Engaging young children in research through photo elicitation

Embracing the new sociology of childhood, this paper describes a participatory research method built on a belief in the competency of young children. The paper begins with a critical review of the photo elicitation literature exploring the varied levels of children's participation. Drawing on the strengths of the previous research, a multi-step photo elicitation method was developed and implemented with 32 kindergarten-aged children that provided opportunities for the collection of both verbal and non-verbal data. These young participants both supported and provided additional insights into the method while demonstrating their ability to contribute meaningfully to research about their classroom-based learning experiences.