Ep. 34 Thinking Critically about Methods in Childhood Research

Seran Demiral interviews Spyros Spyrou one more time shifting the conversation this time from the politics of childhood to the challenges and opportunities of participation practices. While Demiral questions possibilities of researching with children and the potential of their becoming primary researchers, Spyrou brings in critical perspectives on methodology in childhood studies related to access to participation, the diverse capabilities of research subjects and the different ways through which to reveal their experiences. This conversation about the role of method in research with children explores the intricacies of listening to children’s voices and ways of addressing the limitations of verbal communication.

Spyros Spyrou is Professor of Anthropology at European University Cyprus. His research interests include children’s identities as they intersect with nationalism and questions of borders in conflict societies and children’s role as political actors in the context of climate change activism. Over the years, he has also explored questions related to children and immigration, poverty, social exclusion and single-parenthood as well as constructions of motherhood and babyhood. He has an ongoing interest in children’s participation in research and the ethics and politics of knowledge production in childhood studies. Spyros is the author of Disclosing Childhoods: Research and Knowledge Production for a Critical Childhood Studies and co-editor of Reimagining Childhood Studies and Children and Borders. He is also co-editor of the journal Childhood (Sage) and a co-editor of the book series Studies in Childhood and Youth (Palgrave).

Seran Demiral is a children’s literature and sci-fi writer from Istanbul. She studied the subjectivities of children through their interaction with digital technologies for her PhD in Sociology by focusing on changing childhood experiences within online environments. She is also a P4C (Philosophy for Children/Communities) trainer and part-time lecturer at Boğaziçi University, Primary Education. As a teenager, Demiral published fantasy novels. After she graduated from the architecture department, she began to write for adolescents. Demiral also published a science-fiction book and many stories in anthologies and magazines. Her first non-fiction work, Living Alternative Lives, is about Ursula Le Guin’s literary works. Demiral continues to work on her novels, children’s books and plays.

Edited by Veda Gopala (student, School of Education Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi)

Music:  Little Idea by Scott Holmes (scottholmesmusic.com) / CC BY-NC