Child participation beyond the adult realm: Participatory Design in nature-play contexts
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2019
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In this dissertation, I address the research question: 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 “𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥-𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦-𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘴” 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥-𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘊𝘊𝘐)? Child participation is now common practice in CCI as it leads to improved outcomes and gives children a say in design decisions. However, current theoretical and methodological understandings of child participation are primarily derived from studies situated within adult-led institutional contexts (e.g. design labs, school classrooms, museum or libraries), where the objectives and qualities of participatory activities are designed and directed by adults, and echo socio-cultural norms, values and expectations embedded in these settings. By situating participatory design within this novel context, the dissertation presents four knowledge contributions to current discussions of child participation in CCI. Firstly, the 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩-𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥 which details the approaches and techniques to support children set the directions for digital design within their child-led nature-play contexts. Secondly, the 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵-𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦, which is a relational, dynamic, reflexive role for the adult researcher to promote child-led forms of participation through design. Thirdly, by drawing on the theory of emplacement (Howes 2005), research reveals how the design location (place) and artefacts shape children’s participation in design, an elements of PD contexts that are commonly overlooked in CCI. Finally, I propose a 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 as an ‘emplaced’ phenomenon that emerges through dynamic interactions between human and non-human actors in a design ‘place’.
The dissertational work was conducted as a three-year action research process departing from current research in CCI and childhood studies to support child-led envisioning of digital applications for their play.
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