Children’s participation in research: some possibilities and constraints in the current Australian research environment

This article draws attention to a number of critical issues that exist in the current Australian research context which simultaneously enable and constrain children’s participation in research. These include prevailing understandings of children and childhood, the emerging research assessment environment and the ethical frameworks that regulate children’s involvement in qualitative research. The discussion is framed by a number of questions that remain unsettled for the authors as they attempt to pursue research with and for children and young people that is unselfconsciously focused on ‘improving’ rather than ‘proving’ the social conditions that shape their lives.