Browsing by Person "Blaisdell, Caralyn"

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Acts of pedagogical resistance: Marking out an ethical boundary against human technologies
(SAGE, 2021-01-04) McNair, Lynn J.; Blaisdell, Caralyn; Davis, John M.; Addison, Luke J.
This article highlights an action research project that sparked transformation regarding how early years practitioners documented children’s learning. The dominant discourse of standardisation and narrowing of early childhood education, encapsulated in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s International Early Learning Study, has resulted in the ‘shaping’ and ‘testing’ of young children around the globe. The OECD has become very interested in early childhood education and is a very instrumental player today (Moss, 2018). Consequently, the testing of young children has been instigated by governments to ensure children gain the accepted knowledge, skills and dispositions required to be successful learners. Situated within this context of testing and standardisation, this article will share knowledge gained from a small action research project that took place in one Scottish early years setting. The study was stimulated by the early years practitioners of the setting, who strongly opposed the ‘reductionist’ formal ‘tick-box’ assessments produced by their local authority. These types of didactic formal assessments suggest that pedagogy is underpinned by a desire to tame, predict, prepare, supervise and evaluate learning. This article is of critical importance as it examines the imposition of didactic assessment from the practitioners’ perspective. The practitioners in the study contested that ‘tick-box’ assessments diminished children’s identities down to a list of judgements about their academic abilities, or lack thereof. The introduction of the ‘tick-box’ assessments presented a dilemma for the practitioners, in terms of the different views of the government and practitioners of what knowledge is worth knowing and what individuals and groups are able to learn. Many of the practitioners from the early childcare and learning setting positioned themselves and their work as being consciously different from what was going on in the wider sector. The early childcare and learning setting employed in this article introduced a new method to capture children’s learning, which they named the ‘Lived Story’ approach. In this article, we argue that Lived Stories are a form of narrative assessment which are designed to track children’s progress whilst respecting the complexity of their learning, their position within the learning process, the flow/fluidity of their ways of being and their ability to act in radical, creative and innovative ways. We conclude that by using ‘Lived Stories’ practitioners were able to lessen the surety of the language we use. The article highlights that as practitioners write Lived Stories and assess children’s progress they are freed to use language such as ‘wondering, puzzling, thinking, exploring’. In turn, we demonstrate that this language, and the ideas it enables, are on a continuum; a journey that spans a lifetime.
Chapter 2: Whose knowledge counts in Early Childhood Education and Care
(Critical Publishing, 2023-05-26) Blaisdell, Caralyn; Marcus, Geetha; Van de Peer, Stefanie
Children as competent social actors
(SAGE, 2020-04-21) Blaisdell, Caralyn; Cook, Daniel Thomas
Contemporary Children’s Rights Issues in Early Childhood
(New York University Press, 2025-01) Blaisdell, Caralyn; Tisdall, E. Kay M.; Todres, Jonathan; Kilkelly, Urusla
Childhood can be seen as socially constructed, across time, geographies, and contexts. Young children have been particularly constructed, at least in the Global North, as vulnerable, dependent, innocent, and incompetent, and thus increasingly deserving of protection, provision, and investment in the early years. This construction has been substantially supported by child development, with its extensive history of research attention to young children, including infants. In turn, this construction has been challenged by the arguments that have emerged in recent debates: i.e., that children are (also) social actors, express their agency, and have human rights. The social constructions, as argued in this Chapter, are not just academic insights; they have very real policy and practice implications for young children. This Chapter considers three contemporary issues, which are illuminated by considering how young children and early childhood are socially constructed, and provide insights to their rights. First, the chapter explores young children’s participation rights and how they can be restricted or enhanced by intergenerational relations and power. Second, the chapter considers the pervasiveness of young children’s construction as ‘vulnerable’ and dependent, which has led both to policy and practice investment in early years but has not always focused attention on how young children are made situationally vulnerable. Third, the chapter discusses the challenge of decolonial and anti-racist thought in early childhood studies and the construction of children as co-creators of more just futures. The chapter concludes by considering the learning from young children and early childhood studies for the wider fields of childhood studies, children’s right studies, and human rights: about the need to bring in relationality to rights, while ensuring respect for children’s human dignity; the questioning of vulnerability as being useful or unique to children, and the challenge of considering the universal vulnerability of everyone; and the fundamental unsettling of Global North assumptions by considering antiracism and decolonization.
The emotional relations of children's participation rights in diverse social and spatial contexts: Advancing the field
(2021-06-28) Blaisdell, Caralyn; Kustatscher, Marlies; Zhu, Yan; Tisdall, E. Kay M.
