CYS events

Time: 1:00-3:30pm 

Venue: Paterson's Land G.21 and Zoom

Description

The CYP hub had our last 2024 academic year hybrid event so come along and heard about the fantastic activities the hub has to offer! We started with the event with a catered lunch so everyone had a chance to chat with their peers and colleagues. In response to the demand for research, the focus of the event was on building research collaborations – how to build them, successes, challenges and time to find some potential collaborators within the hub. We're glad so many were able to come along and eat, drink, socialise, share, and learn from each other!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us.

Time: 10am-1:00pm (catered lunch will follow the workshop between 1:00-2:00pm)

Venue: Paterson's Land G.21 and Zoom

** This workshop is open only to CYP Hub members. **

Description

The Children and Young People Hub will be running a workshop on ‘How to be successful in getting an ESRC Standard Grant’. The workshop is being organised to suit all of our MHSES Hub members: you may be early career, wanting to know more about these big grants; you may have a fledging idea and want to recruit others to help you think about it; or you may already have a team and working up a proposal. The workshop will have presentations on the new application requirements, ESRC priorities, and tips for success – but even more time for interactive sessions where we will work together in small groups. We are looking for up to 30 committed people to attend.

If you have any enquiries, please feel free to email us.

Time: 3:00-4:30pm (UK time)

Venue: Zoom and Charteris Land 5.03

Description

Facilitators

Priyambada Seal 

Kristina Konstantoni

During our gathering, we watched the first 30 minutes of the full video ‘Schooling the World: The White Man’s Last Burden’ (please see below for link), followed by a discussion.

Colleagues were also invited to reflect on: What does multimodalities of childhoods mean for you and why does it matter?

Trailer

Full video

During the session we continued to vision together opportunities to gather and discuss about children and young people through multimodalities! We are keen to meet monthly to expand on the idea of a book club in order to explore pieces of literature/art from a critical childhood and youth studies lens across disciplinary perspectives. Come join us to chat about what these gatherings could look like, what you'd like to have included, and how you want to be involved. Can't make it but want to join and/or share your ideas? Please email Kristina and Laura.

Email Kristina Konstantoni

Email Laura Wright

Find out more on Children and Young People Thematic Hub's website.

Time: 6:00-7:15pm

Venue: Zoom

Description

Children have a right to play not just in early learning and childcare provisions but also in everyday public life. The importance of child-led and free play particularly within the early years, has been acknowledged at least in Scottish policy and practice rhetoric. However, the opportunities and challenges of child-led and free flow play are less understood in non-governmental organisations (NGOs), third sector and community based initiatives.

Additionally, conceptions and experiences of play from the Global North are often universalising, receiving more attention than those from the Global South. This webinar draws on our play cafe action and research related projects (Froebelian Futures and the Play Cafe project: What would Froebelian play cafes look like?)  funded by the Froebel Trust to open up a critical dialogue about child-led and free play in public life and especially in non-governmental organisations/third sector and community based initiatives, critically reflecting from Global North and South contexts.

Webinar co-hosts:

Froebelian Futures/ The Play Cafe project/ the Early Years Research, Policy and Practice Group / and Children and Young People Hub

Time: 2:00-5:00pm (UK time)

Venue: Classroom 1, High School Yard Teaching Centre, University of Edinburgh

Description

We know that there are many valuable reasons to work with children and young people to co-design and deliver research about their lives. We also know that funders increasingly require research proposals about children and young people to demonstrate how children and young people have been involved in developing the proposal and will be involved in implementing the research.

We would like to invite you to create space in your schedules to connect with others doing research about children and young people, with a specific focus on sharing our experiences and building collaborations related to coproducing research with children and young people.

This event builds on significant work carried out over the last two years by a working group of academics at Moray House School of Education and Sport developing a strategy on coproduction with children and young people.

The event will have two key aims:

1. Share our projects and experiences (successes, challenges, and lessons learned) in coproducing research with children and young people.
2. Provide a space to connect with colleagues and build collaboration across disciplines to discuss ideas and opportunities for future funding.

Spaces are limited, please sign up as soon as possible to ensure that you get a place. We will provide tea, coffee and a few sweet treats! While we are encouraging an in-person event, there is an opportunity to attend online if you are unable to be there in person.

Have any content questions? Please email: 

Christina McMellon

Laura Wright

Time: 3:00-4:30pm (UK time)

Venue: Zoom only

Description

This webinar celebrated the launch of a new special issue of Children and Society dedicated to conceptualising and researching child and youth activism. This special issue has been co-edited by Laura Wright, Emma Davidson, Kristina Konstantoni, Marlies Kustatscher, Karina Padilla and Kay Tisdall from the University of Edinburgh.  

It features 15 fantastic papers by a host of scholars, practitioners and peer researchers engaged in activist research across the world. The event will include an introduction to the special issue and articles, and then a panel with provocations and critical reflection on child and youth activism and participatory research. It will be followed by Q&A where writers and the audience will have an opportunity to share ideas, experiences and views on the future direction of this field of research.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Find out more

Read the Special Issue of Children and Society

• Time: 2:00-3:30pm (UK time)
• Venue: Online (Zoom)

This event, co-organised by the SIPP Project and the Children and Young People Thematic Hub, was for researchers, policy makers and practitioners and all those with an interest in early childhood education in international contexts.

The research team shared learning from this multi-country project with researchers and community partners in Brazil, Eswatini, Palestine, and South Africa.

The goal of the SIPP project was to learn what can improve educational contexts in low-income areas, in early childhood learning centres, communities and the home and what actions can positively impact on early childhood.

You could hear from members of the SIPP team about the work they undertook and are still developing regarding how safe, inclusive and participatory pedagogies can be sustainable for families, early childhood centres, communities and governments in challenging contexts.

