Why do we listen to children?

We listen to children because:n it acknowledges their right to be

listened to and for their views andexperiences to be taken seriouslyabout matters that affect them

n of the difference listening can maketo our understanding of children’s

priorities, interests and concernsn of the difference it can make to our

understanding of how children feelabout themselves

n listening is a vital part ofestablishing respectful relationshipswith the children we work with andis central to the learning process.

Who benefits from listening?

Listening is important for the childrenwho are being listened to but also for theadults who are listening, whether athome or outside the home, in an earlyyears setting, a school, at a localauthority level or in national government.

Benefits to young children

Everyday experiences can changeIf young children’s views and experiencesare taken seriously then adults maydecide to make changes to children’sdaily routines. This may include, forexample, enabling children to helpthemselves to water through the day, ormay result in changes to other routines,such as children gaining open access tothe outdoors.

Raising self-esteemIf young children feel their views arerespected and valued by adults then

Listening as a way of life-Marie McAuliffe

Why and how we listen to young childrenAlison Clark

Listening to children is an integral part of understanding what they are feelingand what it is they need from their early years experience. ‘Listening’ in thisdocument is defined as:

n An active process of receiving, interpreting and responding to communication. It includes all the senses and emotions and is not limited to the spoken word.

n A necessary stage in ensuring the participation of all children.n An ongoing part of tuning in to all children as individuals in their everyday

lives.n Sometimes part of a specific consultation about a particular entitlement,

choice, event or opportunity.

Understanding listening in this way is key to providing an environment in whichall children feel confident, safe and powerful, ensuring they have the time andspace to express themselves in whatever form suits them.

Why and how we listen to young children2

this can have a positive effect on theirself-confidence. This can be ofparticular benefit to those childrenwho find it hardest to communicatetheir perspectives or who have hadlimited experience of adults who listento them.

Developing skills and understandingsYoung children may also gain new skillsas their confidence builds. These caninclude social skills, such as being ableto talk to children who they have onlyjust met, and to adults. Listeningactivities may offer children theopportunity to gain additional practicalskills, for example, how to operate acamera. Listening to young childrencan create the time and space in whichthey can reflect on their early yearsexperience and in so doing, help them

to process and understand what ishappening. ’It’s not so much a matterof eliciting children’s preformed ideasand opinions, it’s much more aquestion of enabling them to explorethe ways in which they perceive theworld and communicate their ideas in away that is meaningful to them’.(Tolfree and Woodhead 1999, p.2)

Benefits to practitioners and parents

Challenges assumptionsListening to young children canchallenge assumptions and raiseexpectations. Seeing and hearingchildren express their interests andpriorities can provide unexpectedinsights into their capabilities.Practitioners and parents may seechildren in a new light.

This impact of listening has beenrecorded by practitioners who wereinvolved in the Effective Early Learning(EEL) programme: ‘One of the mostrewarding aspects of our involvementwith the EEL project has been thechildren’s responses to the interviewschedules. Their views on the way theschool is run, the teachers’ jobs and theparents’ involvement have beenexpressed very naturally and with greatinsight. They also come up with somesurprises and made us think.’(School Enquiry and ResearchNewsletter (2000) quoted in Dupree,Bertram and Pascal 2001, p.19)

Reciprocal processWorking in a more democratic way withyoung children can relieve practitionersand parents from the burden of needingto know all the answers. Listening toyoung children may reveal differentpossibilities for engaging children andnew interests to explore together.

Child protectionThere is the possibility that listening toyoung children may lead to somechildren sharing serious concerns. Thisis more likely to be the case if listeningis embedded in everyday practice and iflistening to children is not limited toadult-led agendas. Such circumstancesmay be rare but reflect theresponsibilities that come from takingchildren seriously.

Listening to children’s and adults’ experiences - a washing line fence featuring memorable clothes resultingfrom a community arts project at Sure Start Blakenall. Acknowledgement: Karl Lewis, Bostin Arts

Cathy was a shy child who had taken a long time tosettle in the nursery. Her keyworker commented onhow Cathy’s confidence had grown during the periodshe was involved in the listening project. She had takengreat pleasure in taking her own photographs and

making her maps. These she was happy to show withgreat pride to her parents and keyworker.

