Digital Research with Young Children: Children Voice, Nature and in Cellphilming

 

Researcher reflexivity in studying ethics and agency in participatory research with children is gaining recognition as a critical area of inquiry. Despite growing appreciation for children’s voices, agency, and participation rights, our understanding of how these rights are upheld especially in the ethical use of digital tools and fostering digital dialogue in research with young children, remains underexplored. Cellphilming, as an arts-based participatory research method, shows promise in valuing children’s perspectives, agency, voice and well-being. This study investigates how iPads, as digital tools, can be used by researchers to engage children in research to foster digital dialogue. The focus is on children’s voices in matters concerning them, as outlined in Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989, Article 12). In the project, we used cellphilming both as a method for engaging children and as a medium to communicate children’s concerns and foster digital dialogue. The children were encouraged to use iPads to film anything they wanted, guided by the prompt What message would you share to make the world a better place? This was the same prompt used by the McGill International Cellphilm Festival, lifting our hopes that possible participation in the festival would also motivate their creativity. One of the recurring topics children highlighted during our sessions was their love for going to the park and playing outdoors. Acting on their request, we visited a nearby park and provided them with iPads, asking them to film anything they found interesting. During this exploration, they came across fallen tree logs. They questioned: Why are these trees on the ground? We explained that the trees had fallen during storms and were cut into pieces for removal. One child approached the camera and declared, “It’s not good to kill trees.” Our team edited their footage into a piece titled After Storm. This short film raises more significant questions: Are we, as educators and researchers, doing enough to create spaces where children can critically engage with environmental issues? How can participatory tools like digital storytelling empower children to express and act on their concerns for the natural world?