designed in
collaboration with the children themselves.
This enabled the children to have input into the research
agenda. Each separate group of children identified what was most important in their lives and drew up lists. The themes arising in a session with children in one group were then fed back in the next session with the other group of children to inform the focus for that session. This ensured that the children themselves generated the agenda, drawing from their own interests and 'real life' experiences.
The research involved participatory methods, and activities included:
- 'mapping';
- 'draw and write' techniques;
- playing games;
- conducting role-play;
- devising questions and questionnaires and conducting recorded interviews;
- planning and keeping a photo diary; and
- taking part in 'walkabouts' in the area they lived in.
A feedback workshop allowed the children to comment on some of the early findings, and to challenge the researcher's interpretations of their views and experiences.
The overarching findings from the project show that all the children believed that relationships and activities were more important to them than their own material circumstances. The research also found a number of key similarities between the children. For example, they all emphasised the importance of education, free-time, favourite things and family and friends in their lives. They also all owned a similar range of core possessions which included their pets and favourite toys and games. The key difference between the children focused on their play, or free-time activities, and their attitudes towards and experiences of education.
The project commenced in April 2005 and reported in September 2007.
Project Weblink
ADT
Fourth World
Sponsor
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Publications
Sutton, L., Smith, N., Dearden, C. and Middleton, S., (2007) A Child's-Eye View of Social Difference, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Sutton, L. (2007) A Child’s Eye View in Poverty, Issue 126, Winter 2007. London: CPAG. www.cpag.org.uk/info/Povertyarticles/Poverty126/Pov126_childseyearticle.pdf
Project Team
Liz Sutton, Noel
Smith, Chris Dearden,
Sue Middleton, Sharon Walker and Thahmina Mannan.
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