(Case study from Clark and Moss 2001)

Case studyBenefits of listening to children

Why and how we listen to young children 3

Benefits to early years provision

Opportunity to reflect on practiceThe sharing of children’s perspectives canprovide the chance for early yearspractitioners to reconsider therelationships they have established withyoung children as well as to rethinkroutines and activities. This process ofreflection can be ‘contagious’ in a multi-agency environment, with changes toone service’s practice leading to changesin neighbouring services.

Opportunity to reflect on theenvironmentYoung children can make insightfulcomments about their indoor andoutdoor spaces. This information canbe used to inform changes to existingprovision or to contribute to newdesigns and buildings.

How can we listen?

How we listen to young children willdepend on why we are listening. We maybe wanting to:n tune in to children as part of their

everyday livesn listen as part of a specific

consultation about a particularentitlement, choice, event oropportunity

n find out about their thoughts andfeelings.

Foundations for listening

Whatever methods we use to help us tolisten, there are certain principles whichprovide the foundations for listening.Being a skilful listener is not easy. Itrequires practitioners to show respect,honesty and patience, be sensitive totiming, be imaginative and workcollaboratively.

RespectEffective listening requires respect forwhoever we are listening to. We needto believe that children of all ages,backgrounds and abilities are importantand unique and worth listening to. Thisis connected to our view of children:do we see the child we are workingwith as a strong child, a skilfulcommunicator, a competent learnerand a healthy child? This includesbabies, and children who may be seenas having communication or otherdifficulties.

Openness and collaborationListening requires us to be sensitive to avariety of ways of expressing feelings.Children are individuals, with differentcultural and ethnic backgrounds, andthey may use a variety of ways tocommunicate their perspectives whichrequire us to be open, receptive andwilling to learn. Similarly we need to

Wistanstow Under Fives meets in a village hall withmock Tudor beams. This is a shared community space,used by a variety of groups during the week. Despite therestrictions of the space the emphasis is on listening to,and acting upon, the children’s wishes, opinions andinterests.

One example arose over a child’s enquiry aboutChildren’s Day.

The play leader had been talking about Mother’s Daywith a group of children when one child remarked: ‘Wehave Mother’s Day and Father’s Day so why don’t wehave Children’s Day?’

The play leader explained she didn’t know why in thiscountry we don’t so she asked the children if they wouldlike to have a Children’s Day and if so what they would

like to do? They were keen to have such a day and cameup with the idea of painting the hall pink!

Initially this might have seemed like an impossiblesuggestion for this shared space. But the playgroup tookthe children’s idea seriously, worked with it and came upwith an imaginative solution. On Children’s Day therewas a party where the children could make specialglasses and choose the colour of the lenses, so theycould make the hall pink…or whatever colour they liked.

This case study illustrates an early years setting wherelistening to and involving young children is embedded inpractice (see Miller 1997). The practitioners have foundcreative ways to place young children and their ideas‘centre stage’ – despite the restrictions of the premises.

(Case study from Clark, McQuail and Moss 2003)

Case studyChildren’s day

Why and how we listen to young children4

respond to the preferred ways whichchildren choose to communicate theirviews and experiences. This isparticularly important with disabledchildren.

One way to achieve this may be to workclosely with parents or other adults whoknow the children well. Listening can bea collaborative activity.

HonestyHonesty is required to make listeningeffective. We need to be clear aboutwhy we are listening. If we are listeningto children’s views and experiencesabout a particular issue, we need toexplain this carefully to children in waysappropriate to their levels ofunderstanding.

We need to be honest about how far wemay be able to act upon children’s viewsand to explain how other people’s viewsmay need to be taken into account.We need to be honest in feeding backthe outcome of a consultation sochildren can see how their views havebeen taken seriously and where and whyit hasn’t been possible to act on theirsuggestions.

