Showing papers in "Children's Geographies in 2014"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the changing nature of children's geographies as an academic project and argue that a well-informed appreciation of sub-disciplinary history provides a strong vantage point from which to engage with new ways.
Abstract: This keynote explores the changing nature of children's geographies as an academic project. It proceeds in four parts. Part 1 considers the shift away from research on children's spatial cognition which envisaged the child in largely biological terms, and contemplates contemporary efforts to rework the nature/culture dualism. Part 2 traces the incorporation of new social studies of childhood into geography, emphasising the importance of children's voices, their positioning within axes of power, and the need for quantitative and qualitative methods. Part 3 explores how feminist research led to interest in parents, educators and other actors/institutions which shape, and are shaped by, children's lives. Part 4 ponders what children's geographies might add to, and learn from, broader interdisciplinary debates, and the benefits and pitfalls of research impact. The conclusion argues that a well-informed appreciation of sub-disciplinary history provides a strong vantage point from which to engage with new ways ...
125 citations
TL;DR: Young People Making it Work as discussed by the authors is a new addition to the developing field of interest in rural life experiences in children's geographies, concerned with the way that rural Australian children make it work.
Abstract: Young People Making it Work presents a new addition to the developing field of interest in rural life experiences in children's geographies. The book is concerned with the way that rural Australian...
77 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the association between neighbourhood walkability and children's independent mobility using an ecological approach is relatively unexplored, however, the authors found that girls and boys were more likely to be independently mobile if they and their parents were confident that they could travel independently.
Abstract: The association between neighbourhood walkability and children's independent mobility using an ecological approach is relatively unexplored. In 2007, 1480 10- to 12-year-old children (and 1314 parents) attending low and high walkable schools across Perth, Western Australia, completed surveys. Objective built environment, social-cultural and individual-level factors were explored. High neighbourhood walkability predicted girls' independent mobility. However, girls and boys were more likely to be independently mobile if they and their parents were confident that they could travel independently. Providing safe, walkable neighbourhoods – particularly for girls – combined with strategies to improve children's skills to safely navigate their neighbourhood may increase independent mobility.
72 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present four orientations in return motives: the social, family, functional and partner orientation, which consist of different combinations of the stereotypical success-failure arguments with non-serial transitional stages, and with different attachments to the home region.
Abstract: Researchers are increasingly aware that nonlinear perspectives of the transition into adulthood and non-economic motives, such as family and friends, may help to improve our understanding of young adults' migration decisions. This paper combines these new insights with the traditional economic success–failure arguments in order to explain young adults' return migration to their rural home region. We present four orientations in return motives: the social, family, functional and partner orientation. They consist of different combinations of the stereotypical success–failure arguments with non-serial transitional stages, and with different attachments to the home region. They also show that in some cases, return migration should actually be interpreted as staying in the home region, because the young adult returnees had not mentally left the region. We therefore state that our results provide a solid argument for reinterpreting the out-migration of young people from rural areas.
68 citations
TL;DR: More than ever, young people move. Over the past few decades, political, economic, social and demographic changes in many parts of the world have uprooted many people and stimulated migration to new countries.
Abstract: More than ever, young people move. Over the past few decades, political, economic, social and demographic changes in many parts of the world have uprooted many people and stimulated migration to ci...
58 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the interface between ethical research and the wider agenda of achieving social justice for/with children and highlighted the need for researchers' understand, respect and incorporate appropriately local ethos of relationships in order to not only bridge the gap between formal ethical standards/guidelines and informal ethical practices but also promote participatory ethics.
Abstract: This viewpoint article reflects upon the recent surge of formal and institutional ethics requirements, particularly for research with children. Drawing on our experiences of researching with children and communities in economically poor contexts, we critically discuss three interrelated perspectives that help shift the focus of attention about the ethics of research in the global south from the geographical and conceptual margins to the center. First, we explore the interface between ethical research and the wider agenda of achieving social justice for/with children. Second, we highlight the ways in which research takes place within the context of broader social and personal relationships. Third, we highlight the need for researchers' understand, respect and incorporate appropriately local ethos of relationships in order to not only bridge the gap between formal ethical standards/guidelines and informal ethical practices but also promote participatory ethics.
