Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Working Group
Events:
Understanding Transitions Through Methodological Innovations
Date Friday 25th February 2011
Location University of LeicesterThis one-day workshop brought together researchers who, in very different ways, have explored the nature of transition(s) with children, youth and families, in a setting which specifically focused on the methodological issues of working with the expansive concept of transition(s). The day comprised a keynote address, papers from new researchers, practical methods-focused discussion groups, and a panel discussion in which speakers from the policy arena shared their thoughts on the nexus of academic and policy research with children, young people and families.
The opening
keynote talk was given by Dr Anoop Nayak, Reader in Social and Cultural
Geography at Newcastle University, who addressed the title: Inside Out
– towards a postcolonial rethinking of suburbia. Drawing on a project
which aimed to question the uncontested whiteness of suburbia, Nayak addressed
some of the concerns central to ethnographic fieldwork, particularly how
researchers might most constructively reflect on their choices in the
course of interpreting ethnography. Noting the danger of ‘freezing’
research participants in the course of ethnographic interviews and photography
(both central to the project), Nayak drew on geographies of emotion to
heighten awareness of the fact that places are always in the making. In
doing so, Nayak suggested that work on race can be opened out by viewing
landscape as a producer of practice, which, in his recent project pertained
to an obsession with the local area as territory linked with imaginaries
of white privilege.
[View slides]
Five early
career researchers presented papers on recent or current research projects.
Dr Sarah Mills (University of Leicester) discussed ‘Ghosts of Transitions
Past’, drawing on her recently completed PhD research into the history
of the Scouting movement to consider how to bring alive historical geographies
of young people. Focusing on the ways in which groups of young people
– from girls to young Sikh men – appropriated the messages
of scouting to find relevance to their own lives, Mills revealed how scouts
challenged notions of appropriateness by engaging with concepts of nation
and empire that were not directed at them. By demonstrating the power
of reanimating lives through archival materials and oral histories, Mills
underlined important considerations around how historical geographical
research might be brought into contact with contemporary policy concerns
about youth engagement and diversity.
[View slides]
Joanne
Hill (Loughborough University), in her paper ‘Physical activity
participation and the body through girlhood to young womanhood’,
explored the use of photo-elicitation to capture images of young people’s
ideas about healthy and valued bodies. In a project that considered how
certain bodily appearances are constructed as ‘valued’ by
young people and how these perspectives change in the transition from
girl- to young womanhood, Hill employed the images captured by her young
participants to structure focus group conversations around notions of
acceptability, the body and physical activity. In particular, Hill aimed
to explore the factors contributing to the value systems that determine
how young people value one another in a school setting.
[View slides]
Presenting
a paper based on his PhD research into the migratory experiences of young
Poles, Matthew Callender (Northampton University) discussed the closely
entwined relationship between his participants’ journey from Poland
to the UK and from adolescence to adulthood. Selecting four moments on
those parallel journeys as a way of focusing attempts to make sense of
how and why key decisions were made, Callender employed a narrative interview-based
biographical approach to facilitate detailed understanding of decision
making processes and reveal the ways in which some participants made sense
of their migratory experiences in the present in relation to past decisions
and/or perceived future pathways.
[View slides]
Dr Abby
Day (University of Sussex), whose recent research has investigated the
ways in which young people’s religious beliefs, behaviours and belongings
change over time, spoke on the subject of strategies for returning to
the field after a significant period of time has elapsed between first
engagement with research participants. Noting the tendency of much work
on youth and belief to neglect conceptual ideas such as the nature and
impact of life transitions, Day emphasised the importance of acknowledging
transition when returning to the field to continue participants’
stories and, in doing so, casting off previous attempts to theorise and
crystallise versions of those participants and their experiences. In describing
the ways in which their non-religions relationships were (in)sufficient
for helping them through difficult times, many respondents provided responses
in form of narratives of stability rather than change.
[View slides]
Craig Owen
(University of Bath), in discussing elements of his PhD research into
the performance of masculinities in Latin and ballroom dancing, brought
some live action and audience engagement into the final paper session
in order to recreate the vibrancy of the research experience in a formal
setting. Drawing on his multimedia ethnography and multimodal analysis,
Owen explored not only the experiences of the dancers but his own embodied
experience in which he too learned to dance over the course of his ethnographic
fieldwork. In doing so he talked through the processes via which young
male dancers experience shifts in the forms of masculinity they embody
through dance.
[View slides]
Following a period of informal discussion led by Dr Nicola Ansell and Dr John Barker around some conceptual and ethical considerations when working with notions of transition(s), the workshop was pleased to welcome two speakers from the policy domain for a panel discussion, chaired by the Geographies of Children, Youth & Families Research Group, Dr Owain Jones (Countryside and Community Research Institute).
Dr David N. Jones (Independent Chair, Leicester Local Children Safeguarding Board) noted that there are huge transitions to manage to make the link between academic research with children, youth and families, and policy and practice. At the same time, Jones noted that a new policy environment characterised by localism and encouragement of more social responsibility means that significant questions surround how to ensure children’s and young people’s services continue to operate effectively when all the elements in the system are in flux. Discussing the present leadership challenges for those working to define and implement policy, Jones suggested that the most pressing concerns will be to: establish common values, a shared vision and creative practice across those working with children and young people; enable the active engagement of children and young people in the development of relevant services; and maintain the commitment and morale of staff working in challenging conditions.
Ivana Lavalle
(Director of Research, Evidence and Evaluation, National Children’s
Bureau) noted that involving young people generates better quality research
– meaning it is possible, at least in principle, to make better
policy and provide better services. But young people’s involvement
must not be tokenistic – it must only form a central part of the
research if their involvement makes the research better. In NCB research,
young people often work as part of the research team, including developing
questions, interpretation and suggesting the most effective means of dissemination.
Both speakers agreed that there are increasing opportunities for academic
and policy researchers to collaborate for mutual benefit, particularly
around evaluative projects. What is required in the first instance is
a commitment to build meaningful relationships between institutions in
order for these shared projects to emerge. At the close of the workshop
there was a strong sense that several participants were keen to take these
first steps.
The workshop was organised by Rebecca Collins (UCL) and Adefemi Adekunle (UCL) postgraduate representatives of the Royal Geographical Society’s Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group. Funding for the event was generously provided by the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group and the Department of Geography at the University of Leicester, and additional practical support was provided by Dr Peter Kraftl (Senior Lecturer, Department of Geography, University of Leicester and Treasurer, Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group).