Building on the positive in children's lives: a co-participatory study on the social construction of children's sense of agency

Abstract

This study is grounded on the argument that agentic experiences and their reflection in supportive social contexts are crucial protective elements mediating children's socio-emotional well-being. Drawing on the socio-cultural perspective, we investigate the ways in which agency is manifested in children's social interactions while they reflect upon their self-taken photos of positive events in their lives. The empirical data were collected with primary school children via the ‘children as co-researchers’ methodology, and were examined via a micro-level interaction analysis of video-recorded photo-reflection situations. The results illuminate interactions in which the children are constructing, maintaining and contesting the cultural practices of what it means to have agency in their social settings in and outside school. The study contributes towards a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between co-participatory practices upon positive in children's lives and the promotion of children's sense of agency that engenders their socio-emotional well-being.