Sarah Crafter

The problem of interpretation in vignette methodology in research with young people

In this article, we explore how interpretation is dealt with by researchers using a vignette methodology. Researchers using vignette methodology often struggle with interpretation: how to interpret the responses when participants shift between discussing the vignettes as themselves, taking the perspective of the character in the vignette and commenting on what ‘ought’ to happen. We argue that by foregrounding a consideration of the method with an explicitly articulated theoretical position of dialogicality, issues inherent in interpretation become a valuable addition to the research rather than an obstacle to be overcome. In this article, we discuss ‘Louise’ a young carer, detailing the various positions she takes in her talk about the vignette of Mary, a fictitious young carer, to illustrate how a perspective based in dialogical theory contributed to the analysis of her various moves through different identity positions.

Constructing "Normal Childhoods": Young People Talk about Young Carers.

There has been a great deal of attention paid to young carers in recent research, social policy and service provision. In this paper we report on a survey and interview study of 46 young people aged 15 to 18, nine of whom had experience as young carers, to explore the ways in which young people construct the young carer and their disabled parent. A key theme arising from the interview data analysis is the construction of a series of normative assumptions about ‘normal’ childhood through which young carers and their disabled parent are viewed as non‐normative and deficient. The predominantly negative construction of both parent and child/carer is critically analyzed and alternatives suggested in the discussion of these findings.

Constructing Identities in Multicultural Learning Contexts

In this article we examine two concepts that aid our understanding of processes of identification in multiethnic schools. The first concept focuses on the complementarity of “three processes of identity” (identifying the other, being identified, and self-identification). This is brought together with the concept of sociocultural coupling introduced to examine the co-constructions of changes in practices (across places and times) and changes in identification. The analysis draws on an interview with a pupil, Monifa, a Black African (Nigerian) girl (aged 10 years), and on an interview with a Pakistani teacher, Shazia. Although Shazia and Monifa belonged to different generations (i.e., a pupil/daughter and a teacher/mother) and different cultural groups (British-born Black African and Pakistani Kashmiri), the same identity processes could be applied to the data. They both articulated accounts of “identifying the other,” “being identified,” and “self-identification,” which emphasized their transitions between cultural practices and multiple communities. Furthermore, we propose that sociocultural coupling has enabled us to understand the means by which aspects of cultural practices borrowed from home and school allows them to reproduce aspects of their home cultural identity and at other times to transform these identities.

Changing families, changing childhoods: changing schools?

This paper reports key findings from a study of young people’s engagement in ‘atypical’ activities in their families. The project focused on young caring and language brokering as two roles that are not assumed to be ‘normal’ activities for children and young people. The findings presented are from a survey of 1002 young people and from one‐to‐one interviews with a sample selected from the survey sample. The voices of young people in the interview study are used in the paper to illustrate the diverse range of childhood experiences. The paper discusses some of the ways in which pastoral systems in schools can take account of diverse childhoods and family needs more effectively than they have done in the past.

Using Vignette Methodology as a Tool for Exploring Cultural Identity Positions of Language Brokers

This article examines how vignette methodology can aid understanding of cultural identity. This is demonstrated through a study of child language brokers, wherein a child is engaged in the cultural contexts of both the host culture and the home culture and must therefore negotiate new cultural identities. Participants were young people aged 15 to 18 years; some of them were brokers, others were not. Drawing on notions of adequacy and inadequacy, visibility and invisibility, theoretical ideas around cultural identity theory and dialogical self-theory can provide an understanding of how the young people moved through different (often conflicting) identity positions.

Child language brokering in schools: why does it matter?

This paper will report on the planning of a small-scale project that is now in progress, which aims to lay the foundation for developing a Guide to Good Practice for the use of Child Language Brokering (CLB) in school settings. This project will investigate the perspectives on CLB of teachers in schools in multilingual areas and young adults who acted as language brokers in the course of their own school career, triangulating the responses of the two groups so as to bring distinctive and complementary perspectives to the topic. In addition to laying the foundation for the development of guidelines for schools, the research team hopes to lay the basis for further work on theorising the social and cultural significance of Child Language Brokering. The study will involve (i) an on-line survey of teachers in primary and secondary schools and of ex-CLBs and (ii) an interview study exploring detailed questions in depth with a small number of selected respondents.