Patience and timingEffective listening takes time. Patience isessential when working with very youngchildren, especially if they havecommunication difficulties.

Listening requires us to be sensitive totiming. The best times for listening willvary according to individual children’semotions, feelings and routines. How weourselves are feeling will also effect howwell we are able to listen.

Children’s timing may be different fromour own. Children may choose to expresstheir feelings and wishes at the verymoment we are least prepared.

ImaginationWe must use all our senses, not just ourhearing. This includes using our eyes,sense of touch, and smell, in order tolisten to how children arecommunicating to us. We needimagination in order to design ways oflistening which are enjoyable and variedand which take into account children’sdifferent strengths and abilities.Imagination may often be required inorder to act upon young children’s ideasand expressed interests.

Ways of listening

We can use a range of ways of listeningto young children, a selection of whichare listed below. Different tools havestrengths and limitations. More than oneapproach can be used at the same time.Choosing which to use will depend onour skills, those of the children we workwith and their ages, and the time, spaceand resources available. Several tools usethe arts, whether visual arts orperforming arts, as a means of listening.

Observation is an important startingpoint for listening to young children. Thisbuilds on a strong tradition within earlyyears practice of using observation as atool for understanding young children’sabilities, needs and interests (for example,Paley 1981 and 1997).

Interviews are among the most popularmethod for gathering the views of olderchildren and adults. This formal talkingneeds to be adapted to be appropriate foryoung children. Group interviews can beused, following a similar approach to‘circle time’ (Miller 1997). Interviews canbe conducted ‘on the move’ (for example,Clark and Moss 2001). Child-to-childinterviews offer a different approachwhere older children can act asconsultants to younger children (forexample, see Johnson and others 1998).

Children can respond to formal andinformal opportunities for talking(Cousins 1999).

Still and moving film can open up newways of young children communicatingtheir perspectives. Projects have usedsingle use cameras, ‘polaroids’, digital stillcameras and video cameras with childrenaged three years and above (Clark andMoss 2001; Lancaster and Broadbent2003). This builds on innovative workwith older children, where photographyhas proved to be a valuable medium forchildren to communicate theirperspectives about their schools andneighbourhoods (for example, Smith andBarker 1999; Morrow 2001). Walker(1993) has described this as the ‘silentvoice of the camera’. Listening to childrentakes place through the process of thechildren choosing and taking the images,as well as in discussing the final product.

Performing arts and play can provide anatural way for young children tocommunicate with adults. Role playactivities can include the use of toys andpuppets as ‘intermediaries’ inconsultations. The Daycare Trust (1998),for example, used a teddy bear as astarting point for young children talkingabout their nurseries.

Visual arts provide a variety of different‘languages’ for young children tocommunicate their perspectives. Thislinks to Malaguzzi’s idea of the ‘hundredlanguages of children’ (Edwards, Gandiniand Foreman 1998). Visual tools forlistening can include painting anddrawing (Lancaster 2003; Coates 2003)and model making and map making(Hart 1997; Clark and Moss 2001).Listening to children while they are inthe process of making is often asimportant as talking about the finalproduct (Coates 2003). Children candemonstrate their interests and priorities

Why and how we listen to young children 5

through the visual arts. This may includechildren with linguistic communicationdifficulties or other disabilities whomight find a formal interview difficult.Artists and community arts teams maybe a useful resource for practitioners tocall on for consultations, in addition topractitioners’ everyday work on listening.

Possibilities and challenges

What possibilities are there for listeningto young children and what are thechallenges?

