Understanding What Matters: Developing effective participatory methods from the research into what matters to children living in kinship care.

亲属照顾是家庭中对不能与亲生父母在一起的儿童的照顾安排。我的博士研究是第一个完全专注于在英国生活在亲属照顾的儿童的观点，第一个结合联合收割机批判现实主义与对话参与。它证明了儿童的观点对研究、政策和实践至关重要-特别是对于亲属照顾，因为家庭生活涉及多重、多方面、矛盾的关系。儿童的参与必须采取关系、对话和多学科的办法。通过跨学科的专业知识的国际共享，奖学金将开发新的见解，有效地将儿童的声音（S）纳入亲属照顾和其他儿童福利的情况下。我的研究和知识交流活动，迄今已通知学术，政策，实践和公共辩论，但也突出了三个持续存在的问题：- 在政策和实践中没有充分认识到为儿童谈论家庭创造空间的价值，特别是在儿童福利的环境中，人们对脆弱性的焦虑。关于风险和护理的儿童福利辩论仍然缺乏细微差别，政策和实践必须更好地与童年的生活现实保持一致。童年的复杂性被独白式的非此即彼的思维所掩盖。通过相互关联的工作链，我的奖学金将通过以下方式解决这些问题：我将与英国社会工作协会合作，设计由儿童共同制作的书面和视频亲属护理实践指南，并继续通过播客、政策制定者简报、新闻稿、我的论文将被重新塑造成一本政策出版社的书，重申考虑到国际社会对亲属照顾的兴趣，可能对英国的政策和做法进行改革。这本书确保了博士的遗产和可访问性-和其他相关的研究-为广大观众，包括从业者和家庭。另外两个期刊出版物将从博士和其他奖学金活动的学习链接。他们将探索儿童研究和社会工作之间的交叉点，以提高儿童参与研究，政策和practices.A研究访问NOVA（OsloMet）和UiT在挪威将连接我与研究领导人在儿童参与和亲属关怀的创新方法。通过研讨会，演讲，圆桌讨论和一对一会议，我们将分享跨越国家和学科界限的学习，并探索潜在的进一步合作。这些活动将提高我的研究能力，并阐明研究，政策，促进关于风险和（亲属）照顾的细致入微的辩论增加我的出版记录和其他产出，同时获得关于儿童参与的国际跨学科观点，通过确保儿童的见解-包括安全的重要性-是起点。这项工作也将由我的导师跨学科的指导。心理学家博迪教授在她的儿童福利研究中应用了批判性的家庭研究透镜，并带来了儿童参与方面的专业知识。古普塔教授是国际知名的批判性社会工作专家，他的论文、访问、导师和合作传播活动将继续以博士的理论为基础，探讨对话批判现实主义方法的价值，并进一步探讨其有效性。学习还将使儿童参与和亲属照顾政策和做法的新思维转移到与其他家庭事务有关的研究、政策和做法中。

Kinship care is the caring arrangement in the family constellation for children who cannot remain with birth parents. My PhD research was the first to solely focus on the views of children living in kinship care in England and the first to combine critical realism with dialogical participation. It evidenced children's views as vital for research, policy, and practice - particularly for kinship care, where family lives involve multiple, multifaceted, ambivalent relationships. Child participation must take a relational, dialogical, and multidisciplinary approach. Through international sharing of expertise across disciplines, the Fellowship will develop new insights for the effective inclusion of child voice(s) in kinship care and other child welfare contexts.My research and knowledge exchange activities to date have informed academic, policy, practice, and public debate, but have also highlighted three persistent concerns:- The value of creating space for children to talk about family is insufficiently realised in policy and practice, especially in child welfare contexts shaped by anxieties around vulnerability.- Child welfare debates about risk and care still lack nuance, and policy and practice must better align to the lived realities of childhood.- The complexities of childhood are obscured by monological, either/or, thinking.Through interconnected work strands, my Fellowship will address these concerns by:Promoting the value of child voice Collaborating with the British Association of Social Work, I will devise written and video kinship care practice guidance - coproduced by children, and also continue to promote the value of children's views through podcasts, briefings for policymakers, press releases, and practitioner forums.My thesis will be reshaped into a Policy Press book reaffirming the importance of attending to children's insights given international interest in kinship care and likely reforms to UK policy and practice. The book ensures the legacy and accessibility of the PhD - and other related research - for a wide audience, including practitioners and families.Two further journal publications will link learning from the PhD and other Fellowship activities. They will explore intersections between childhood studies and social work to enhance child participation in research, policy, and practice.A research visit to NOVA (OsloMet) and UiT in Norway will connect me with research leaders in innovative methods of child participation and kinship care. Through workshops, presentations, roundtable discussions, and one-to-one meetings, we will share learning across national and disciplinary boundaries and explore potential further collaborations. These activities will enhance my research capabilities and illuminate the critical intersection of research, policy, and practice across contexts.Promoting nuanced debate on risk and (kinship) careIncreasing my publication record and other outputs whilst gaining international interdisciplinary perspectives on child participation provides a robust foundation for more nuanced conversations about risk by ensuring children's insights - including on the importance of safety - are the starting point. This work will also be driven by interdisciplinary guidance from my mentors. Psychologist Prof Boddy applies a critical family studies lens in her child welfare research and brings expertise in child participation. Prof Gupta is an internationally renowned expert in critical social work.Challenging monological thinkingThe publications, study visit, mentors, and collaborative dissemination activities will continue to build on the PhD's theoretical on the value of dialogical critical realist approaches and further the interrogation of their effectiveness. The learning will also allow the transfer of new thinking for child participation and kinship care policy and practice to research, policy and practice concerned with other family arrangments.