Time: 13:30-18:00 (UK time)

Venue: Charteris Land (Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh)

Description

The Jamboree is an energetic and interactive mini-conference where postgraduate students, early career researchers and recent graduates come together to facilitate interactive workshops with those earlier on in their academic studies – or those just interested in novel methods and lessons from the field. These workshops deal with research methodologies that directly involve children and young people.

In addition to methodological development, the Jamboree’s focus is on building networks. Childhood studies is an interdisciplinary area of study, ranging across the social sciences, humanities and applied disciplines such as education, counselling, clinical psychology and law - we welcome all disciplines.

The Jamboree is being organised through the Children and Young People Thematic Hub and Childhood and Youth Studies Group (Moray House School of Education and Sport), reaching out with particular invitations to our research community more widely and the Childhood and Youth College theme here at the University of Edinburgh. An opportunity to connect!

Please do register and come along … and invite your colleagues to do so as well.

This is an in-person event for participants at Charteris Land, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh.

• Time: 13:30-16:00 (UK time)
• Venue: Charteris Land 5.11 (Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh) and Zoom

Description

This was an opportunity for us to come together to share our research and have informal discussions with colleagues about their areas of work. You are all invited to give a brief presentation about new or current areas of research ─ 3-5 mins presentation only! PGR students are particularly encouraged to present. There will also be an opportunity for social activity and prize for best festive jumper/hat!

This session was in a hybrid format. Please register on Eventbrite to confirm if you prefer to join us in-person or on Zoom.

Time: 14.30-16.00 (UK time)

Venue: George Square Campus, University of Edinburgh (Room to be announced)

Description

Professor Genevieve Dingle visits the University of Edinburgh to share her research on social prescribing in Australia, including sharing snap shots from several arts on prescription projects. This in-person event will also include a panel discussion with speakers Dr Katey Warran & Dr Laura Wright, including exploring their recent Dance/Connect study which explored if and how online dance classes may support young people.

Professor Dingle's talk will explore findings from the first controlled trial of social prescribing for adults experiencing loneliness in the community in Australia. The study included 63 in the social prescribing condition and 51 in the GP treatment as usual condition. Among social programs that participants were referred to, arts, crafts and games were the most common. Professor Dingle will also present snap shots from several arts on prescription programs she has evaluated, including:

1. an arts and health program for young adults in hospital;
2. choir singing to address loneliness and wellbeing in international university students during COVID-19;
3. choir and creative writing programs for adults experiencing chronic mental health conditions; and
4. a choir for people with people with dementia and their carers.

Speaker bio

Genevieve Dingle is a registered clinical psychologist and Professor at the School of Psychology, University of Queensland. Her research focuses on how groups and communities influence mental health. She leads two longitudinal studies of social prescribing for community dwelling adults experiencing loneliness and is co-investigator on an NHMRC funded RCT of the Groups 4 Belonging program which addresses loneliness among adults recovering from substance use disorders. Genevieve is also researching the effectiveness of arts based groups such as choir singing for cognitive health and mental health of adults across the lifespan.

This event will take place in person at the University of Edinburgh (central campus). Room to be announced.

Hosted by the Arts Play Health Community in partnership with the University of Edinburgh's Children and Young People Hub and Centre for Research on the Experience of Dementia (ECRED).

• Time: 13:30-15:30 (UK time)
• Venue: Zoom

Description

Childhood Studies is an ever-growing field, with very practical implications intersecting with theoretical considerations. We will discuss the latest and future developments, with leading childhood studies scholars Sarada Balagopalan (Rutgers Camden University), Irene Rizzini (PUC-Rio and International Centre for Research and Policy on Childhood), Spyros Spyrou (European University Cyprus) and Michael Wyness (Warwick University).

We discussed our latest book Critical Childhood Studies: Global Perspectives, authored by Kay Tisdall, John Davis, Debi Fry, Kristina Konstantoni, Marlies Kustatscher, Kati Maternowska and Laura Weiner. This book provides an advanced, accessible text for Childhood Studies, introducing key concepts and drawing on a range of disciplines. Each section includes commentaries from international experts based in Australia, Brazil, the UK, the USA and Zimbabwe. The book contains a range of pedagogical features, from guiding questions to group activities, with further online resources.

In this event, we discussed the state of Childhood Studies with the authors, critical commentators and our panel of Childhood Studies’ experts. Find out more details on the book.

• Time: 12:30-14:00 (UK time)
• Venue: Charteris Land 5.11 and on Zoom

Description

Come along and hear about the fantastic activities the hub has to offer! In response to the demand for research methodology support, this first event of the year will give us space to talk about the research methods we use, network so we can find out expertise of others, and share resources and guidance. This will be the first step to develop the CYP hub compendium of research methods so come along, share, and learn from each other!

An online option on Zoom is also available.

For enquiry, please contact Children and Young People Thematic Hub.

The Children and Young People Thematic Hub is running three themed Seminar Series in the 2022-23 academic year. The themes are:

• Child and Youth Activism (September to December 2022)

• Health and Mental Wellbeing of Children and Young People (January to April 2023)

• Research, Policy and Practice on Education with Children & Young People (May to August 2023)

Seminar Series on Child and Youth Activism

Please find below Semester 1 events themed on Child and Youth Activism for your calendars.

Seminar Series on Health and Mental Wellbeing of Children and Young People

Please find below Semester 2 events themed on health and mental wellbeing of children and young people for your calendars.

Date/Time: 8th June 2023, 1:30-4:30pm (UK time)

Venue: Paterson's Land G.21 and Zoom

The Children and Young People thematic hub are delighted to invite you to attend the end of year research presentations and social event!

This event will be an opportunity for us to come together to share our research and have informal discussions with colleagues about their areas of work. You are all invited to give a brief oral or poster presentation about new or current areas of research. Post graduate researchers are particularly encouraged to present.