Children's participation rights, enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), have been a popular area of research, policy and practice for decades. Despite a great deal of interest and activity, participation rights have posed a particular challenge to implement. In response, researchers have consistently called for more in-depth and nuanced analyses of the way participatory rights are actually lived and experienced by children and young people, within the complexity of interdependent relationships. However, there has been surprisingly little focus on the emotional relations of children's participation rights. The analytical links between emotions and participation rights are rarely the focus and, where emotions are discussed, they are rarely discussed as a central concern in their own right. This article provides a review of the field and identifies three ways in which making emotions a central concern can help to advance debates on children's participation rights: by helping to unsettle ‘traditional’ constructions of the child-adult binary, by increasing sensitivity to ethical and safeguarding issues, and by making visible and challenging intersectional power relations.
Engaging young children in the research process [Report]
(University of Glasgow, 2019-04-23) Minnis, Helen; Crawford, Karen; Lang, Jason; Moya, Nasreen; Karagiorgou, Olga; Wall, Kate; Arnott, Lorna; Cassidy, Claire; Theriault, Virginie; Blaisdell, Caralyn
This is an account of a collaborative project between the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde, funded by a Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Catalyst Grant (CGA/17/46).
Evaluation of Talking Tales and Moving Matters residency projects
(Centre for Research on Families and Relationships, 2016) Blaisdell, Caralyn; Morton, Sarah
This evaluation report deals with two artist-in-residence projects that took place in formal early learning and childcare settings.
Hearing The Voice of the Baby Through Participatory Arts: Enriching the Lundy Model of Participation
(2025) Drury, Rachel; Blaisdell, Caralyn; Matheson, Rhona; Ruckert-Fagan, Claire
The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Children of Colour in Scotland: Methodological and Ethical Reflections
(Society for Advanced Legal Studies, 2024-07-01) Blaisdell, Caralyn; Daramy, Fatmata K.; Sarma, Pavithra
In this article, we offer methodological and ethical reflections from our research project, “The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Children of Colour in Scotland: Visions for Change”. The project was conducted from January to July 2021, largely under Covid lockdown conditions. Our reflections take the form of creative writing, spoken-word poetry, images and reflective writing. Particularly, we highlight the ongoing, enmeshed and entangled nature of researcher and researched and how this relates to extractive practices, ethical care and navigations of systemic racism in children’s rights research with children of colour. We do so by positioning ourselves and our personal narratives, at times, as axles within this piece of work using Unarchigal (உணர்ச்சிகள்)—Modalities of Resistance, which is an embodiment resistance approach created within postcolonial radical feminist autoethnography. We suggest that researchers might consider similar reflexivity around these issues in their own children’s rights research.
Inclusive or exclusive participation: Paradigmatic tensions in the mosaic approach and implications for childhood research
(University of Sheffield, Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth, 2012-08-31) Blaisdell, Caralyn
Early childhood research continues to be dominated by psychological research in the positivist paradigm. The Mosaic approach is one work that contests this dominant discourse on early childhood, using task-based, participatory inquiry to share power and involve children as co-constructors of knowledge. However, there are paradigmatic tensions underlying the use of task-based methods. In this paper I examine these tensions in the context of my own experience as an early career researcher. In particular the complex role of the researcher is discussed, and connected to issues of inclusion and exclusion regarding children’s participation in the research process.
Introduction to the Special Issue on involving children and young people in research
(University of Victoria, 2014) Blaisdell, Caralyn; Harden, Jeni; Tisdall, E. Kay M.
The status of children and young people in social research has been a key area of debate since the emergence of the “new” sociology of childhood in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Sparked initially by work in sociology and anthropology, the sociology of childhood rapidly spread to become an interdisciplinary area of interest, now commonly referred to as “childhood studies”, to recognize its increasing multi-disciplinary spread (Punch & Tisdall, 2012). With the emergence of this paradigm, new ways of conceptualizing and theorizing childhood were linked to changes in how research with children and young people was conducted. Researchers considered how their own understandings of childhood, constructed by “culturally and historically specific beliefs and assumptions” (Harden, Scott, Backett-Milburn, & Jackson, 2000, 2.4), affected the way they engaged with children and young people in the research context. The concept of children’s agency was enthusiastically adopted by the nascent childhood studies community (James & Prout, 1997) and underpinned attempts to allow children and young people a “more direct voice and participation” (Prout & James, 1997, p. 8) in research about their lives. This agenda stood in contrast to historic – and cross-disciplinary – research practice, which relied on the perspectives of adult researchers, professionals, or parents (Woodgate, 2001). There were also strong links with a children’s rights perspective, a core element of which is children and young people’s “right to be heard” (United Nations [UN] Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2009).