Cultural Psychology and Deconstructing Developmental Psychology

This paper looks at points of convergence and divergence between the different branches of cultural psychology and Burmans ideas in Deconstructing Developmental Psychology. The paper discusses the relationship between the developing ideas in cultural psychology over time and some of the shared theoretical and conceptual criticisms put forward in Deconstructing Developmental Psychology. This takes into account some of the differences between the symbolic approach, activity theory and an individualistic approach to cultural psychology. In turn, some of the bigger themes within the book are discussed, such as the role of ‘normalisation’ and demarcation of age, and studying the child in context and how these relate to the different account of cultural psychology and the influence these themes have had on the authors own work. Since this paper details a personal research journey, examples are taken from work on home–school mathematics education, child language brokering and young caring. Using these examples, the paper examines how cultural psychology is interested in the mediation between culture and the person, whilst Deconstructing Developmental Psychology asks us to question the stories and assumptions embedded within developmental psychology.

Making Sense of Homework

Parental involvement in children—s homework is strongly endorsed and encouraged by political and educational policy in the UK. However, involvement in mathematics homework is said to be particularly problematic for parents because of changes to the curriculum since their own schooling, the introduction of multitudinous mathematical strategies at school, and in the case of multicultural communities, an ever-increasing heterogeneity of learning experiences amongst parents. Using the theoretical framework of cultural models and cultural settings this chapter examines the kinds of resources parents use to make sense of their child—s mathematics homework.

Review: Ann M. Gallagher and James C. Kaufman (eds): Gender Differences in Mathematics: An Integrative Psychological Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, 368pp. £17.99,

In Gender Differences in Mathematics Gallagher and Kaufman set out to understand the discrepancies between men and women in mathematics performance on standardized tests. In an attempt to explore the gender ‘gap’ that seeps into societal understandings of mathematics and pervades the very culture of learning, the authors attempt to bring together multiple perspectives such as cognitive, psychobiosocial and historical outlooks. In the Preface, Gallagher and Kaufman suggest that, if we look more closely at the standardized assessment tests, there is a distinct performance gap between males and females, particularly in the later years of education. However, if the tests themselves are scrutinized, the authors argue that standard assessment seeks to measure those abilities that men are best equipped to perform. Chapter 1, written by Susan Chipman, creates a historical, if predominantly North American perspective, on the participation of women in mathematics-related activities at various points of their educational careers. Somewhat contradictory to the message relayed in the Preface, Chipman is able to show that using broad statistical analysis there was little support for variations between men and women. For example, by the late 1970s, a very similar percentage of women were finishing degrees in mathematics as men. Chipman addresses the possible barriers to achievement cited in the mainstream literature on gender differences in mathematics such as anxiety, ability and motivation. She is left to conclude that society does not want to believe that girls and women can be good at mathematics, exclaiming ‘power’ is at the root. She states, ‘it is clear that many people do not want to believe that girls and women can be good at mathematics’ (p. 18). The representation that women are less mathematically capable, while not borne out in the North American statistics, remains forcibly stereotyped within both academia and the wider media. In the next chapter, Caplan and Caplan provide, in my opinion, an excellent text that builds on the notion of power within the gender differences debate. It is highlighted in this chapter that work most considered to be ‘true’ is that which supports male superiority. These authors report on the biases contained within the research literature and the problems this raises when the media report the outcomes of poorly conducted studies – not to mention journalistic preoccupations with finding significant differences and the political implications ensuing. Interestingly, the focus on this chapter then turns from the problems with research findings to the role that researchers play in perpetuating the gender divide myth.

27.99, ISBN 0—5215—3344—9 (pbk), £40.00,

In ‘Western’ contexts, school attendance is considered central for an ‘ideal’ childhood. However, many young people engage with home roles that conflict with school expectations. This article explores perceptions of that process in relation to two home activities – language brokering and young caring. We interviewed 46 young people and asked them to reflect on what the teacher would think when a child had to miss school to help a family member. This article discusses the young people’s overall need to keep their out-of-school lives private from their teachers.