{"id":1442,"date":"2026-08-30T22:52:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T12:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/?p=1442"},"modified":"2026-09-01T13:25:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T03:25:23","slug":"cvc2026-740","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/cvc2026-740\/","title":{"rendered":"CVC2026-740 \u2013 Children as meaning-makers: Home-educated children\u2019s photo-narratives of learning, belonging and participation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"cvc-hero alignfull\"><span class=\"cvc-chip\">Presentation \u2013 CVC2026-740<\/span><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Children as meaning-makers: Home-educated children\u2019s photo-narratives of learning, belonging and participation<\/h1>\n<div class=\"cvc-authors\">\n<p><strong>Jeannette Simpson,<\/strong> St Mary\u2019s University, United Kingdom<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"CVC2026-740 Children as meaning-makers: Home-educated children\u2019s photo-narratives of learning, belon\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5N97dVoTxjg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>Background: <\/strong>Home education is often discussed in terms of adult concerns about provision, suitability, and oversight, yet children\u2019s own accounts remain limited in research and policy. This study responds to that gap by exploring how home-educated children understand, represent, and experience learning in their daily lives.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aim: <\/strong>The study aimed to understand home-educated children\u2019s lived experiences of learning from their own perspectives, and to consider how their accounts might extend existing understandings of learning beyond school, particularly in relation to autonomy, competence, belonging, and participation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Method\/approach<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> Twelve home-educated children aged 5\u201312 from six families in South-East England created photo-journals of their learning over three weeks, followed by narrative interviews. Parent interviews provided context, but analysis centred children\u2019s accounts. Ethical approval was granted by St Mary\u2019s University Ethics Committee.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results\/findings: <\/strong>Children represented learning broadly, including academic work, play, creative activity, family life, community participation, clubs, educational visits, experimentation, and independent research. Learning was often described as becoming more able, confident, and prepared to participate in family, community, and future life.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion: <\/strong>The study shows that children\u2019s accounts can make visible forms of learning that may otherwise be hidden or undervalued. It argues that visual narrative methods can support children\u2019s voice by allowing children to define and represent learning in ways that matter to them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implications for children and families: <\/strong>Your everyday learning, interests, questions, and activities matter, and children\u2019s own views can help adults understand learning beyond school more clearly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implications for practitioners:<\/strong> You can support children\u2019s voice by using flexible, visual, and narrative methods that allow children to show what learning means in their own lives.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keywords<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> children\u2019s voice, home education, visual narrative inquiry, photo-journals, children\u2019s learning<\/p>\n<p><strong>This presentation relates to the following <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal13\"><strong>United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<ul class=\"cvc-sdgs\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal3\">SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal4\">SDG 4: Quality Education<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jeannette Simpson, St Mary\u2019s University, United Kingdom<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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