Listening to young children: Meaningful participation in early childhood settings
(Centre for Research on Families and Relationships, 2017-06-15) Blaisdell, Caralyn; Mills, Charlie; Kelly, Lesley
This briefing reports on research that looked at how listening to children was put into practice in one early childhood setting. It provides questions to help early years practitioners reflect on and deepen their participatory work with young children.
Look Who’s Talking: Using creative, playful arts-based methods in research with young children
(SAGE, 2018-11-09) Blaisdell, Caralyn; Arnott, Lorna; Wall, Kate; Robinson, Carol
Young children are often ignored or marginalised in the drive to address children’s participation and their wider set of rights. This is the case generally in social research, as well as within the field of Arts-Based Education Research. This article contributes to the growing literature on young children’s involvement in arts-based research, by providing a reflective account of our learning and playful engagement with children using creative methods. This small pilot project forms part of a larger international project titled Look Who’s Talking: Eliciting the Voices of Children from Birth to Seven, led by Professor Kate Wall at the University of Strathclyde. Visiting one nursery in Scotland, we worked with approximately 30 children from 3 to 5 years old. Seeking to connect with their play-based nursery experiences, we invited children to participate in a range of arts-based activities including drawing, craft-making, sculpting, a themed ‘play basket’ with various props, puppetry and videography. In this article, we develop reflective, analytical stories of our successes and dilemmas in the project. We were keen to establish ways of working with children that centred their own creativity and play, shaped by the materials we provided but not directed by us. However, we struggled to balance our own agenda with the more open-ended methods we had used. We argue that an intergenerational approach to eliciting voice with young children – in which adults are not afraid to shape the agenda, but do so in responsive, gradual and sensitive ways – creates the potential for a more inclusive experience for children that also meets researcher needs.
Participatory work with young children: The trouble and transformation of age-based hierarchies
(Taylor & Francis, 2018-06-30) Blaisdell, Caralyn
This paper explores the ways that participatory work with young children was actually lived in practice, in one early childhood setting. Drawing on an ethnographic study, the paper argues that disruption of age-based hierarchy was key for making space and time for young children’s meaningful participation. Practitioners held a strong, nuanced view of young children’s ‘richness’, rather than defining young children in terms of what they lack. The finished state of adulthood was troubled, with adults seen as fellow ‘emergent becomings’, in the process of learning alongside children. However, despite conscious efforts to deconstruct age-based hierarchy, age and life experience remained troublesome concepts at the nursery. The paper examines tensions and limitations in how far adults were willing to cede control to young children, focusing on the example of care routines. The paper contends that participatory work with children must itself be maintained as a space for inquiry and reflection.
Putting reflexivity into practice: Experiences from ethnographic fieldwork
(Taylor & Francis, 2015-01-07) Blaisdell, Caralyn
In this paper, I discuss my use of reflexive writing during my PhD fieldwork, which was an eight month ethnographic study of one early learning and childcare setting. Going into my fieldwork, I was keen to explore how reflexivity could help me negotiate issues that arose because of my professional background as a preschool teacher. In the essay, I discuss my reasons for using reflexive writing during my fieldwork, and argue that reflexive writing exposed issues that might otherwise have remained hidden.
Reflecting on three creative approaches to informed consent with children under six
(Wiley, 2020-04-08) Arnott, Lorna; Martinez, Loreain; Wall, Kate; Blaisdell, Caralyn; Palaiologou, Ioanna
In an era where children’s rights are paramount, there are still few practical examples to guide us when seeking informed consent from children. This paper therefore makes a significant contribution to the field by examining three practical approaches to negotiating informed consent with young children under 6 years old. We draw on researcher field notes, images and observations from four research projects that employed creative methods for seeking informed consent from young children. We take a reflexive approach, considering how successful the three techniques have been in facilitating young children’s decision making around research participation. Our findings suggest that innovative approaches to informed consent create spaces for children to engage in dialogue and questioning about the research project. However, in order for the approaches to be meaningful they need to be pedagogically-appropriate to the maturity and capabilities of the children. We also demonstrate that irrespective of the approach devised, researchers have a responsibility to ensure consent is continuously negotiated throughout the project through reflexive questioning.
“There's Only So Much the School Can Change About Itself ...Before You Need to Change Something About Yourself" – a Qualitative Analysis of the Experiences of Neurodivergent Student Teachers.