56 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the motivations underlying migration decision-making in the case of young university graduates returning to their rural home region in Switzerland and show the joint role of social ties, living environment, and job opportunities.
Abstract: This paper addresses the motivations underlying migration decision-making in the case of young university graduates returning to their rural home region in Switzerland. Empirical results show the joint role of social ties, living environment, and job opportunities, although the weight given to each of these factors varies between graduates. Some strategies used by the graduates to cope with a limited labour market are furthermore identified. I argue that internal migrations are far from being the sole consequence of labour market conditions and that a greater appreciation of non-economic issues is needed.
55 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a more encompassing perspective of the regional migration patterns of young adults (16-24), extending studies of labour-motivated graduate migration, is presented, and it is shown that young adults are increasing as a proportion of regional migrants.
Abstract: This paper calls for a more encompassing perspective of the regional migration patterns of young adults (16–24), extending studies of labour-motivated graduate migration. It is argued the long-distance movement(s) of young adults per se is a leading constituent of demographic and population changes in society; emphasising the connections between youthful stages of the lifecourse and high levels of population mobility that include students, graduates and other subgroups. Using revised National Health Service Central Record data to interrogate regional migration flows in England and Wales (2002–2008), our descriptive analyses reveal three key findings. First, it is shown that young adults are increasing as a proportion of regional migrants; reaffirming academic representations of young adults as a highly mobile age group. Second, it is identified that migration flows decreased for age groups between 2002 and 2008, with the notable exception of 16–24-year-olds. This suggests that young adults do not adhere t...
52 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the drivers to UK student work placement mobility through the Erasmus programme (European Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) and revealed employability, the economic downturn and subsequent failure to secure a placement in the UK, language, finance and personal factors.
Abstract: This paper examines the drivers to UK student work placement mobility through the Erasmus programme (European Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students). This research was stimulated by the overrepresentation of UK students in the Erasmus work placement programme since its introduction in 2007. Using a multi-methods approach, based on student interviews and report analysis, five main drivers to Erasmus work placement mobility are revealed: employability, the economic downturn and subsequent failure to secure a placement in the UK, language, finance and personal factors. This paper discusses these five factors to reveal the complex and interlinked influences that encourage UK students to undertake an Erasmus work placement. Overall, employability is identified as the main driver to the mobility of Erasmus work placement students. It is argued that the neoliberal agenda in UK higher education, to streamline away from education for the public good, towards education for employability purposes, is...
51 citations
TL;DR: The focus on personal healing through individual self-expression in trauma relief projects serves to depoliticize the context in which violence occurs, transforming the occupation into a set of symptoms to be treated as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Since the Second Intifada, trauma relief has served as the primary justification for a range of international humanitarian aid projects targeting Palestinian children and youth. Such humanitarian aid projects presume that the default response to violence is trauma, and that trauma left untreated will lead to aggression and violence. Thus, implicit in trauma relief projects targeting Palestinian children is the threat that if they are not properly treated their pent up emotional energy will release itself violently in the future. Moreover, the focus on personal healing through individual self-expression in trauma relief projects serves to depoliticize the context in which violence occurs, transforming the occupation into a set of symptoms to be treated. Likewise, the focus on individual trauma forecloses other possible responses to violence, including empowerment and resistance. Drawing on participant observer research with youth-oriented non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Palestine, as well as with ...
48 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore approaches to the measurement of children's daily travel to school in a context of limited geospatial data availability and to provide data regarding school choice and distance travelled to school, in Soweto-Johannesburg, South Africa.
