Researching children : research on, with, and by children

In this chapter, we provide an overview of the history of writing about or researching children, in terms of what has been variously referred to as Child Study, Childhood Studies, and “Researching with Children.” In doing this, we focus on the ways that children have been positioned in the construction of knowledge about them, through research on, with, and by them (In line with the Convention, we are defining children as human beings aged under 18). In exploring this complex topic, we refer to the part knowledge plays in helping those who produce it to control their environment and give meaning to social life. We identify child research as a tool used by adults for promoting the “good” society. Further, we understand knowledge at any given time to be specific to that time and to be related to how, at that time, power works in terms of defining the “good” society. We argue that children typically have been at the bottom of the hierarchy of formal knowledge production, with their knowledge excluded or marginalized because they are outside the dominant knowledge production forums, including academic institutions