Abstract :
[en] The qualitative in-depth Children study presented in this section is the third empirical effort carried out in WP2 in 2018-2019, involving children in pre- and primary school settings and informal after-school contexts in areas characterized by high cultural diversity and social inequality in seven European countries: the Czech Republic, England, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, and Poland. The study was designed to complement the quantitative survey and the qualitative study involving parents, to enable better understanding of experiences, perceptions and opinions of young children from native-born low-income families, and families with ethnic minority and immigrant backgrounds regarding inclusion and well-being at school.
The ISOTIS Children Study aimed at exploring children’s perspectives on inclusion and well-being at school and at identifying facilitating positive elements at school within social, cultural, religious and linguistic differences, what children identified as quality indicators of school inclusiveness and their suggestions to make school more welcoming and inclusive. The study elicited children’s views on inclusion and well-being at school, and beyond this, the study explored a form of education through democracy, examining how a supportive democratic learning environment can be created.
The study intended to provide new perspectives and valuable ideas to inform policy-makers, as well as methodological suggestions to make research with and for children, to enhance inclusive environments through active participation of children and to empower children in their roles as democratic citizens (e.g., Dürr, 2005; Himmelmann, 2001; Johnny, 2005; Osler, 2000; Osler & Starkey, 2006).
A Technical report was delivered when data analysis (and in some countries also the data collection) was still on going. The Report illustrates in details the theoretical framework, the aims and research questions, the methodology and the ethical guidelines applied and the first incomplete version of country reports (see D2.4 Technical report on the Child Interview study. Children’s views on inclusion at school – Isotis web source http://www.isotis.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/D2.4_Technical-Report-on-the-Child-interview-study.pdf).