 Please email Josie (josie.booth@ed.ac.uk) if you would like to give a brief presentation and register on Eventbrite to confirm attendance.

• Date/time: Mon 13th March 2023, 1:30-5:00pm (UK time)
• Venue: Charteris Land 5.11

The Jamboree was an energetic and interactive mini-conference where postgraduate students, early career researchers and recent graduates come together to facilitate interactive workshops with those earlier on in their academic studies – or those just interested in novel methods and lessons from the field. These workshops dealt with research methodologies that directly involve children and young people.

In addition to methodological development, the Jamboree’s focus was on building networks. Childhood studies is an interdisciplinary area of study, ranging across the social sciences, humanities and applied disciplines such as education, counselling, clinical psychology and law - we welcome all disciplines.

The Jamboree was being organised through the Children and Young People Thematic Hub and Childhood & Youth Studies Group (Moray House School of Education and Sport), reaching out with particular invitations to our research community more widely and the Childhood and Youth College theme here at the University of Edinburgh. An opportunity to connect!

This was an in-person event for participants. Charteris Land, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh.

Venue: Paterson's Land 1.18, Moray House School of Education and Sport (online option available)

You were warmly invited to join the CYP thematic hub pre-Christmas research social event!

This was an opportunity for us to come together to share our research and have informal discussions with colleagues about their areas of work. You are all invited to give a brief presentation about new or current areas of research ─ 3-5 mins presentation only! PGR students are particularly encouraged to present. There will also be an opportunity for social activity and prize for best Christmas jumper/hat!  

Venue: Charteris Land 5.11, Moray House School of Education and Sport (online option available)

Join our opening event to see who are and all exciting activities we are planning to do at the Children and Young People Thematic Hub. This opening event was for all Moray House School of Education for University of Edinburgh colleagues and beyond. 

Schedule

Contact us for enquiries

The Childhood and Youth Studies at MHSES is delighted to invite you in this new semester another online seminar series titled: Engaging Children and Young People: Participatory Research Methods and Ethical Complexities. This seminar series will bring together researchers from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences- University of Edinburgh, who are researching with children and young people. The seminar series welcomes all researchers interested in the field. In alignment with participatory methods, our intention is that these seminars will be lively, interactive events, with opportunities for group discussion and connecting with other researchers.

Our next seminar will be coming up on Wednesday 17th November 2021, with a presentation given by Dr Andrew Manches. Register NOW for the webinar.

Join us! And find out more information about the seminar series!

This webinar brought together learning from international projects on the topic of youth-led social entrepreneurship and innovation. Taking place across different locations globally, the projects are united by a focus on how young people take initiative to transform their communities and create opportunities through social innovation and social entrepreneurship.

 How do young people envision social change, social innovation and/or social entrepreneurship for their communities?

• What are the drivers behind young people’s ideas and visions?
• What does ‘best practice’ in supporting young people look like? What further support is required?
• What are some of the common barriers and how can they be addressed? What is the role of research with young people for doing so?

 The webinar was of interest to researchers, educators, policymakers and other stakeholders working in this area.

Watch the presentations

Having recently completed her PhD at MHSES, Dr Arias Urueña was presenting something interesting about her PhD research.

Presentation title

Children´s experiences of living with cleft lip and palate: stigma, emotions and ‘ambiguous agency’

Abstract

Individuals with cleft lip and palate are commonly stigmatised because of their bodily differences. However, little is known about children’s and young people´s experiences of stigma and the mechanisms they use to cope with these dynamics. Drawing on interviews (home base and walking based interviews) with 20 Colombian children aged 6-12, I use Link and Phelan´s theory of the stigmatisation process (Link & Phelan, 2001) to characterise their experiences of stigma at school. I particularly focus on the way children resist stigma through ambiguous agentic practices, and emotion work. I argue that despite the vulnerabilities associated with their stigmatisation, the different types of agentic practices that are manifested in the participants´ stories further challenge the dichotomy of vulnerability and agency.

Biography

I am Liliana Arias-Urueña, a medical doctor and social scientist passionate about people´s health and wellbeing. My research interests include children’s and young people’s views and experiences of their health and illness processes, heath-related stigma, contemporary views of agency, participatory research and mobility methods. I combine my work in research with medical teaching and clinical genetics. 

During my PhD I conducted a qualitative study which explored children’s views and experiences of living with cleft lip and palate in Colombia.  This work is located at the intersection of childhood studies, the sociology of health and illness and disability studies and makes theoretical and empirical contributions to these disciplines.

As a researcher and clinician, I aim to generate more explicit inter-disciplinary and cross-world conversation on children’s and young people’s health, illness and disability. I also seek to cultivate a biomedical practice more sensitive to human diversity, people’s biographical, social and cultural backgrounds.

Public Webinar 1.30-2.30 p.m.; CREAN meeting 2.30-3.30 p.m. UK Time

The webinar was co-organised by Childhood and Youth Studies (Children and Young People Hub), MHSES University of Edinburgh, on behalf of the Children’s Rights European Academic Network.

Description

Crises have seemed ever-present globally over recent years, from the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change. Both of these crises show what can be done collectively to uphold children’s rights, should there be global attention and will. They also highlight extreme inequalities, their impacts and the precarity of human rights in times of crisis. This webinar will explore how to learn from these and other crises, to ‘build back better’ in relation to children’s human rights.

The webinar will include presentations from Prof. Philip D. Jaffé, who is a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and young people from #CovidUnder19, an initiative aimed to foster intergenerational partnerships between children, young people and adult members of the children’s rights community to develop evidence-based advocacy to uphold children’s rights in pandemic recovery and response. After the presentations, we will host an interactive panel with the speakers and others, providing an opportunity for questions and discussion.

The public webinar was from 1.30-2.30. All those who were Children’s Rights European Academic Network (CREAN) members, or who were interested in CREAN, were invited to continue from 2.30-3.30 for the Annual General Meeting – and to discuss what next for CREAN.

