Beyond “Voice”: New roles, relations, and contexts in researching with young people

Abstract

The immediate roots of this Special Issue of Discourse lie in a seminar series funded by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) in England that took place between 2004 and 2006 and involved Manchester Metropolitan, Nottingham and Sussex Universities and the National College for School Leadership. The title of the seminar series, “Engaging Critically with Pupil Voice: Children and young people as partners in school and community change” [RES-451-26-0165] points to one of the key issues that runs through the papers that make up this Special Issue, a concern that the wider context of “New Wave” student voice movements (Fielding, 2004) are subjected to more intellectually demanding and experientially grounded scrutiny than is currently the case. Only then will it help those interested in the field to develop a more critically reflexive praxis that exposes and opposes the incorporation of student voice into the machinery of the status quo. Only then will it offer researchers working with young people new perspectives and new possibilities that both affirm and challenge existing work in a domain that is likely to continue to grow in range and importance in the coming decade in a number of countries across the world.