Children researching their urban environment: developing a methodology

Listening to children: environmental perspectives and the school curriculum (L2C) was a UK research council project based in schools in a socially and economically deprived urban area in England. It focused on 10/12 year old children’s experience of their local community and environment, and how they made sense of this in relation both to their lives and the school curriculum. Issues faced by the research team in developing and implementing the project methods are explored including the challenge to promote children’s equal involvement with adults in all aspects of the research. A case is made for promoting participatory and collaborative research with children in school settings. It is suggested that through the L2C project, the children developed an approach that was sensitive to children’s personal experience and that developed their capacity as researchers and their understanding of the value of research.