Important notes

1. This seminar series was free but registration was required. You’ll receive login details ONLY AFTER you have completed your registration. 
2. Please feel free to tweet this event using #CovidUnder19

Biographies

#CovidUnder19

In April 2020, Terre des hommes launched the #CovidUnder19 initiative by mobilising a group of young people, child rights activists, civil society organisations and UN stakeholders. The initiative set out to understand children’s views and experiences about life under Coronavirus, and amplify their voices to inform policymakers, professionals working with children, and governments.

In the Spring of 2020, the initiative launched the “Life Under Coronavirus” global survey to understand children’s experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic and their views on how they wish to get involved. The survey was designed with children, for children aged between 8 to 17 years available in 27 different languages alongside an easy to read version. A shorter poll focusing on issues of protection, safety and peer-to-peer support was also disseminated via UNICEF’s U-Report leading to additional 5,000 responses from children.

Karl Hanson

Karl is Director of the Centre for Children's Rights Studies and Full Professor in Public Law at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. He obtained his doctorate in Law in 2004 from Ghent University, Belgium, where he worked at the Children’s Rights Centre and at the Human Rights Centre. His publications and main research interests are in the field of interdisciplinary children’s rights studies and include theorizations on children’s rights and childhood studies, working children and child labour norms and policies, international children’s rights law and juvenile justice. He teaches at the University of Geneva in the Master interdisciplinaire en droits de l’enfant (MIDE). He is also the Programme Director of the Master of Advanced Studies in Children's Rights (MCR). Karl Hanson is chair of the Children’s Rights European Academic Network (CREAN) and co-editor of the journal Childhood. 

Philip D. Jaffé

Philip is a full professor at the University of Geneva (Switzerland). In 2018, he was elected to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. A clinical and a forensic psychologist who trained in Switzerland and in the USA, he is still a practicing licensed psychotherapist and a court-appointed expert witness. Beyond the traditional "teach, research, publish or perish missions" required by a leading university, his vision of academic life is to branch out in the community at large as a science practitioner and educator. www.jaffe.ch

Ton Liefaard

Ton is Vice-Dean of Leiden Law School and he holds the UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights at Leiden University, the Netherlands. He is the Director of the Master’s Programme (LL.M) Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights. He also coordinates the Leiden Summer School on International Children’s Rights.

He teaches and publishes widely on issues related to international children’s rights, juvenile justice, child friendly justice, deprivation of liberty of children, violence against children and access to justice for children. Ton Liefaard regularly works as a consultant for international organizations, including UN agencies, the Council of Europe and the European Union. He has also served as an advisor to the Dutch government on issues related to children’s rights, juvenile justice, child protection and family law. He was a member of the International Advisory Board of the United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty.

Kay Tisdall

Kay is Professor of Childhood Policy at the University of Edinburgh. She is part of the Childhood and Youth Studies at Moray House School of Education and Sport. Her policy, academic and teaching work is centred around children’s human rights.

Are you interested in learning more about music and movement as participatory methodologies with children and young people? Would you like to try out some new methods?

Please join us for this interactive workshop with Juan Manuel Gomez, Yeiner Belalcazar and Julian Garcia from Mr Klaje musician collective.

We invite you to participate in an exciting workshop run by the Mr Klaje band of Colombian musicians who will teach you the rhythms and practices of Colombian cultural engagements for reconciliation. Their work stimulates social change through the promotion of collaboration around themes such as diversity, coexistence, conflict and peace. Mr Klaje are renowned in Colombia for their performances and insightful and participatory workshops. (For further information see their work featured in The Guardian).

 Mr Klaje have longstanding experience of working in post-conflict contexts through participatory music and arts. Their methodologies have been used in work with Afrocolombian and indigenous groups of children and young people in Colombia, Northern Ireland and beyond. Innovative methodologies developed by Mr Klaje include, for example, “peacebuilding body percussion” or “co-produced music performances with instrument-building from upcycled materials” with children and young people and marginalised groups.

 This event was for researchers, students, practitioners and anyone with an interest in participatory methodologies, music or movement. No prior musical experience required.

 The event was in Spanish with English translation – and lots of non-verbal communication!

Series Coordinators

Prof Akwugo Emejulu, University of Warwick

Dr Marlies Kustatscher, University of Edinburgh

Dr Callum McGregor, University of Edinburgh

Details

Ambivalence is not usually associated with activism. By activism we mean a collective process of individuals coming together to make change in public space. When we think about the emotions that mobilise activists, we usually identify fear, anger and/or hope as those feelings that prompt people to get up and out to try to make a change. But these are not the only emotions that shape activists’ behaviours. Increasingly we note how activists are animated by a contradictory set of emotions generated by our uncertain political and economic moment. Despite being a common emotional experience for activists, there has been little substantive discussion about how ambivalence is articulated, experienced and/or potentially used as a resource in activist spaces, networks and movements.

Speaker

Dr Jule Hildmann

Description

Dr Hildmann would like to present findings on her UK and European project looking at young people’s employment. In specific, she was researching promoting transformative competencies and employability through outdoor learning.

Watch Zoom recording

Now celebrating its 9th year, the Jamboree was an energetic and interactive mini-conference where more advanced postgraduate students, early career researchers and recent graduates come together to facilitate interactive workshops with those earlier on in their academic studies – or those just interested in novel methods and lessons from the field. These workshops deal with research methodologies that directly involve children and young people. The workshop will be online, as we have facilitators from Canada to Peru to Scotland.

In addition to methodological development, the Jamboree’s focus was on building networks. Childhood studies is an interdisciplinary area of study, ranging across the social sciences, humanities and applied disciplines such as education, counselling, clinical psychology and law. The Jamboree was organised through the Children and Young People Thematic Hub (Moray House School of Education and Sport), reaching out with particular invitations to our research community more widely and the Childhood and Youth CAHSS theme here at the University of Edinburgh. An opportunity to connect!

