ABSTRACT
A number of epistemological and methodological challenges have been encountered in ethnographic research related to children’s literacy practices and identities in faith settings. These include issues related to researcher positionality, knowledge building and representation. Although ethnographic inquiry takes an emic perspective to data collection, interpretation and analysis, privileging the participants’ perspectives, it is now widely acknowledged that researchers bring to the field their own biographies and identities. These biographies and identities are embedded in broader social, historical and political contexts and they have a bearing on their understandings, interpretations and representations of the participants’ practices, beliefs and identities. Central to these challenges are issues of power and agency, particularly the important imbalance between adult researchers and child participants. When conducting research with children, therefore, the following questions become pertinent: How can researchers ensure that they hear children’s voices and include them in their research narratives? How can children represent their experiences, stories and interpretations in ways that are meaningful to them?