Abstract: This paper has two aims: to explore approaches to the measurement of children's daily travel to school in a context of limited geospatial data availability and to provide data regarding school choice and distance travelled to school in Soweto-Johannesburg, South Africa. The paper makes use of data from the Birth to Twenty cohort study (n = 1428) to explore three different approaches to estimating school choice and travel to school. First, straight-line distance between home and school is calculated. Second, census geography is used to determine whether a child's home and school fall in the same area. Third, distance data are used to determine whether a child attends the nearest school. Each of these approaches highlights a different aspect of mobility, and all provide valuable data. Overall, primary-school-aged children in Soweto-Johannesburg are shown to be travelling substantial distances to school on a daily basis. Over a third travel more than 3 km one way to school, 60% attend schools outside of the ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reflect upon emotional moments in research with children and young people and highlight the complex, multiperspectival nature of emotions in research, and suggest that these complexities can simultaneously be problematic and an opportunity to celebrate the achievement of doing research together.
Abstract: This paper reflects upon emotional moments in research with children and young people. In particular, we seek to contribute to the now-extensive literature on emotions in social scientific research practice by: (i) attempting to acknowledge the often-overlooked emotions experienced by children and young people whilst participating in research; (ii) highlighting the complex, multiperspectival nature of emotions in research. We suggest that these complexities can, simultaneously be problematic and an opportunity to celebrate the achievement of doing research together.
TL;DR: Green et al. as mentioned in this paper examined children's inhabitation of school food gardens through pedagogies of food production, ecology and design in three Australian primary schools and found that children's engagement with everyday learning in one sch...
Abstract: Innovative curriculum frameworks that support children as active researchers and designers in everyday learning contexts remain unprioritized in school settings. Design literacies challenge and expand existing curriculum structures at a time when state and national curriculum privilege literacy and numeracy testing. Drawing on a broader ethnographic study that examined children's inhabitation of school food gardens through pedagogies of food production, ecology and design in three Australian primary schools [Green, M. 2011. “Place Matters: Pedagogies of Food, Ecology and Design.” Unpublished PhD, Monash University Churchill Victoria], this paper focuses on the design literacies or ‘design-centered pedagogy’ [McLaren, S. 2008. “Learning for Engagement: Lose the Ring-Fencing.” Paper presented at the Technology Education Research Conference: Exploring Technology Education: Solutions to Issues in a Globalised World, Gold Coast, Queensland] that supported children's engagement with everyday learning in one sch...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on profiles and biographies of young adults from English-speaking countries working as foreign language instructors in South Korea and question the depiction of developed world mobility in the context of the changing economic conditions that face young graduates in many Western countries.
Abstract: In many Western contexts, travel has a long historical association with youth, young adults and coming of age, an association that often connects temporary mobility with the lives of the educated middle classes and elite. Indeed, from the colonial adventure and the ‘grand tour’, to contemporary ideas of the ‘gap year’ or ‘overseas experience’, the mobility of Western youth and young adults is often considered voluntary and based on a desire to explore places and develop positive personal attributes, marking a stark contrast to depictions of migration from the developing world as directly or indirectly forced and driven primarily by economic considerations. This paper questions this depiction of developed world mobility in the context of the changing economic conditions that face young graduates in many Western countries. Drawing on survey and interview data I focus on the profiles and biographies of young adults from English-speaking countries working as foreign language instructors in South Korea. Althou...
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of place in drinking practices of young people in the context of rural Estonia was explored using a participatory research project carried out during seven months with a group of eight young men (15-18 years of age).
Abstract: In this paper, we explore the role of place in drinking practices of young people in the context of rural Estonia We draw on a participatory research project carried out during seven months with a group of eight young men (15–18 years of age) We focus on three locations identified as the most popular drinking places by the young men in our research – familial homes, a local hamburger kiosk and the outdoors The findings indicate that youth drinking practices as well as the drunkenness-related risks are spatially contingent Characteristics of individual drinking locations influence the negotiation of local and national opportunities, restrictions and attitudes toward drinking, and the associated risks We argue that, when developing public health tools, it is fruitful to pay attention to the local context and specific places in which young people's drinking practices are negotiated
TL;DR: This paper examined the under-explored relationship between young people's transitions to higher education and the opportunities afforded by transnational education (TNE) programs, with a focus on understanding the contemporary situation in Hong Kong.
