Friday, April 25, 2008
Research by children can be recognised alongside that of adults.
The Children's Research Centre supports research by children being valued, read and reported on an equal level with adults.
Research by children is not new. It has been used as part of class or homework for many years but how much is it valued? It traditionally is read by the teacher and maybe some members of the class, rarely been seen or read outside the school. That's partly because it is not 'real' research in the sense that however detailed, the homework style research does not follow the rigorous procedures of professional research. It can't....can it...?
Children and young people conducting their own professional research , nice idea but would it work in reality? This is a common response familiar to many who have tried and succeeded in giving children and young people more responsibility and high level challenges within their school lives. Here is the inspiration and proof of what happens when you go ahead and do it..
The Children's Research Centre is funded by the Open University, set up to train, support and publish the research by young people in the field of education.The centre train the children in the skills of research thoroughly before the children start their own study, advise them throughout the process and then publish their final piece. It is quite clear reading the children's published research that the children meet the expectation of understanding the structured and accurate approach needed for quality research.The website has a huge range of studies conducted by children into topics such as "Differing Attitudes to School Holidays between 9 and 11 year olds", fascinating to read and inspiring to young people and adults to show what is possible.
There are pages of links to research projects carried out by children in all sorts of settings and from all backgrounds and abilities.
Interestingly, the type of research the children are conducting as part of reflecting on their experiences in school is exactly what the new ITT proposals and initiatives are calling for in teachers as part of encouraging all teachers to be reflective practitioners, and the government's aspiration that through action research teaching will become a Masters Profession.
The pupils seem to be showing the way, when teachers see their work they will surely follow.