ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN: THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL PATHS

Abstract

This paper discusses methodological issues in educational research with young children. It approaches qualitative ethnographic research, highlighting participant observation as one of the most appropriate strategies for research developed in schools for children in the first two years of basic education, in other words, students between six and seven years old. It is suggested that ethnographic research and participant observation can diminish the differences between observer (adult) and observed (kids), when considering the peer culture in childhood , allowing the researcher to insert itself in a more properly way on a cultural reality of a given group. Furthermore, it is necessary to respect ethical principles, consider the specificities of young children and use various strategies to generate empirical data in order to enable them to participate more actively in educational research in which the object of study is childhood. Thus, young children could be recognized as producers of knowledge and subject of the investigative process.

http://dx.doi.org/10.14572/nuances.v25i2.3189