Childhoods Research

Doing Service-Research Projects in STL

January 18, 2018 By Lisa Dorner

Many St. Louis area residents may not think of their city as multilingual, but it is. We could consider just one group that has changed the face of our metropolitan area over the past 30 years: Bosnians. In 2012 (and probably still today), they were the most populous foreign-born group here, estimated at over 70,000. The majority of Bosnians came to St. Louis as refugees in the 1990s, but secondary migration from Europe and from around the US continued throughout the early 2000s.

As an educator of students studying to become teachers, I always look for ways to help others understand the communities that they serve (or will serve). Toward this end, partnering with local educational organizations, students in one of my teacher-education classes studied qualitative research methods and conducted what we called service-research projects. Similar to but somewhat distinct from service-learning or community-based research (Boyer, 1999, see Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professorate), service-research projects combine these kinds of efforts: they are learning experiences that simultaneously teach research skills and academic content, while students serve an organization and learn about its particular community. In one particular semester, students’ projects explored the linguistic, racial, religious, and migrant experiences of youth in the St. Louis area, including those from Bosnian Muslim families.

In a recent publication in the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (2017, click here!), my co-authors and I discussed the results of this work. As defined in our abstract, we argue: Skills developed through qualitative research and community partnerships can be essential for developing education students’ cultural competency and understandings about diverse student populations. This paper provides a snapshot of our work by defining service-research and showcasing one student research team that worked with a local immigrant organization and developed three case studies of young women from Bosnian Muslim families. Through an analysis and discussion of service-research and the students’ results, we argue for the integration of qualitative research skills, service projects, and community partnerships into educator preparation programs.

Please join me in learning more about how working and studying with community members helps us understand and work with our communities better!

Research with Children

March 20, 2015 By Lisa Dorner

“The more one is in a position to make decisions for children, to speak on their behalf, the more one is able to silence their voices.” (Lee, 2001, p. 10)

For 18 months in the early 2000s, I ‘hung out’ with elementary-aged children from six Mexican immigrant families; we did homework together, played with younger siblings, drew pictures, and created imaginary games. (In formal research terms, I designed an ethnography and used participant observation techniques informed by the social science of childhoods and scholars like Allison James, Alan Prout, and Marjorie Faulstich Orellana.) I wanted to explore how young kids understood a new language education program being developed and implemented in their school district. I believed that children served as cultural brokers for their families, possibly shaping how their parents understood and made choices about the new program.

As I published the results of the study, however, I found that I relied heavily upon my conversations with adults, field notes from adult-centric interactions and meetings, and interview transcripts. I generally neglected most of the data that I collected with youth, and thus, inadvertently silenced their voices. I reflect upon the entire process and re-analyze data from youth to explore questions of ethics in doing research with children and young people. The results of my reflections are in this newly published piece, “From Relating to (Re)Presenting: Challenges and Lessons Learned from an Ethnographic Study with Young Children,” qix.sagepub.com/content/21/4/354.abstract. I welcome your ideas and feedback on this!

Presenting at the American Educational Research Association

March 24, 2014 By Lisa Dorner

In early April, thousands of researchers and educators will attend the annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association. This year, colleagues and I will reflect on “participatory research” with children (Saturday, April 5, 10:35 am!). While so much research is focused on children, too many educational studies are divorced from working with youth to understand their everyday perspectives and experiences. Come think with us, as we discuss the successes we’ve had and ethical challenges we’ve faced with integrating youth perspectives and energy into research. I’m also excited to be working with Jin Sook Lee (co-chair) and Melinda Martin-Beltran (discussant) to analyze language immersion schooling and its efforts to develop bilingualism, from Missouri to California, on Saturday, April 5, at 2:45 pm. See you in Philly!