Research through Play

Lorna Arnott is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Early Years in the School of Education, University of Strathclyde. Lorna’s main area of interest is in children’s early play experiences particularly in relation to technologies, social and creative play. She also has a keen interest in research methodologies, with a specialist focus on consulting with children and methods derived from pedagogy. Lorna is the convener for the Digital Childhoods, STEM and Multimodality Special Interest Group as part of the European Early Childhood Educational Research Association and is the Deputy Editor for the International Journal of Early Years Education and Assistant Editor for the Journal of Early Childhood Research.Kate Wall is Professor of Education at the University of Strathclyde. A primary teacher by background, her work is characterised by enquiry-based partnership with children and practitioners of all ages and stages.

Research about children’s lives should always include the child’s own voice. This book encourages students to think about what they can do to ensure a child is enabled to tell their story and how they view the world, offering valuable insights into what it means to be that child.

• Part I: Founding Principles to Playful Research ApproachesChapter 1: Framing and Defining Play in Early Childhood - Elizabeth Wood & Liz Chesworth Chapter 2: Young Children’s Play, Voices and Rights in Research - Jane Murray Chapter 3: Ethical considerations: Play for fun and play for data collection - Sue DockettPart II: Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks for Playful ResearchChapter 4: Practitioner-enquiry: A Reflexive Method for Playful Pedagogy - Kate Wall, Lorna Arnott & Elaine HallChapter 5: Pedagogical Documentation as a Thinking Companion - Alma Fleet & Jane Merewether Chapter 6: Analysing and Interpreting Data from Research with Young Children: Faithfulness, Integrity and Trustworthiness in Eliciting Meaning - Cathy Nutbrown Part III: Adapting Play-based Pedagogies as a Research MethodChapter 7: Approaches to informed consent with young children - Lorna Arnott, Kate Wall, Loreain Martinez, Caralyn Blaisdell & Shannon LudgateChapter 8: Using drawing as a playful research encounter with young children - Pauline DuncanChapter 9: Observing and interpreting embodied interactions: Interpreting Voice from Birth to 3 years - Lorna Arnott, Jonathan Delafield-Butt & Timothy J McGowenChapter 10: The use of pedagogical documentation and artistic languages in research with young children - Ioanna Palaiologou, Elisabetta Biffi & Franca ZuccoliChapter 11: Frame, explain and theorise: Using an App as a tool to interpret imaginary play with children and teachers - Marilyn FleerChapter 12: Using playful methods to understand children’s digital literacies - Pekka Mertala Part IV: Research Resources from Early Childhood EducationIntroduction to Part IV - Kate Wall & Lorna ArnottProject 1 : Facilitating voice with our youngest children - Rhona Matheson, Starcatchers Project 2: Being an Investigator in Our Learning Environment - Heidi Sairanen Research Proposal 1: Investigating the perceptions of young children in school-based pretend play - Triona Stokes Research Proposal 2: Playing and Being, Here and Now: adults using improvisation to join children aged 0 – 5 in free-play - Maddie Broad