Our learningAs well as making impor

Our learning
As well as making important findings about the homeless experience, this project enabled us to
develop an understanding about how children wanted to participate in research activities, in
decision-making, and in service delivery more broadly. These are learnings that we have we have
since shared with community and government agencies and policymakers. Because of the
powerful nature of the direct voice of children’s experiences and insights, a reorientation of
services and the implementation of a significant training agenda around children’s participation
are under way.
To engage children in ethical and meaningful ways meant that we needed to invest considerable
time and energy into the project, to constantly reflect on our experiences, and to “check in” with
children to ensure that we had understood their expressed needs and wishes. This is a big
investment to do properly, and a method such as this requires the time, resources, and skills that
some researchers might not have available to them.
Working with children also required us to transfer and to hone our skills as youth and social
workers, particularly with regard to building rapport and promoting a trustworthy relationship
with the children and their families (who had the power to gate-keep throughout the life of the
project). The need to do so was articulated clearly by the children in the reference group and
reiterated by other participants. The question remains in our minds about whether generic or
professionally specific research training equips researchers adequately to carry out this type of
research without also a background in, for example, social work or youth work or further
specialist study.
Children involved in the study reported that they thought that it was important for children to
have opportunities to talk about their lives. They also reported that they personally placed great
value in their involvement in this study. For example, one young girl, who, when asked to take
photos of things were special to her, took a photo of the tape recorder that had just been used to
record her interview. When asked why she had done so, she responded that the tape recorder was
special because “it has my words on it.” She reported that her story was valuable, as was the
opportunity to share it.
In 1996 Mahon and colleagues argued that “it is neither theoretically nor methodologically
appropriate to rely on proxies to represent the views and experiences of children. On the contrary,
children’s views can and ought to be taken seriously” (p. 146). In this study it became quite
apparent how valuable it is to not only engage children about issues that affect their lives but also
about how best to engage children about the issues that affect their lives (Figure 5).
Children in this project stressed the importance of relationship building, arguing that researchers
who connected with children and made them feel comfortable, safe, and valued were better than
those who did not. Although they did not couch these discussions in terms of methodological
validity, they did believe that research would be more credible because children could actually
talk about things that were important to them without fear or discomfort.
Children also stressed the importance of having rights and that, in most cases, they appreciated
learning about them. They talked about the value of children’s having choices and some control
over the process, and how small demonstrations (such as being allowed to switch the tape
recorder off) help children realize that their rights were real. They also asserted that researchers
should “stick to” their commitments and recognize it when they failed to do so.