Abstract: This paper examines the under-explored relationship between young people's transitions to higher education (HE) and the opportunities afforded by transnational education (TNE) programmes, with a focus on understanding the contemporary situation in Hong Kong. A fascinating association has developed, over the past decade, between the expansion of TNE in the territory and the government's commitment to providing ‘continuing education’. We explore what this relationship might mean for the young people directly affected by these new opportunities, by drawing on 70 in-depth interviews with students/graduates. Our sample is, what Brinton [2011. Lost in Transition: Youth, Work, and Instability in Postindustrial Japan. New York: Cambridge University Press] has termed (in another context), Hong Kong's ‘educational non-elite’. We ask: how does this ‘non-elite’ negotiate the shifting terrains of educational provision in an era where credentials (particularly at degree-level) are seen as ‘everything’? Our paper contri...
TL;DR: In this article, subjective experiences in nature of 5 children aged 6-10 years collected during a 5-day camp in a botanical garden were used to collect data, and the authors examined these in the context of socio-cultural constraints and invitations that children experience in developing these relationships.
Abstract: This paper reports subjective experiences in nature of 5 children aged 6–10 years collected during a 5-day camp in a botanical garden. Creative expressive visual methods and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Inductive analysis produced the follow themes: children being positioned to take care of nature and to be taken care of by nature, as well as nature needing protection from children and children needing protection from nature. The roles of gatekeepers in mediating attraction to and repulsion from nature were also highlighted. We examine these in the context of socio-cultural constraints and invitations that children experience in developing these relationships. These themes are discussed using a theoretical framework that blends Vygotsky's socio-cultural development theory with Gibson's theory of affordances. Findings contribute to a more integrated understanding of how ecological psychology and social psychology can inform our understanding of children's relationships with nature;...
TL;DR: The authors argue that live-in child domestic workers in Bangladesh often experience the surveilling power of their employer's gaze as a Foucauldian panopticon, which both disciplines and engages children in forms of self-discipline.
Abstract: Live-in child domestic workers in Bangladesh often experience the surveilling power of their employer's gaze as a Foucauldian panopticon, which both disciplines and engages children in forms of self-discipline. I argue that female child domestic workers in particular have a form of ‘thin’ agency whereby they are severely restricted in their abilities to make independent decisions or to act to their own benefit. I ethnographically unpack the concept of thin agency by analyzing material, cultural, spatial and discursive constraints that both employers and female child domestic workers engage in their daily lives.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe two youth participatory action research initiatives undertaken in East Palo Alto, CA, USA, as part of university-community partnerships, and discuss the process of engaging youth researchers to build youth skills, facilitate relationships with community-based organizations, and enhance study integrity.
Abstract: This paper describes two youth participatory action research initiatives undertaken in East Palo Alto, CA, USA, as part of university–community partnerships. We discuss the process of engaging youth researchers to build youth skills, facilitate relationships with community-based organizations, and enhance study integrity. We report interview and artifact data that address: (1) how the youths' involvement in the research process affected their sense of place and self-efficacy for creating community change; (2) how the youths' interactions with adult community leaders shifted adult perceptions of youths' abilities and roles in the community; and (3) how the initiatives affected youth and adult participants' perspectives of the university.
TL;DR: In this paper, the difficulties, tensions and contradictions experienced during transition and how, in the process of "change", children and young people have been silenced, marginalised and demonised.
Abstract: Northern Ireland is in the early stages of transition from conflict, but progress is regularly affected by political and public discontent. A divided landscape, segregated and under-resourced communities are enduring legacies of ‘the Conflict’. Yet the political will to tackle social and community division, consult with and support communities has been lacking. Grounded in six communities most affected by poverty and the Conflict this paper illustrates the difficulties, tensions and contradictions experienced during transition and how, in the process of ‘change’, children and young people have been silenced, marginalised and demonised.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that protection must be broader than simply protection from particular risks, and take in protection of opportunities, and find ways to look beyond material and cognitive development to neglected areas of well-being sometimes referred to as ‘spiritual’.
