From space and voice to audience and influence: Methodological approaches to inclusive co-research with young children

This paper presents a methodological reflection on an arts-based practitioner inquiry project conducted in an inclusive early childhood setting in Australia. Drawing on Lundy's model of participation, describing space, voice, audience and influence, the paper explores how research with young children can move from tokenistic towards meaningful collaboration. The study involved 26 children aged three to six years and six practitioners (two teachers and four educators), working collaboratively with a university-based researcher over a 3-month period. The participant group was diverse, including children from varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds, children who use non-dominant communication modes, neurodivergent children, and a child who uses a mobility aid. Children participated as co-researchers using iterative, multimodal methods such as drawing, building, photography, storytelling, and revisiting artefacts. Informed by the Mosaic approach, arts-based research, practitioner inquiry, relational ethics, and inclusive pedagogy, the methodological design centred practitioner knowledge, co-design, and children's diverse communicative repertoires. Practitioners supported children to share, revisit, and refine their ideas, leading to changes within the centre and contributing to changes in a local public playspace. This paper examines the processes through which communication rights were upheld, including how diverse modes of expression were supported and how children's contributions were recognised, respected, and acted upon within and beyond the setting. By focusing on methodologies, the paper contributes to current conversations about respecting and responding to children in all their diverse communicative repertoires. It offers practical insights for researchers and practitioners seeking to enact inclusive, responsive, and rights-based research approaches that reposition children as active participants in the research process.