Possibilities

There are many possibilities for includingyoung children’s views and experiences.Here are some suggestions, but there willbe others according to the context youare working in.

n Times of transition – Listening inimaginative ways can supportchildren as they adjust to change. Thismight be a whole class event such asstarting in a new class or movingclassrooms, or on a personal levelhelping children talk about a newsibling.

n Assessment – Children can play anactive role in recording their progressand identifying what they haveenjoyed or found difficult. Involvingchildren in this way can also open upfurther channels of communicationwith parents.

n Internal audits – Listening to youngchildren could add to annual reviewsand help to identify activities, placesand people of importance from thechildren’s perspective.

n Parent’s centre – Listening to youngchildren can be the focus of work

with parents/family members andcarers and their children, looking atdifferent ways children, from birth,listen and communicate.

n Outdoor environment – Listening tohow young children use existingoutdoor provision can be animportant starting point for planningchange.

n Indoor provision – Listening canreveal concerns about how childrencan or cannot access resources andequipment.

Challenges

Listening to young children places a greatresponsibility on each of the adultsinvolved and requires skill, understanding,time and space.n Taking children seriously – Children

need to know that their views and

Sure Start Blakenall in Walsall, working with WalsallCommunity Arts team, commissioned an artist from BostinArts to listen to the views and experiences of youngchildren, parents and older members of the communityand to use these ideas as a basis for planned artworkswithin the proposed new Sure Start building.

Phase one: Talking and makingThe artist ran arts activities in different locations across thearea. The aim was to find out from local residents of allages what is was like to grow up in this part of Walsall. Thiswork included visits to centres with pre-school groups andalso interviewing adults and young children in the street. Arts activities included making a height chart with childrenfrom a local playgroup, including pictures of things theyliked to do. Other sessions involved taking photographs ofthe children and making mobiles of favourite things. (Note: It is always important to seek the permission of thechild’s parent/carer as some families may not want theirchildren to be photographed.)

These arts activities were the basis for talking and listening.The young children’s and adults’ views and experienceswere collected in scrapbooks.

Phase two: Listening turned into designThe artist used the comments and ideas from thescrapbooks to identify key themes. These formed the basisfor discussion with the architect and the building steeringgroup. Examples of design features incorporated into thefinal building include a glass wall containing hand andfoot prints of babies, older children and adults, andfencing made into a washing line design incorporatingcutouts of memorable clothes. This Sure Start programmehas demonstrated an imaginative approach to listening toand involving young children. The organisation has takenseriously the need to consult young children and haschosen to use the expertise of a community arts team tohelp to do so.

(Case study from Clark, McQuail and Moss (2003)

Case studyListening to children and parents

Why and how we listen to young children6

experiences are valued and notridiculed or ignored. This involvesdemonstrating that we take themseriously. When it is not possible toact upon their ideas then we needto explain this to children.

n Responding to what children say –Listening to young children’s viewsand not responding could have anegative impact: ‘Asking childrenwhat they think, but taking it nofurther will send a message thatthere is little real interest in theirview’ (Mooney and Blackburn2002).

drive to listen to and consultchildren becomes another invasionof their time, thoughts and spacesrather than an empowering process.There will always be the need fordiscussion and negotiation withchildren about what material isprivate knowledge and what can beshared and with whom.

n Time to listen – Listening to youngchildren cannot be a rushed activity.The younger the child the lesspossible and desirable it is to rely ondirect questions. Time to listenshouldn’t be seen as another bolt-onactivity but as an integral part ofevery day.

n Respecting privacy – Adults cannotdemand or require that childrenprovide them with an opportunityto listen to them. Adults shouldrespect children’s privacy andsilence as well as their expressedopinions. There is the risk that the

To explore the role emotion plays in painting or art-making, we painted a 'tree of feelings', a branch potted insand and water. A tree of feelings represents a boundedspace that allows children to keep on adding or takingaway photos, drawings, pictures and messages about howthey are currently feeling.

We talked about colour with the children: 'What coloursdo you like or dislike? What is your favourite colour? Whydo you like or dislike these colours?' Jack said his favourite colours were: 'Gold and blackbecause I like Sonic and Brother Shadow ... He turns bad ...Black and red ... bad. Gold because I love money.' Jacob said: 'Gold because it shines. Red for Liverpoolfootball.' Rachel said: 'Pink because I have a pink dress ... Barbiewears pink.' Johnny said: 'Silver because it shines.' Helen said: 'Pink, it's in my bedroom in my new house ... Ilove my house. '

They then chose the colours they liked or disliked, thatmade them happy or sad and began painting the tree withthese. Spontaneously some children began choosingcolours that reflected their interpretations of how they feltabout parts of the tree. For instance some children

coloured what they saw as peaceful branches with aparticular colour, whilst scary parts were painted withanother colour. The collaboration reflected the differentinterpretations of the children.

