Taking on a child’s perspective

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Oslo, Norway, March 10-13, 2005

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ABSTRACT When conducting research taking on different perspectives is a common way of

reduction, concentrating the illumination of a phenomenon from a specific direction. It’s the teacher’s, the parent’s, the school nurse’s or the children’s perspective that is in focus at different times. What does it really mean to take on a perspective in general and specifically a child’s perspective? What insures that one has taken on a child’s perspective? One aspect of taking on a perspective can be understood based on Max van Manen’s and Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s thoughts as understanding the world through somebody else’s experiences. In addition Alfred Schutz points out that it is in the “world of directly experienced social reality” where meetings take place that changes in perspectives are based on. Their thoughts and ideas will be discussed as well as questions like; What kind of consequences does taking on a child’s perspective have on the research method?; What are the limitations with taking on a child’s perspective? and; How are these limitations handled?

Session: Philosophy of Education Language: English

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Doctoral student, Catrine Kostenius-Foster, Luleå University of Technology, Department of Health Sciences, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden, Phone: +46 (0)921-57988, E-mail: Catrine Kostenius-Foster @ltu.se