Positionality and reflexivity: Recognising and dismantling our privileges in childhood research through the use of windows and mirrors

Abstract

This article explores how privileges, identities and worldviews influence every stage of childhood research processes. By using the ‘windows and mirrors’ and ‘the danger of the single story’ metaphors, I seek to deconstruct reflexivity and positionality in order to include different lenses of analysis for exploring how power and privileges inform the relationship between researchers and child participants. I argue that this reflexive process needs to pay greater attention to the intersection between identities, inequalities and power, to the impact of researchers feeling sympathy for the marginalised status of the child participant and to the normative and dominant positions that researchers might have based on their social standing. Drawing from my international fieldwork experience, I conclude that an understanding of how identities, power and privileges affect childhood research is critical for conducting ethical research, negotiating power with child participants and dismantling researchers’ privileges.