Participatory research with children: How is knowledge co-constructed with this group disseminated in the community? A scoping review

Abstract

In 1989, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), emphasizing the importance of children's views being taken into consideration and their participation in decisions affecting their lives. In order to ensure children’s voices are heard, participatory approaches are increasingly employed. Participatory approaches encourage the involvement of children at all stages of the research process (Montreuil et al., 2021). Although commonly found in the English-speaking context (e.g. Carter & Ford, 2013), participatory research with children remains underdeveloped in the French-speaking Swiss context. Consequently, this PhD research is being carried out to fill the gap in participatory research with children in the French-speaking region of Switzerland. The thesis focuses on the experiences of children, both typically developing and those with special needs, as they make the transition from preschool to primary school. One of the strengths of participatory research is that it encourages and transforms social participation by children, as they are in the best position to transfer new knowledge to the community rather than researchers themselves. Indeed, ethical issues are frequently discussed (Montreuil et al., 2021; Waller & Bitou, 2011). However, the transfer of knowledge to the community remains largely unexplored due to age of the participants. This poster will present a scoping review of existing literature on how resources and knowledge co-constructed with children are disseminated in the community, and who the users are of these co-constructed resources and knowledge.