ABSTRACT

Whilst the importance of engaging with children’s voices is now more widely recognized, there is still a dearth of representation of younger children’s voices specifically. Visual methodological tools, such as photo-elicitation and photo-voice are used in research; however, there remains a lack of clarity about what they mean, how they are used, and whether they are effective in providing valuable insights into younger children’s everyday worlds. This paper draws on the findings of two research projects utilizing the tools to engage with the voices of 56 children aged four to five years, in the classes of three schools in the UK. It identifies the differences between photo-elicitation and photo-voice and appraises their advantages and limitations when engaging with child voice. It explores whether through careful, critical and conscientious application, these tools might advance understandings of younger children’s perceptions of matters affecting them. The definition of photo-elicitation is the insertion of a photograph by the researcher into a research interview to evoke information, feelings, and memories due to the photograph’s particular form of representation; photo-voice is defined as a technique that enables people to record their own photographs.

摘要

虽然现在更广泛地认识到与儿童声音互动的重要性，但仍然缺乏特别是年幼儿童声音的代表性。在研究中使用视觉方法工具，如照片启发和照片语音；然而，对于它们的含义、使用方式以及它们是否能有效地为幼儿的日常生活提供有价值的见解，仍然缺乏明确性。本文借鉴了两个研究项目的发现，利用这些工具与英国三所学校班级 56 名 4 至 5 岁儿童的声音互动。它确定了照片引发和照片语音之间的差异，并评估了它们在处理儿童语音时的优势和局限性。它探索是否通过仔细，通过批判性和认真的应用，这些工​​具可能会促进对年幼儿童对影响他们的事物的看法的理解。照片引出的定义是研究人员将照片插入研究访谈中，以唤起由于照片的特定表现形式而引起的信息、感受和记忆；photo-voice 被定义为一种使人们能够记录自己的照片的技术。