Abstract: Academic researchers on children should not ignore criteria for children's well-being. Starting from the observation that attempts at protection from harmful work has often damaged children's opportunities, the article argues that protection must be broader than simply protection from particular risks, and take in protection of opportunities. Moreover, researchers need to find ways to look beyond material and cognitive development to neglected areas of well-being sometimes referred to as ‘spiritual’.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors dealt with the long-term impact of high-school exchange programs on further mobility of the participants, using an online survey among 3000 former exchange students and 30 qualitative focus interviews.
Abstract: Long-term high-school exchange is a popular way to go abroad for German youth (2.5% of 16-year-olds go abroad for 6–12 months). The ongoing research project is dealing with the long-term impact of high-school exchange programs on further mobility of the participants. Using an online survey among 3000 former exchange students and 30 qualitative focus interviews, it is shown that mobility reproduces itself. Six years after the exchange, about 80% of the respondents have been abroad again for a period of longer than six weeks. This is seen as part of a normalization of transnational social practices.
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of school accessibility on student academic achievement in a rural area of Taiwan was analyzed via linear regression and ordered logit regression for continuous grade point average and discrete letter grade, respectively.
Abstract: This study empirically analyzes the influence of school accessibility on student academic achievement in a rural area of Taiwan. The sample population comprised elementary and junior high-school students in Pinlin, a small village outside Taipei City, the capital of Taiwan. Data were obtained through a questionnaire survey and analyzed via linear regression and ordered logit regression for continuous grade point average and discrete letter grade, respectively. Compared with previous research, this study presents the following new findings: (1) similar to elementary-school children, travel obstacles also negatively affected learning achievement of junior high-school adolescents; (2) travel obstacles affected academic achievement more significantly for adolescents than children; and (3) travel obstacles affected letter grades more significantly than grade point averages in children. The empirical evidence indicates that travel obstacles explain the academic achievements of children and adolescents with mode...
TL;DR: Geographies of Alternative Education as discussed by the authors is a collection of geographical studies of alternative education, focusing on the under-examined sites of "alternative" learning, with a focus on children's and young people's experiences.
Abstract: for examining some of these aspects of children’s and young people’s lives. Although the author begins by laying down a well-designed theoretical orientation (inspired by J. K. Gibson-Graham’s diverse economic practices), I cannot help but be left dissatisfied with the ‘missing’ treatment of certain longstanding themes in educational research. For instance, I am kept puzzled by the extent to which issues of class and privilege are features of alternative education. It also does not help that there is a lack of information on the backgrounds of families involved in homeschooling as well as Steiner andMontessori schooling. An initial expectation I had of this book was to be able to read about the diverse ways in which children and young people learn outside formal educational spaces. The book certainly showcases this to some extent. But I find it wanting of young people’s actual learning experiences. There is a significant amount of narratives about how educators and parents conceive/perceive alternative education and learning. Yet, the voices of young learners are minimal –which is something the author himself wishes had been otherwise (p. 256). This leaves me with the impression that the notion of alternative learning explored in this book largely reflects the vision of (adult) educators, practitioners, and parents. Geographies of Alternative Education makes an important contribution to geographical studies of education by foregrounding the hitherto under-examined sites of ‘alternative’ learning. Scholars, educators, and policy-makers will find this to be a valuable resource given that it is a hopeful theoretical and political project around education and learning. I have one final remark: given that most of the world’s children and young people are drawn into formal education, to what extent can these ‘alternative’ practices be usefully incorporated into mainstream educational settings? Are some of these alternative practices already being practiced in mainstream schools? I believe that these questions will be of great interest to those working to push pedagogical and learning boundaries in mainstream education.
TL;DR: In this paper, a governmentality analysis of the online recruitment materials of the British Army Cadets is presented, arguing that the Cadets appeal to the desire to use their bodies, as arguably the only resource that poor working-class youth have unmediated access to, as the site on which reputation and respectability can be inscribed.
Abstract: This paper offers a governmentality analysis of the online recruitment materials of the British Army Cadets. Governmentality theory attends to the role of rationalities and techniques of government in producing subjectivity. I apply this theory to an analysis of recruitment materials to show that the cadets can be understood as techniques of government that are framed within rationalities that position young masculinity as risky, particularly in contexts of urban poverty. These techniques of government include the use of stylised practices to discipline the body and the deployment of military artefacts that enable the Cadets to perform ‘tough masculinity’. I argue that the Cadets appeal to the desire to use their bodies, as arguably the only resource that poor working-class youth have unmediated access to, as the site on which reputation and respectability can be inscribed.