Details about the interactive workshops will be available closer to the date.

Contact us for enquiry

Related links

• Children and Young People Thematic Hub
• Childhood and Youth CAHSS theme

Please join us for this webinar to celebrate the launch of our special issue with Emotion, Space and Society on ‘The Emotional Relations of Children’s Participation Rights’. 

Children's participation rights, enshrined in the UNCRC (1989), have been a popular area of research, policy and practice for decades. Although emotions are often acknowledged as an important element of children's participation rights, it is rare to find emotions being explicitly centred and theorised in dialogue with UNCRC rights. This event brings together a group of speakers who reflect on the role of emotions for children’s participation rights, highlighting challenges and opportunities of this work within current global contexts, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants are invited to share their own thoughts and experiences on emotions and participation, and to consider opportunities for collaborative ways of taking this work forward.

This free public event aims at researchers and academics and anyone working in practice/NGOs on the topic of children’s participation rights with an interest in emotions.

Watch Zoom recording

For enquiries, please contact childrenandyoungpeople@ed.ac.uk

Speakers

Rachel Rosen & Eve Dickson, UCL Social Research Institute

Description

The ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition, which is imposed on people ‘subject to immigration control’, forms a key part of the UK’s punitive migration regime, bordering access to social support for migrants who need it. One example, and this talk’s focus, is the denial of free school meals (FSM) to children in families with NRPF, some of the most destitute in Britain. This has long been a concern for migrants’ rights groups and families navigating everyday borders in the UK. Recent campaigns and threats of legal action have resulted in some children affected by NRPF becoming temporarily eligible for FSM during the pandemic, but campaigns for access have continued due to ongoing problems with the policy. This talk explores the imaginaries of childhood, poverty and nation which shape such policies and offers a warning that, without reflecting on and even challenging these imaginaries, campaigns can end up justifying exclusions of some migrant families at the very same time that they aim for more expansive support. We argue that how campaigns represent their causes – which, in the case of FSM, is often through the exceptionalism and therefore hyper-deservingness of childhood and a focus on the extraordinary circumstances of Covid – has implications. These representations, we suggest, can ultimately end up narrowing political imaginaries and reducing discussion to technical questions about who is ‘deserving’, and, in the process, risk shoring up an exclusionary, nativist and hostile state.

Speaker biographies

Rachel Rosen

Rachel Rosen is an Associate Professor of Childhood in the UCL Social Research Institute. Her research focuses on marginalised children and families, especially those with precarious immigration status; the intersection of neoliberal welfare and border policies which shape their lives; and their practices of sustenance and care. Her current projects include Children Caring on the Move and Solidarities: Negotiating Migrant Deservingness. She is co-editor of Reimagining Childhood Studies and Feminism and the Politics of Childhood: Friends or foes?

Eve Dickson

Eve Dickson is a Research Fellow at the UCL Social Research Institute. She is a psychosocial scholar with research interests in migration, social policy, gender and childhood. Her research focuses particularly on migrant groups excluded from mainstream welfare support. Her work has been published in Critical Social Policy, Critical Quarterly, and Families, Relationships and Societies.

 Download presentation slides

Zoom recording

About this event

Dr Carine Le Borgne shared her experiences in conducting research with children and young affected by the issue of child marriage and child soldiers. Children and young people who have not experienced those issues were also involved as they wanted to stand with their peers in calling on the UK Government and countries hit by humanitarian crisis to work together to end those issues. The research involved countries where World Vision works such as Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Niger. She will explain the methodology used and the advocacy work to bring the voices of young people to decision-makers.

 Biography of speaker

Dr Carine le Borgne is an advocate for human children’s rights and a researcher on operationalisation of children’s participation at the community and national levels. Eighteen years of experience on non-profit sector and local government with a focus on governance, programme and policy on children’s rights in India, Philippines, Egypt, Chile, Canada, United Kingdom and France.

Download presentation slides

Videos shared during presentation

About this event

Early childhood is a critical period for all children, and governments across the world are recognising this by moving to compulsory early childhood education (ECE). This creates pivotal moments for understanding the challenges and opportunities for such provision in different contexts, and for radically rethinking future directions of ECE across the world.

High quality ECE can be a protective factor for children against the negative effects of poverty and other inequalities (including gender) and improve long-term developmental and employment outcomes. There has been strong drive, not least through the near-global ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, towards embedding children’s participation within ECE, and children’s participation has come to feature as a core element of what is considered high quality ECE.

This webinar brings together case studies from Brazil, Eswatini, Palestine, Scotland and South Africa to shed light on how policy interventions are aiming to enable children’s participation within ECE.

Join us for presentations and discussion around questions such as:

• How have policymakers across the world interpreted children’s participation in ECE?

• Which policies have been implemented successfully and what were the drivers behind such positive change?

• What are the obstacles to meaningful policy implementation in this area and how can they be addressed?

The webinar will be in English with translation into Arabic and Portuguese.

This event is organised by

Safe, Inclusive Participative Pedagogy (SIPP): Improving Early Childhood Education

Safe, Inclusive Participative Pedagogy (SIPP) is a partnership research project funded by UKRI and GCRF, running from January 2020-January 2024. The project aims to identify and develop safe, inclusive participative pedagogy that is implementable in fragile contexts and sustainable for governments, communities and families. It brings together partners in Brazil, Eswatini, Palestine, South Africa, and Scotland.

The support of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) is gratefully acknowledged.

About this webinar

In the International Day of the Girl Child, World Vision International and Childhood & Youth Studies at the University of Edinburgh have the pleasure of inviting you to a virtual panel entitled "Child activism to end child marriage'. The researchers will share key findings and conceptual discussion points from an exploratory research study conducted in Bangladesh and Ghana.

