Dr Annamaria Pinter

1. India: Teachers working with children as co-
researchers (ELTRP award British Council 2015)
Annamaria Pinter (with Rama Mathew and Richard Smith)
LLTA Talk: 9 March 2016

2. Research on, about, with and by children
On
Children are passive;
Unknowing objects;
Interest in large numbers, trends and averages
Everything is adult-motivated;
About
There is interest in the individual learners;
Smaller groups, case studies;
Attempt to understand children but still from an adult
perspective
With
Children are partners in research
Perspective shift: they can contribute to some or all of the stages of
the research process;
Gradually taking more responsibility
By
research conducted entirely by children;
Types of roles

3. Children as co-investigators: from active participants
to co-researchers
Children as active
participants who are
aware and interested
to contribute
Children as active
participants who
have spent some
time working
alongside adults and
taking responsibility
for various aspects of
the research process
Children as fully
fledged researchers
taking full control of
the process

4. The project in India
 Partner institution: University of Delhi,
 A group of 25 teachers and upwards 800 children;
 Mentors and teachers;
 A series of workshops ( February 2015, September 2015, February
2016) organised to explore the feasibility of working with children
as co-researchers in classrooms;
 Facebook group community;

6. The project in India
 Data: workshop activities, interviews with teachers,
mentors; presentations by teachers at workshops;
reflective diaries; conference presentations, interviews
with the children and products from classrooms;
 Children also attend workshops ( and a lot of ‘outsiders’);
 Layers of research activity; (teacher educators, mentors,
teachers, children);

8. How does it work in practice?
• Learners make choices;
• Initiate activities;
• Suggest content;
• Attend conferences
with us;
• Progress on the
continuum of becoming
researchers;

9. Foci for data analysis
 Children’s views about English and its role;
 Children’s views about becoming co-researchers;
 Tracking children’s development in English ( and teachers’
English development);
 Mentors’ and teachers’ professional development;
 The role of facilitators;
 Appropriate research ethics;

10. Some links with professional
development for participating teachers
 Changing views about teaching and learning
 Appreciating the learning community
 Understanding about research and own L2 development;
 Lasting change in practice/influencing others
 The impact on the children

11. Once the project is over
 Sustainability;
 Products, joint publication plans and a writing workshop;
 Conference talks;
 The ‘impact’ plan;