The tree(s) of hope and ambition: An arts-based social science informed, participatory research method to explore children's future hopes, ambitions and support in relation to COVID-19

Williams, Sara; McEwen, Lindsey Jo; Gorell Barnes, Luci; Deave, Toity; Webber, Amanda; Jones, Verity; Fogg‐Rogers, Laura; Gopinath, Deepak; Hobbs, Laura

Abstract

This paper offers a new child-centred methodology that explores children's visions of their futures, encourages self-reflection and depth and shares children's voices with peers and researchers, as unbrokered as possible. This final stage of a longitudinal, arts-based, social science-informed project was delivered by partnering with schools in socially disadvantaged areas of Bristol, a UK city. Our two-phase activity used a Tree metaphor to explore children's hopes, ambitions and support, looking forward to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis combined multi-disciplinary thematic and visual-narrative analysis, and revealed diversity, intersection and individuality in themes that scaled out from the child and their family over different timescales. Themes included emotion (concerns; empathy), experiences (happenings, resources skills; aspirations) and relationships, linked to their recent experiences of COVID-19 mitigation. The paper reflects critically on children's and researchers' positionality, and the complexities involved in developing research methods that encourage children's autonomy, agency and authenticity.

Citation

Williams, S., McEwen, L. J., Gorell Barnes, L., Deave, T., Webber, A., Jones, V., …Hobbs, L. (2023). The tree(s) of hope and ambition: An arts-based social science informed, participatory research method to explore children's future hopes, ambitions and support in relation to COVID-19. Children & Society, 37(5), 1356-1375. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12767

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 26, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jun 19, 2023
• Publication Date: Sep 30, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jul 3, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 17, 2023
• Journal: Children and Society
• Print ISSN: 0951-0605
• Electronic ISSN: 1099-0860
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 37
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 1356-1375
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12767
• Keywords: Arts-based methods; children; future(s); health and well-being; hope(s); pandemic; COVID-19
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10900949
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/chso.12767
• Additional Information: A subset of consented children's artwork and associated documentation will be available from Bristol Archives at the project end (Summer 2022).