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(Access password: Ybds69g&) 

About this event

The webinar will be in workshop style, inspired by two presenters who are using discourse analysis, followed by discussion. Participants are welcomed to share their own experiences and dilemmas in applying discourse analysis. The workshop will be discussing Bacchi’s form of discourse analysis, amongst others.

Programme

• 12.00-12.10 Welcome

• 12.10-12.25 Introducing discourse analysis- Alexandra Jundler, PhD Student in Social Work, University of Edinburgh

• 12.25-12.40 Contested concepts: domestic abuse and children’s participation rights in family law - Ruth Friskney and Fiona Morrison - Centre for Child Wellbeing and Protection at the University of Stirling

• 12.40-1.20 Group Discussion led by Laura Weiner, PhD student at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh

Chair: Autumn Roesch Marsh, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of Edinburgh

About the speakers

Alexandra Jundler

I am in the fourth year of my Ph.D. in Social Work at the University of Edinburgh. My research focusses on the presence of children’s participation in looked after children’s policies in Scotland that I have examined through policy analyses. I have been particularly interested in Bacchi’s WPR approach and other post-structuralist approaches.

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Ruth Friskney and Fiona Morrison

They work at the Centre for Child Wellbeing and Protection at the University of Stirling. Their presentation draws from recent research on the passage of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 through the Scottish Parliament. It explores the underpinning conceptualisations of domestic abuse and children’s participation rights found in written evidence and parliamentary debates and what the implications of these are.

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Laura Weiner

I am a second-year PhD student at Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh. My research explores how young activists construct the skills, knowledge, and values developed in youth activist group spaces through a discourse analysis of policy and discourse in practice. My research draws largely on Norman Fairclough and critical discourse analysis approaches.

This event is organised by Childhood and Youth Studies from Moray House School of Education and Sport- University of Edinburgh

The Childhood and Youth Studies Research Group, MHSES is delighted to invite you to its 6 weeks online seminar series titled: Engaging Children and Young People: Participatory Research Methods and Ethical Complexities. This seminar series will bring together researchers from the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences- University of Edinburgh, who are researching with children and young people. The seminar series welcomes all researchers interested in the field. In alignment with participatory methods, our intention is that these seminars will be lively, interactive events, with opportunities for group discussion and connecting with other researchers.

Our next seminar will be coming up on Wednesday 17th November 2021. Dr Andrew Manchez will present on From gestures to the design of early learning technologies. Stay tuned to learn more!

Join us! And find out more information about the seminar series!

21st June, 15:00-17:00 BST — Involving young people in research

A practical overview of different ways young people can meaningfully be involved in all stages of public mental health research. We will share approaches, challenges and examples from TRIUMPH’s work with young people.

22nd June, 16:00-17:30 BST — Talking co-production

A conversation between members of TRIUMPH’s Youth Advisory Group and Professor Kay Tisdall about the importance and challenges of co-producing research with young people.

23rd June, 15:00-17:00 BST —  Multiple faces of Youth Advisory Groups

Come and hear from a range of Youth Advisory Groups (YAGs) about the different ways YAGs can support public mental health research. Join an honest conversation about the benefits and challenges of this approach.

24th June, 15:00-17:00 BST —  Co-production Clinic: talk to the experts (TRIUMPH YAG members)

Members of TRIUMPH Youth Advisory Group (YAG) will answer your questions about involving young people in research. Please share your questions, ideas or challenges in advance so that the YAG members have a chance to discuss their answers.

About this event

The recent COVID-19 global health pandemic has significantly impacted on communities around the world. This webinar shares learning from our multi-country project UKRI GCRF “Safe, Inclusive Participative Pedagogy: Improving Early Childhood Education in Fragile Contexts” on how women and children in communities in Brazil, Eswatini, Palestine and South Africa have experienced the effects of the pandemic disproportionately due to historical marginalisation based on politics, poverty, racism and colonialism.

Among such communities, women and young children are a particularly overlooked group whose experiences of disadvantage and inequalities have been exacerbated and deepened throughout the pandemic. Our webinar critically examines notions of ‘fragility’ or ‘vulnerability’ against the backdrop of historical and systemic oppression and marginalisation of some communities, by sharing stories of struggles, agency, resistance, hope and activism of women and young children.

Our panellists include:

• Lizette Berry, Senior Researcher, Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town (South Africa)

• Linda Biersteker, Senior Research Associate, Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town (South Africa)

• Dr Malcolm Bush, Senior research and policy consultant, International Center for Research and Policy on Childhood at PUC-Rio (Brazil)

• Clement Dlamini, Lecturer, Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Eswatini (Eswatini)

• Dr Ahmed F. Fasfous, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Bethlehem, (Palestine)

• Irene Rizzini, Professor, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and President of the International Center for Research and Policy on Childhood at PUC-Rio (Brazil)

• Dr Fortunate Shabalala, Senior lecturer and Head of Community Health Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences University of Eswatini (Eswatini)

• Dr Rabab Tamish, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, Bethlehem University (Palestine)

Members from our communities will also be represented.

Keynote listener: Kay Tisdall, Professor of Childhood Policy at the University of Edinburgh, will respond to and share concluding reflections on the panel and audience discussion.

The webinar was in English.

"The support of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) is gratefully acknowledged.”

Froebel 2021: Visions of Social Justice, Equity and Integrity in the Year of Childhood

Tuesday 1 - Friday 4 June 2021, 3 sessions (9am, 2pm 7pm) to be spread across the four days, with filming and captioning.

Keynote speakers

• Dr Rosie Perkins: Reader in Performance Science at the Royal College of Music

• Dr Wendy Russell: Senior Lecturer in Play and Playwork at University of Gloucestershire

Abstract

Over the last decade there has been a burgeoning interest in the benefit of arts and play for our health and wellbeing. However, despite evidence that shows the arts and play to have close connections in how they contribute to and achieve health outcomes for children and adults, there has been a dearth of action to encourage knowledge-exchange between these fields or to understand how the processes across these interventions may be similar. This conference aims to address this gap, encouraging shared learning and asking critical questions that will support us to move forward in arts and play with new-found insight. 