After this we asked children to think about the kinds offeelings they experience. Those who wanted to sharedsome of their emotional experiences with the group.They then drew their own pictures to represent some ofthe feelings they had discussed. They then hung them onthe 'tree of feelings'. We then talked to the childrenabout their pictures to find out why they felt aparticular way. Sad faces were about: 'Someone hittingyou', 'Shoving ... pushing', 'When my mum is cross I cry','When I leave Gramps'. Happy faces were about:'Snowflakes falling on my happy head', 'I like growingbeans', 'Walking in an airport', and 'Cuddling'. Thechildren also drew faces that showed they were feelinghungry, cross and sick. Children have spontaneouslycontinued to use the tree to register their feelings.

(Case study from ‘Exploring Feelings’ by Lancaster andBroadbent (2003) in Listening to Young Children.Reproduced with the kind permission of the OpenUniversity Press.)

Case studyThe Tree of Feelings

Why and how we listen to young children 7

Specific information onlistening

Clark, A and Moss, P (2001) Listening toYoung Children – The Mosaic approach.National Children’s Bureau Outlines a new framework for listening toyoung children's perspectives on theirdaily lives called the Mosaic approach

Clark, A, McQuail, S and Moss, P (2003)Exploring the Field of Listening to andInvolving Young Children. ResearchReport 445. DfESThis research study was commissioned bythe Sure Start Unit of the DfES. The aimwas to carry out a state of the art reviewinto listening to and consulting withyoung children under five years old.

Cousins, J (1999) Listening to ChildrenAged Four: Time is as long as it takes.National Early Years NetworkDescribes what the author heard whenlistening to, recording and observing130 children aged four in a variety ofearly years settings, and their teachers.The author also discusses techniques ofobservation. Case studies andquotations from the children illuminatethe text.

Miller, J (1997) Never too Young: Howyoung children can take responsibilityand make decisions. National Early YearsNetwork/Save the ChildrenShows how children under the age ofeight can participate, make decisions andtake responsibility for their actions.

Marchant, R and Gordon, R (2001) Two-Way Street: Communicating withdisabled children. NSPCCA practice guide for involving disabledchildren in assessment, planning andreview processes. Written with help fromdisabled young people, it is full ofpractical ideas for making initial contactwith children, working directly with them,observing children respectfully andrepresenting children's views.

Kirby, P, Lanyon, C, Cronin, K, and Sinclair,R (2003) Building a Culture ofParticipation. National Children's BureauProvides an overview of the range ofparticipation activity currently beingundertaken at local, regional and nationallevels.

ReferencesClark, A and Moss, P (2001) Listening toYoung Children: The Mosaic approach.National Children’s Bureau

Clark, A, McQuail, S and Moss, P (2003)Exploring the Field of Listening to andInvolving Young Children. Research Report445. DfES

Coates, E (2003) ‘‘‘I forgot the sky!’’Children’s stories contained within theirdrawings’ in Lewis, V and others TheReality of Research with Children andYoung People. Sage

Cousins, J (1999) Listening to ChildrenAged Four: Time is as long as it takes.National Early Years Network

Daycare Trust (1998) Listening to Children.Young children’s views on childcare: aguide for parents. Daycare Trust

Delfos, M (2001) Are You Listening To Me?Communicating with children from four totwelve years. Amsterdam: SWP Publishing

Dupree, E, Bertram, T and Pascal, C (2001)Listening to Children’s Perspectives oftheir Early Childhood Settings. Paperpresented at EECERA Conference 2001

