Involving Voices of Young Children in Research – Practical Learnings from the MHIPS Program
Tracks
Springbrook Room - In Person Only
| Tuesday, March 19, 2024 |
| 11:40 AM - 12:00 PM |
| Springbrook Room |
Overview
Carla Pozo Jeria, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Details
Presentation Key Learnings
1. Recognising the crucial role of including children’s voices in school mental health research to enhance the effectiveness and relevance of policies and practices
2. Highlighting existing gaps in methods for capturing child voice
3. Practical learnings, including the conceptual framework, barriers, and enablers. The findings contribute to the broader field by demonstrating how to meaningfully involve child voices in school mental health research, advocating for child-friendly approaches and paving the way for future practices.
Speaker
Miss Carla Pozo Jeria
MHIPS Evaluation Manager
Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Involving Voices of Young Children in Research – Practical Learnings from the MHIPS Program
Abstract
Involving Voices of Children in Research – practical learnings from the Mental Health in Primary Schools Initiative
Authors: Carla Pozo1, Lisa Haythorpe1,2, Rachel Smith1 & Simone Darling1
1Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2 Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne
Inclusion of children’s voices in research and evaluation ensures a comprehensive understanding of their unique experiences and needs, providing the opportunity to enhance the effectiveness and relevance of school policies and practices. However, children’s voices, particularly young children, are often absent in research that affects them, and school mental health research is no exception (Fazel & Hoagwood, 2021). Research methods designed to capture the voice of children aged under 12 years olds in conversations around their experience in school mental health programs is limited. We aimed to address this gap by developing a tailored, developmentally-appropriate approach to including the voice of primary school aged children in an evaluation of a school-based mental health initiative. As part of the evaluation of the Mental Health in Primary Schools Initiative, 16 focus groups were conducted with students in years 4 and 5 (10-11 years old) from a sub-sample of 14 participating Victorian primary schools to obtain their perspectives on the initiative.
The insights and experiences of the researchers in developing and implementing the focus groups with primary school aged children will be shared, including conceptual framework, the main barriers and enablers in conducting this approach, and practical learnings on how to meaningfully involve child voice in school mental health research.
We hope that our experience amplifying the voices of children around school mental health programs and policies informs future practice across sectors. Particularly in the design of child-friendly approaches and in minimising the barriers to listen to children’s perspectives in matters that will impact them directly.
Authors: Carla Pozo1, Lisa Haythorpe1,2, Rachel Smith1 & Simone Darling1
1Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2 Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne
Inclusion of children’s voices in research and evaluation ensures a comprehensive understanding of their unique experiences and needs, providing the opportunity to enhance the effectiveness and relevance of school policies and practices. However, children’s voices, particularly young children, are often absent in research that affects them, and school mental health research is no exception (Fazel & Hoagwood, 2021). Research methods designed to capture the voice of children aged under 12 years olds in conversations around their experience in school mental health programs is limited. We aimed to address this gap by developing a tailored, developmentally-appropriate approach to including the voice of primary school aged children in an evaluation of a school-based mental health initiative. As part of the evaluation of the Mental Health in Primary Schools Initiative, 16 focus groups were conducted with students in years 4 and 5 (10-11 years old) from a sub-sample of 14 participating Victorian primary schools to obtain their perspectives on the initiative.
The insights and experiences of the researchers in developing and implementing the focus groups with primary school aged children will be shared, including conceptual framework, the main barriers and enablers in conducting this approach, and practical learnings on how to meaningfully involve child voice in school mental health research.
We hope that our experience amplifying the voices of children around school mental health programs and policies informs future practice across sectors. Particularly in the design of child-friendly approaches and in minimising the barriers to listen to children’s perspectives in matters that will impact them directly.
Biography
Carla Pozo (BA, MEd)
Carla Pozo is the MHIPS Qualitative Evaluation Coordinator at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Her areas of practice are Evaluation, Qualitative Research and Project Management. She is currently a student of the Master of Evaluation at the University of Melbourne.
Carla is passionate about Education and is interested in the meaningful involvement of children’s voices in evaluation and research.