This conference will include

• Keynote presentations from Dr Rosie Perkins and Dr. Wendy Russell

• Creative workshops, lectures, and poster presentations

• Creative ‘energiser’ sessions led by arts and play practitioners

• Arts and play materials to creatively express your response to the conference

• A panel session about opportunities across the arts and play sectors

• A ‘world café’ to explore the intersections of play and art, and to foster connections, particularly between researchers and practitioners.

The recording and associated resources are available online (under the sub-heading 'Bringing children's rights into Scottish law').

View the recording and resources

Co-organised by the CYSRG at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Leiden and World Vision International, this event ought to shape the global debate to ensure that policy and practice are rights-based, child-centred, empowering, and inclusive.

Speakers

Prof Kay Tisdall (MHSES & Co-Director of CYSRG, University of Edinburgh)

Prof Ton Liefaard (Vice-Dean for Education of Leiden Law School, Prof of Children's Rights at Leiden University)

Dr Patricio Cuevas-Parra (Director of Child Participation and Rights, World Vision International)

Presentation slides of the webinar (2.12 MB PDF)

Watch the recording of the webinar

Speakers: Professor Dorothy Vaandering, Canada; Dr. Maija Gellin, Finland; Mr. Chris Straker, England; and Professor Gillean McCluskey, Scotland

Abstract: The Scottish Network of Restorative Justice Researchers (SNRJR), with the support of the Scottish Center for Crime and Justice Research and the University of Edinburgh have organised and international seminar on restorative justice in the field of education. The aim is to learn from international practices and developments and think together how this could be relevant and developed further in Scotland.

Date/Time: Monday 28th September | 13:00-16:45 BST

Venue: This event will be held online via ZOOM (due to the current pandemic)

Restorative Practices Webinar flyer_Sep 2020 (515.85 KB PDF)

Professor Kirsten Sandberg, University of Oslo, gave the Moray House School of Education and Sport Annual Lecture on May 27.  Professor Sandberg's lecture was followed by contributions from Mairi Macpherson, Deputy Director for Creating Positive Futures, Scottish Government and Bruce Adamson, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland.

Speaker: Professor Kirsten Sandberg, Univeristy of Oslo

Date: Wednesday 27 May 2020 / 14:00 – 15:30 (BST)

THIS LECTURE WAS DELIVERED ONLINE

Watch the recording of Making Children's Rights Real​​​​​​

Download the presentation slides from Making Children's Rights Real

Speaker: Dr Emma Davidson

Abstract: 1.37 Paterson's Land

Date/Time: Thursday 23 April 2020 / 12:30-2:00pm

Venue: Room 1.37, Paterson's Land, Moray House School of Education & Sport

Abstract:

The event combined the launch of the Together’s State of Children’s Rights Report 2019 with that of the Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland, to set out a roadmap for action in Scotland.

Date/Time: Friday 28 February 2020 / 10.30 - 12:30

Speaker: Neville Harris, Professor of Law, University of Manchester

Abstract: In seeking to ensure that there is schooling for one and all within a mass (although diverse) education system, the law plays a key role in seeking to ensure that children’s different learning and cultural needs are addressed inclusively. However, the law also sets limits to the accommodation of individual choices for reasons of efficiency, the management of limited resource or wider policy factors, including those to do with balancing perceived national interests against minority concerns. It means that individual preferences or choices will sometimes go unmet and tensions will arise. The new edition of my book Education, Law and Diversity – comprising mostly newly researched material and with a new sub-title reflecting its primary focus – examines the nature of the various rights and interests recognised by the law of education as it has evolved and explores how and to what extent these tensions are managed or resolved. In this presentation, drawing on evidence from examples of particular fields, such as sex and relationships education and home schooling, I will highlight key conclusions of my research.

'Education, Law and Diversity: Schooling for One and All?' is published by Hart Publishing (part of Bloomsbury Publishing) in January 2020.

Date/Time: Thursday 16 January 2020 / 1:30-3:00pm

Venue: Charteris Land (Room 5.11),  Moray House School of Education and Sport

 Poster

A joint seminar between Centre for Research on Families and Relationships and our Childhood and Youth Studies Research Group

Speaker:  Dr Sue Kay-Flowers, Senior Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University

Abstract: Over time, most children experiencing their parents’ separation adjust to the changes it brings. The extent to which they ‘accommodate’ these changes is influenced by many factors. Through analysis of young adults’ retrospective accounts, experiences encouraging a higher ‘accommodation’ of parental separation were identified.

This seminar outlined research tools created with young people to give voice to young adults’ experiences.

Date/Time: Tuesday 5 November 2019 / 12 noon - 1pm

Venue: Charteris Land (Room 5.02), Moray House School of Education and Sport

Slides: Dr Sue Kay-Flowers' Presentation - 5 Nov 2019 (850.83 KB PowerPoint)

World Vision and the University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with Girls Not Brides and Child Rights Connect had the pleasure of inviting you to a report launch and panel on 'Children's participation in ending child marriage'.

