A “Thick” Conception of Children’s Voices: A Hermeneutical Framework for Childhood Research

Abstract

“Listening to children’s voices” can help foster respectful regard for their experiences and concerns and promote the recognition of children as active agents; that is, persons who have interests and capacities to participate in discussions and decisions that affect them and other people. However, “listening to children’s voices” can have many different forms, and the ways that these voices should be linked to children’s agency can be unclear. I outline several common misconceptions that can impede “listening to children’s voices” as forms of epistemological oppression. I argue for a thick conception of children’s voices, recognizing that children’s expressions are relationally embedded expressions of their agency. Understanding children’s voices and experiences requires hermeneutical approaches that can help discern what is meaningful for a child in a particular situation. I discuss ontological, epistemological, and methodological shifts that are required for hermeneutical inquiry with children and outline specific methods that can be used, oriented by guiding questions. This hermeneutical methodology can help advance our understanding of children’s experiences as well as their aspirations and concerns in research and in professional practice.