(Mary Ann Liebert, 2024-07-22) Jack, Caryll; Crane, Laura; Kenny, Aisling; Blaisdell, Caralyn; Davis, Rachael
Background: In Scotland, to become qualified to teach children in primary schools (aged 4-11 years), student educators must complete degree programmes that include a combination of university and school-based placement learning environments. Previous studies have examined the experiences of neurodivergent students in other professional degree programmes, most notably in healthcare. Yet there is limited research considering the barriers and enablers for neurodivergent students in programmes leading to careers in education. Methods: This study contributes to the evidence base by examining the experiences of neurodivergent student participants from two Education Studies programmes run by one Scottish university: one including required professional placement experience in schools leading to professional teaching qualification status, and the other a theory-based course with flexible community placement options. Nine neurodivergent students, all originally following the professional placement strand, participated in a semi-structured interview. Data analysis was led by a neurodivergent educator, using reflexive thematic analysis. The resultant themes identified were named to reflect the lived experience of participants: Who we are matters; How we are matters; How we know matters and What we need matters. Results: Neurodivergent education students reported risk of withdrawal from and/or challenges within the professional strand programme, particularly emphasised in relation to placements. They felt that they needed to navigate additional systemic barriers to reach the same result as neurotypical peers. Further, they discussed how the accessibility and attitudes of others impact upon opportunities for disclosure, inclusion, and support. Our findings also suggest the possibility of an attitudinal hierarchy of neurodivergence acceptability occurring within educational environments. Conclusions: Neurodivergent students report a range of challenges when attempting to successfully complete education degree programmes leading to the teaching profession. Our findings identify the need for greater advocacy, support, and inclusion of neurodivergent participation, which attends to the nuanced experienced that education students face.
Towards a more participatory fulfilment of young children’s rights in early learning settings: Unpacking universalist ideals in India, Scotland and the EU
(Routledge, 2019-10-28) Blaisdell, Caralyn; Davis, John M.; Aruldoss, Vinnarasan; McNair, Lynn; Murray, Jane; Blue Swadener, Beth; Smith, Kylie
While investment in early learning may seem to offer a pathway to the fulfilment of children’s rights, in this chapter we argue that the how of that fulfilment is often deeply problematic, particularly in terms of participation rights. Drawing on empirical projects conducted in Scotland, India, and the EU, we offer examples of children’s lived experience within pedagogies informed by universalist ideals. Regimes of standardisation and universalism, though claiming to improve the quality of early experiences, do not address the lived, culturally sensitive reality of rights for children, families and caregivers. In fact, children’s participation rights may particularly suffer when standardised solutions are imposed. Throughout the chapter, we argue that children’s right to education is not a neutral endeavour. Instead, participation rights are lived by children in relational contexts of power, bodily and moral discipline, resistance, and reflexivity. We hope that by making these tensions and successes visible, others will find inspiration on a journey toward a more participatory fulfilment of children’s rights in early learning spaces, that perceives children to be leaders of their own learning and creative beings who can provide solutions to their own everyday life issues.
‘Why am I in all of these pictures?’ From Learning Stories to Lived Stories: The politics of children’s participation rights in documentation practices
(Routledge, 2021-12-01) Blaisdell, Caralyn; McNair, Lynn J.; Addison, Luke; Davis, John M.
In this paper, we report on Phase One of a small action research project that examined how Learning Stories were put into practice at one Scottish nursery. Specifically, the paper looks at young children’s participation rights and how they were enacted within the authorship of the stories. The project used an action research approach in which qualitative data about participants’ current experiences with the stories was used to spark reflection, experimentation and change in documentation practices. Drawing on Phase One data from young children, parents and practitioners at the nursery, our findings illustrate the complex enactment of children’s participation rights, including children’s right to information, freedom of expression and their right to express their views and have those views taken into account. The paper concludes that more work needs to be done in the field of Learning stories to (a) acknowledge the complex political and material considerations at play in the creation of pedagogical documentation and (b) to accommodate children’s own authorship, through flexible, non (or less) written methods.
Young children’s participation as a living practice: The role of material and emotional relations during the transition to primary school
(Routledge, 2020-11-25) Blaisdell, Caralyn; Bolger, Teresa; Alasuutari, Maarit; Mustola, Marleena; Rutanen, Niina
Children’s participation rights have been a core theme of childhood studies in research, policy and practice. However, despite thirty years since the UNCRC, meaningful participation for children remains patchy and subject to persistent challenges in implementation. Taking an optimistic view, this chapter traces how young children’s participation rights were lived and experienced during one encounter from a larger ethnographic research project in Scotland. The authors reflect on a visit with nursery children to their future primary school. The chapter makes three key arguments. First, emotional and material relations are constitutive elements of social life that produce how participation rights are lived and experienced by different people in the same situation. Second, material and emotional relations are themselves mediated by temporality, interwoven spatial contexts and memory – among other considerations. Finally, the chapter joins the wider literature challenging an ‘implemented or not’ model of rights, and the tendency to default to simplistic narratives about participation rights in practice.