Date/Time: Friday 11 October 2019 / 12:00 - 13.30

Venue: United Nations Palace, Geneva

Child Activism to End Child Marriage leaflet (1.85 MB PDF)

Speaker:  Professor Irene Rizzini, Professor at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and President of the International Cente for Research and Policy on Childhood (CIESPI), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract: The right of young people to participate in political decision making has been adopted in international and national laws since the 1990s. In Brazil, young people’s participation in decisions concerning their lives has been affirmed by the National Children´s Rights Council (CONANDA) since 2013. Implementation, however, has been poor.  Brazil is a country of huge social and economic disparities rooted in the country’s past and is still heavily influenced by power relationships forged in its oligarchic and colonial history. The challenges to implement children and young people’s political participation are connected to the history of assistance to low-income and destitute children during the 19th and 20th centuries. These challenges have intensified in the current context of the rise of the far-right in Brazil, posing new threats to democratic participation. Professor Rizzini will discuss trends in young people’s engagement as advocates, by analysing the unique experiences of the first Children's Rights Council to officially elect young people as councilors. This discussion raises relevant insights for the international framework of children’s rights. This presentation highlights contributions coming from the peripheries of the world, arguing for the decolonisation of the international system for the protection of rights.

Date/Time: Thursday 19 September 2019 / 12.30-1.30

Venue: Paterson’s Land (Room 1.27), Moray House School of Education and Sport

Fact Sheet:: Young people and political participation (104.18 KB PDF)

Slides: Professor Irene Rizzini's Presentation - 19 Sept 2019 (2.29 MB PowerPoint)

This two-day event provides education practitioners (early years, schools, colleges, universities, adult education) with spaces to consider how literate you and your establishment are on matters of racial, cultural, religious and linguistic diversity.

The event will provide a challenging but safe space for us to dismantle what are often seen as complex, sensitive and controversial issues. We will be discussing a range of issues, from talking about racism with pupils of different ages, Whiteness, Islamophobia, culturally relevant pedagogy, to learning what recent research tells us about how to support pupils for whom English is an Additional Language.

Date/Time: Thursday 20 (8.45am) - Friday 21 June 2019 / 4pm

Venue: Moray House School of Education

A joint seminar between Childhood & Youth Studies Research Group and the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships

Speakers: Dr Julian Burton (Rutgers University) and Hamide Elif Üzümcü (University of Padova, Italy)

Date/Time: Wednesday 5 June 2019 / 1pm to 2pm

Venue: Paterson’s Land (Room 1.37), Moray House School of Education

Dr Julian Burton's presentation slides

Hamide Elif Üzümcü's presentation slides

A joint seminar organised by the Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity (CREID) and the Childhood and Youth Studies Research Group at Moray House School of Education. Across the four nations of the UK, there have been different rates of progress in terms of incorporating aspects of the UNCRC into domestic law. Holding this seminar in Scotland is timely, with the Scottish Government’s promise to incorporate the principles of CRC into domestic law, a three year awareness raising programme for children’s rights, and an emerging children and young people’s participation framework. It is thus timely to consider where we are now – and where we want to be – learning from across the UK and beyond.

Speakers: Professor Helen Stalford, Professor Kay Tisdall, Professor Sheila Riddell, Margaret Doyle, Annie Sorbie

Date/Time: Wednesday 1 May 2019 / 9.30am - 3.30pm

Venue: Paterson’s Land (Room LG34), Moray House School of Education

Seminar from our Community Education Research Group

The youth work sector in Scotland is under unprecedented pressure to demonstrate its impact, particularly related to universal provision. Increasingly, practitioners face reduced resources, restructuring of services and a related shift in priorities and remit. That said, the ever-changing policy landscapes do not deter an ongoing commitment across the practice sector to supporting local young people achieve change in their lives. Yet, evidence of such change can be elusive and may only become apparent after sustained intervention and often-diverse forms of engagement over a number of years.

This session will present the findings of a national research project that engaged with three communities in Scotland examining the impact of local universal youth work services.

Speaker: Dr Ian Fyfe, Head of Institute of Education, Community and Society here at Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh

Date/Time: Friday 5 April 2019 / 2pm - 4pm

Venue: Paterson’s Land (Room LG43), Moray House School of Education

An event for those working for and with children and young people who are interested in developing understandings of bilingualism.

Speakers:  Professor Antonella Sorace - Director of Bilingualism Matters at University of Edinburgh), Bernard Chisholm - Director of Education and Children's Services at Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Calum Alex MacMillan - Development Manager Fèisean nan Gàidheal, Dr Clare Daly - Project Manager at Highland Migrant and Refugee Advocacy (HiMRA)

Date/Time: Thursday 14 March 2019 / 11am - 3pm

Venue: An Lochran, 10 Inverness Campus, Inverness

An event for those working for and with children and young people who are interested in developing understandings of bilingualism.

Speakers: Professor Antonella Sorace - Director of Bilingualism Matters at University of Edinburgh, Louise Glen - Senior Education Officer at Education Scotland, Eòghan Stewart - Gaelic Professional Development Officer at SCILT, Jim Whanell - Chair of the Learning Committee at Bòrd na Gàidhlig

Date/Time: Monday 11 March 2019 / 12.30 - 4pm

Venue: 7 George Square (Room G32), University of Edinburgh

This is a joint seminar between CRFR and the Childhood & Youth Studies Research Group, Moray House School of Education.

Speaker: Dr Urzsula Markowska-Manista, University of Applied Sciences Potsdam

Date/Time: Friday 8 March 2019 / 12noon - 1pm

Venue: Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (Seminar Room), 23 Buccleuch Place

This seminar brings together international award-winning early childhood experts to share evidence on what child-centred practices and spaces look like and why these are important for children.

Speakers: Dr Lynn McNair, OBE and Luke Addison

Date/Time: Thursday 7 March 2019 / 2pm - 3.30pm

Venue: Paterson’s Land (Room 1.26), Moray House School of Education

The 7th Annual Childhood Studies Jamboree is an energetic and interactive mini-conference where more advanced postgraduate students, early career researchers and recent graduates come together to facilitate interactive workshops with students who are earlier on in their academic studies. These workshops deal with research methodologies that directly involve children and young people.

Date/Time: Wednessday 6 March 2019 / 1.30pm - 4.45pm

Venue: Paterson’s Land (Room 1.18), Moray House School of Education