This paper shares methodological insights from our research which sought to centre children in the production of knowledge during the 2020 global pandemic to consider how this can inform research with children beyond the crisis. Drawing on our longitudinal participatory arts-based research with 30 children aged 9-12 during 2020-22, the paper…

This article considers ways in which toys have featured in children's play throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst often dismissed as trivial novelties, toys can be seen as a significant aspect of material culture, both reflecting and constructing ideas of childhood. A multimodal social semiotic perspective is used to examine a selection of toys…

During crisis times, what children are playing and what grown-ups think their games signify can become a focus of adult anxiety. The Play Observatory, a COVID-19 research project, drew on folklore studies and cultural histories of childhood to collect, document and understand what children were playing and doing during extraordinary times, in ways…

The Play Observatory was a COVID-19 rapid response project funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) exploring children's play experiences during the pandemic through an online survey, case studies and a filmmaking workshop. With access to many of the usual spaces and places of play curtailed during the lockdowns of the pandemic, in this…

The outburst of the coronavirus pandemic in Poland has led to specific measures related to COVID, which affected unequally different age groups. Children were presented as "spreaders" of the disease, and a threat to the societies' safety. Such fears led to new disciplining practices, such as prohibiting children from leaving the house…

This paper applies a posthumanist lens, informed by the work of Hollett and Ehret and of Ingold, to consider children's playful affective entanglements with the human and the more-than-human during fluctuating periods of social distancing in the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this refracting theoretical lens, I (re)examine a selection of play and…

Young people's heterosexual romantic relationships is often a popular topic in youth studies and sexuality education. However, the importance of class and educational stratification and the institutional influence is rarely mentioned. Through this article, considering the differentiated expectation of young people in different high school…

Children's right to be heard is an issue raised in recent years in the Global North, which has also been acknowledged by Chinese researchers currently studying child development and education. However, Chinese researchers still often prefer the perspectives of adults in their research on young children, citing a lack of suitable methodologogy for…

This paper examines the experiences of nine Chinese girls and young women as they explore and negotiate queer subjectivities within the constraints of patriarchal and (hetero)sexual norms surrounding girlhood and young femininity. I focus on filial piety ("xiaoshun") as a normative gendered discourse being reconfigured in changing…

The development of sustainable early childhood education advocates for the holistic development of all children, including children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As an important indicator of children's social development, peer relationships between children with and without ASD in inclusive kindergarten have not gained much attention.…

Through interpreting the status of Hoche language and cultural practices from community voices, this ethnographic case study conducted in a minority language school centers on five Han and Hoche ethnic minority children's positions toward multi-language learning. My research explores how these children negotiate the policies and multilingual…

The family is often thought of as a private space. Relatively little research has been done on the childhood space of the family. Although the family is often considered a warm haven for children to grow up in, it is also a space for child-adult conflict. Based on the researcher's self-parenting diary, this paper uses thematic analysis and…

This article examines the local evaluation and assessment practices of Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) based on Actor-Network Theory (ANT). We employ the concept of translation to discuss how evaluation and assessment practices unfold in networks and how actors come together in negotiations and contestations that seek to orient…

How parents spend time with their children, what they teach their children and how they raise them in the early years have again become topics of policymaking and public debate. There is an intensive discussion about parental involvement in early childhood education and care (ECEC). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's…

According to the national framing of the Swedish preschool system, educators are expected to act as mediators of the dominant language while simultaneously promoting multilingualism. Previous research shows that educators display an insecurity as well as a lack of knowledge of how to implement this dual undertaking. This article examines…