Edwards, C, Gandini, L and Foreman, G eds(1998, 2nd edn) The Hundred Languages ofChildren: The Reggio Emilia approach toearly childhood education. New Jersey:Ablex Publishing Corporation

Hart, R (1997) Children’s Participation.Earthscan/UNICEF

Johnson, V and others eds (1998) Stepping Forward. Children and young people’sparticipation in the development process.Intermediate Technology

Lancaster, Y P and Broadbent, V (2003)Listening to Young Children. OpenUniversity Press

Miller, J (1997) Never too Young: Howyoung children can take responsibility andmake decisions. National Early YearsNetwork/Save the Children

Mooney, A and Blackburn, T (2002)Children’s Views on Childcare Quality.Institute of Education, for DfES

Morrow, V (2001) Networks andNeighbourhoods: Children and youngpeople’s perspectives. Health DevelopmentAgency. (http://www.hda-online.org.uk/downloads/pdfs/netneigh.pdf)

Nutbrown, C ed. (1996) RespectfulEducators, Capable Learners: Children’srights and early education. Paul Chapman

Paley, V (1981) Wally’s Stories. Cambridge,Massachusetts and London: HarvardUniversity Press

Paley, V (1997) The Girl with the BrownCrayon: How children use stories to shapetheir lives. Cambridge, Massachusetts andLondon: Harvard University Press

Smith, F and Barker, J (1999) ‘From NinjaTurtles to the Spice Girls: children’sparticipation in the development of out ofschool play environments’, BuiltEnvironment, 25, 1, 35-46

Tolfree, D and Woodhead, M (1999)‘Tapping a key resource’, Early ChildhoodMatters, February, 91, 19-23

Walker, R (1993) ‘Finding a silent voice forthe researcher: using photographs inevaluation and research’ in Schratz, M ed.Qualitative Voices in Educational Research.Falmer Press

Why and how we listen to young children8

www.article12.comA12 is a children's rights based organisationrun by under 18-year-olds, for under 18s inEngland. It aims to get young people’s viewsand opinions across to everyone and to betaken seriously at all times.

www.coram.org.ukCoram Family is a leading children's charitythat aims to develop and promote bestpractice in the care of vulnerable children andtheir families.

www.ncb.org.ukNCB promotes the interests and well-being ofall children and young people across everyaspect of their lives. NCB advocates theparticipation of children and young people inall matters affecting them. NCB challengesdisadvantage in childhood.

Listening as a way of life

This leaflet is one of five leaflets from the Sure Start funded project‘Listening as a way of life’. The seriesprovides a guide to finding moreinformation to help practitioners designcreative and individual ways of listeningto children and to each other.

Others in the series include:n Listening to babiesn Listening to young disabled children n Supporting parents and carers to

listen – a guide for practitionersn Are equalities an issue? Finding out

what young children thinkn Listening to young children’s views

on food

For copies contact Patricia Thomas on0207 843 6064 or emailpthomas@ncb.org.uk

Acknowledgements

Author: Alison ClarkCritical Reader: Penny LancasterSeries Editor: Ann-Marie McAuliffeWith thanks to colleagues in andworking for the Sure Start Unit fortheir comments and support.

DfES Guidance

Lancaster, Y P and Broadbent, V(2003) in Listening to Young Children.Open University Press

A five-part resource from CoramFamily, London. The pack is aimed atpractitioners and parents in a range ofsettings and is designed to enablethem to offer young childrenopportunities to express their views ofexperiences and events in their dailylives.

Listening to Young Children: Atraining framework (Lancaster andothers 2004) is closely linked to thisresource and is included in the DfESSure Start Guidance.

NCB Library and InformationService

If you would like more detailedinformation or further references inthis subject area, contact NCB's Libraryand Information Service.

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Published by the National Children’s Bureau on behalf of Sure Start

Useful websites

www.earlychildhood.org.ukearlychildhood.org.uk is a website from theEarly Childhood Unit (ECU) at the NationalChildren's Bureau in England. This sitecontains capsules of information on specifictopics within early years care and educationincluding work on consulting young children.