Introduction

Overall, children in the UK are at greater risk of living in poverty than other age groups such as pensioners and working-age adults, yet they are not equally exposed to poverty risk. Children in large families, those in single-parent households and those from minority ethnic households are consistently among the most at risk of poverty (Cooper and Hills, 2021; Vizard et al, 2023). That minority ethnic children are over-represented among children in poverty is well cited, and the drivers are often linked to parental labour market outcomes, racial discrimination, different cultural norms among families, as well as the inaccessibility of welfare services for different minority groups (Lister, 2021). Yet, as Lister (2021: 80) argues, the racial patterning of child poverty and the particular vulnerabilities of some children, including refugee and asylum-seeking, children are too often overlooked. This can be extended to other children in migrant families who are not fleeing war and persecution but who are affected by similar challenges, including exclusion from mainstream social security structures which in the UK context is referred to as ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) restrictions.

Increasingly, research has documented the experiences of destitution and poverty among children and families living in the UK who are restricted from accessing state support due to immigration policies (Dexter et al, 2016; Dickson, 2019; Pinter et al, 2020; Jolly et al, 2022). Immigration policy and legislation make explicit that most migrants and their dependents who come to the UK should be excluded from accessing income-based benefits, including those targeting children in families living on low income, and regardless of need. This is a form of structural inequality which overwhelmingly affects children from minority ethnic households. Some of those experiencing deep, persistent poverty include thousands of children from Black and Asian families who were born in the UK or are themselves British citizens (Woolley, 2019) but whose parents migrated here largely from former British colonies (Pinter et al, 2020). Although there are significant data gaps, analysis shows that migrants are generally at a higher risk of living in poverty than those born in the UK and the gap is greater for children (Hughes and Kenway, 2016; Vizard et al, 2023).

Chapter 2 provides a historical overview of childhoods and children, illustrating how the concept of childhood has developed over time. The discussion focusses on how adults working with children, including applied linguists, need to reflect on the implications of their belief systems and their conceptions of children and childhood. The chapter then elaborates on the most notable conceptions of childhood, including the universal view. It then introduces Childhood Studies, a multidisciplinary approach to studying children from bottom up. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and its proposal that children are rights-bearing citizens and their voices must be heard are introduced, and the discussion addresses how the proposed rights can be realised in practice by schools, communities and individual adult researchers. The main contributions of Childhood Studies over the last three and half decades are summarised to draw attention to some current issues and concerns. Finally, the chapter outlines the main components of the extended framework, which includes possibilities for conducting studies not just ‘on’ and ‘about’ but also ‘with’ and ‘by’ children.

Chapter 7 addresses key global and local (macro and micro) ethical dilemmas when working with children, particularly when they are in active roles. It outlines generic ethical issues relevant to research with under-18s and addresses ethical issues when moving from research ‘on’ and ‘about’ to research ‘with’ and ‘by’ children. As well as addressing the origins and main dilemmas of child-focussed ethics, the chapter evaluates several existing international ethics guidelines for research involving child participants that are potentially relevant for applied linguistics, drawing out challenges, opportunities and tensions. It revisits the key messages of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as a point of reference for ethical research practice, addresses the process of securing child consent or assent and discusses good practice when securing permissions from other stakeholders. Ethical issues, specifically when working with multilingual children and families, are covered as well as how ethical guidelines must be sensitive to cultural, social and contextual circumstances, making reference to issues in different contexts, including those in the Global South.

Chapter 4 explores how schools can embrace participatory research with children or child-led research, first exploring the concept of child- or learner-centredness. Child-centred research is linked to child-centred and early childhood education, to participatory research in an emancipatory sense, such as that inspired by Freire (1972, 1974), and rooted in the key articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) emphasising children’s voice and rights. Child-centredness is also congruous with democratic working patterns and autonomous ways of learning (Little et al., 2017), with autonomy-promoting schools driven by the core principles of self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2021) and alternative inquiry-based pedagogies (Hatch, 2014; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009). Institutions that embrace a child-centred approach to teaching and learning and take student voice and rights and a democratic way of working seriously will accommodate child-led research or research with children more easily and meaningfully. The alternative framework for research with children promoted in this volume is revisited to tease out the main opportunities and challenges associated with it.

Chapter 1 introduces my personal motivation to write this book, outlines where the gap is in the child second language literature and why it would be desirable to complement the currently largely adult-focussed research by incorporating children’s views and perspectives, in particular by encouraging more active roles for children in research. Some basic premises and key terms are outlined.

Chapter 8, the final chapter, summarises the main arguments developed in the book and reiterates the case for promoting the extended framework of working with children in applied linguistics. The chapter discusses the main opportunities and challenges going forward and emphasises that future research with children needs to stay relevant and address children’s future needs and realities. Incorporating the extended framework into applied linguistics research would mean rebalancing the current trend in research and serving communities of children more directly. Future studies where researchers embrace more active roles for children will spark inspired debate and discussion, with the potential to move the field forward.