Using the talking album to elicit the views of young children in foster care regarding a reading intervention

Abstract

There is wide ranging research that uses innovative methods to seek the views of children in out-of-home care. In the area of education, this group of children increasingly participate in research that involves various educational interventions (including book-gifting, tutoring, paired reading), that are designed to improve their educational attainment and achievements. Despite the overall growth in research evidence, there remains an absence of widely reported research on children’s views of the educational interventions that they are involved in and secondly, an absence of more reflective contributions that outline the methodological opportunities and challenges involved. This paper makes a contribution to both areas by reporting both the findings of and critical reflections on the use of an innovative method, the Talking Album, to gather the views of young children, aged 7–9 years old, regarding a reading intervention they were involved in, known as the Reading Together programme. The methodological approach is outlined. Informed by the basic principles underpinning children’s rights as set out in the UNCRC, key learning on the selection, introduction, and support of such methods/tools is reflected upon. From the findings and reflections, recommendations for future research that concerns interventions with children are made.