Children And Methods

This book offers a practical, methodological guide to conducting arts-based research with children by drawing on five years of the authors’ experience carrying out arts-based research with children in Australia and the UK. Based on the Australian Research Council-funded Interfaith Childhoods project, the authors describe methods of engaging communities and making data with children that foreground children’s experiences and worldviews through making, being with, and viewing art. Framing these methods of doing, seeing, being, and believing through art as modes of understanding children’s strategies for negotiating personal identities and values, this book explores the value of arts-based research as a means of obtaining complex information about children’s life worlds that can be difficult to express verbally.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

Thought-provoking, pertinent and engaging, this book provides an overview of every aspect of carrying out research with children. It is unique in its particular focus on vulnerable groups of children such as those with mental-health problems, physical health problems and learning disabilities, along with young offenders and looked after children. The book helpfully addresses each stage of the research process: -Part I introduces the main elements of doing research with children, including seeking ethical approval for sensitive research topics. -Part II guides the reader through the initial stages of the research project including recruitment issues and communicating with gatekeepers. -Part III outlines the data collection, data analysis, writing up and dissemination stages of research and covers both quantitative and qualitative methods. Filled with practical advice and useful activities for each chapter, this book is an essential resource for any student, academic or professional working with, or doing research with, children.

Discovering Successful Pathways in Children's Development provides a new perspective on the study of childhood and family life. Successful development is enhanced when communities provide meaningful life pathways that children can seek out and engage. Successful pathways include both a culturally valued direction for development and competence in skills that matter for a child's subsequent success as a person as well as a student, parent, worker, or citizen. To understand successful pathways requires a mix of qualitative, quantitative, and ethnographic methods—the state of the art for research practice among developmentalists, educators, and policymakers alike. This volume includes new studies of minority and immigrant families, school achievement, culture, race and gender, poverty, identity, and experiments and interventions meant to improve family and child contexts. Discovering Successful Pathways in Children's Development will be of enormous value to everyone interested in the issues of human development, education, and social welfare, and among professionals charged with the task of improving the lives of children in our communities.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

This book sets out a clear framework for conducting participatory research with children and young people within a discussion of the rights of the child. Through extensive case studies and a close review of contemporary literature, in relation to early childhood through to late adolescence, the book serves as a critical guide to issues in participative research for students and researchers. The book includes chapters on: Designing your research project Ethical considerations Innovative methods Publication and dissemination.

It is refreshing to see a book such as this which is both broad in its conceptualization of the field of child research and deep in its focus. The volume′s editors are paragons of awareness when it comes to the need for interdisciplinary research and theory to illuminate the lives and experience of children. - James Garbarino, Loyola University Chicago "Covers a satisfying and unprecedentedly wide range of research relating to childhood. The contributors include many eminent international scholars of childhood, making the book a valuable resource for child researchers. Child advocates will also find the book to be invaluable in their efforts to improve children’s well-being, and to change policies and practices for the better." - Anne Smith, University of Otago "A really scintillating collection that will provide a lasting perspective on child studies - stimulating and comprehensive!" - Jonathan Bradshaw, University of York In keeping with global changes in children′s social and legal status, this Handbook includes examination of children as family members, friends, learners, consumers, people of faith, and participants in law and politics. The contributors also discuss the methodological and ethical requirements for research that occurs in natural settings and that enables children themselves to describe their perspective. The book is divided into three parts: Part I: Setting-Specific Issues in Child Research Part II: Population-Specific Issues in Child Research Part III: Methods in Research on Children and Childhood

In today’s evidence-based healthcare culture, child life specialists must demonstrate knowledge and skill not only in clinical care, but also in planning and evaluating the impact of their interventions—yet few resources exist to provide research skills and support for these practitioners. To adequately evaluate, improve, and innovate patient and family outcomes, it is essential that all providers understand the key inquiry pathways of research. Combining clinical examples and skills with candid advice from seasoned child life specialist researchers, this text scaffolds the concept of inquiry into feasible units of action. From identifying a clinical question to assembling a team, designing a project, collecting and analyzing data, and reporting on results, it guides students, professionals, and administrators in actively exploring and improving healthcare outcomes for patients and their families. Case examples from the authors’ own experiences as clinicians and researchers serve to demonstrate how to seamlessly translate clinical skills into those needed for success in research, ensuring that child life specialists remain active contributors to today’s research evidence on the needs of children and families during healthcare encounters.