TL;DR: This paper found that the perceived political preference of children is part of their national identity, and encompasses not only local politics but also the global and regional discourse, and argued that political party preference is facilitated through the transcendence of national identity embedded in children's geopolitical agency.
Abstract: Traditionally, research on political preference has primarily focused on adults within their local political context. This research attempts to show that the perceived political preference of children is part of their national identity, and encompasses not only local politics but also the global and regional discourse. The present study surveyed 1187 Palestinian adolescents attending school, grades 5–7, in the West Bank to examine whether children's future political party preference is grounded in local/global discourse. The findings revealed a discrepancy between participants' perceptions of the local dominant political party and their projected political party preferences. This research argues that political party preference is facilitated through the transcendence of national identity embedded in children's geopolitical agency. The significance of the findings emphasizes that territorial boundaries are artificial; therefore, children's geopolitical agency is impacted by extraterritorial discourse and i...
TL;DR: Although children's travel diaries may confer contextual journey information, they may not provide completely accurate information on journey sequencing, and a combined approach of GPS and travel diary is recommended to gather a comprehensive understanding of children's journey characteristics.
Abstract: Active travel is associated with improved health and development outcomes in children. Accurate detection of children's travel behaviors and routes, however, is problematic. Travel diaries are often used to collect information on children's travel behaviors, yet no evidence for the accuracy of this methodology exists. This study investigated the validity of children's self-reported trips (origin, destination) compared with an objective criterion (global positioning systems units; GPS). Children (n = 10, 9–11 y) wore the GPS units for seven consecutive days between March and June 2011 and completed travel diaries daily with researcher assistance. Affinity group interviews were conducted in December 2011 with 30 children from two schools to garner perspectives on trip definition, neighborhood perceptions, and to illuminate GPS and travel diary findings. GPS journeys were manually compared with travel diary journeys for destination sequencing, start times, and travel mode. Accuracy in trip sequencing was com...
TL;DR: The authors examined how Israeli and Palestinian youth perceive and represent themselves in relation to the different contested spaces that they occupy, and found that the surface plays of power and territoriality are disrupted as well as reinforced by specific mobilizations of children and youth (as people), and by the circulation of ideas about children and childhood.
Abstract: Recent scholarship on the circulation of children and on the plight of youth trapped in transition in Africa and the Middle East recognizes – from two separate vantage points – how the circulation of children extends from and then reproduces violence. Displacement (forced and voluntary) and stuckness (the inability to transition from childhood to adulthood due to exclusionary economic and political structures) are two related outcomes for young people in contexts of armed conflict and structural violence. Drawing on insights from these two research streams, this paper examines how Israeli and Palestinian youth perceive and represent themselves in relation to the different contested spaces that they occupy. Surface plays of power and territoriality are disrupted as well as reinforced by specific mobilizations of children and youth (as people), and by the circulation of ideas about children and childhood.
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between violence and young subjectivities in contexts of conflict and post-conflict is discussed, and a special issue is devoted to young subjectivity and violence.
Abstract: This special issue is on the relationship between violence and young subjectivities in contexts of conflict and post-conflict. The theme for this special issue arose out of the Economic and Social ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how young people living in the Kivu provinces, Democratic Republic of Congo, attempt to engage with existing social support in their efforts to cope with protracted structural and political violence.
Abstract: This article examines how young people living in the Kivu provinces, Democratic Republic of Congo, attempt to engage with existing social support in their efforts to cope with protracted structural and political violence. Through an examination of narrative, visual and written data, this article describes how decades of violence have broken down traditional support structures, leaving young people with few options for effective coping beyond engaging in patronage relationships. This article examines how young people situate themselves in positions of weakness in order to gain material support and protection as they attempt to cope with a lack of material resources and other forms of insecurity.