About ASK Youth

ASK Youth: Centre for Research with Children and Young People was founded in 2008 to build on the strong tradition of critical social research excellence in this area within SPS and Edge Hill and to reflect the growing importance of research with children and youth within the region, nationally and internationally. Edge Hill University has a growing research base, and many of its academic staff have sustained and are developing national and international reputations in areas of research with children and young people. This has been a particular focus for staff within the Department of Social and Psychological Sciences, where ASK Youth is housed.

The philosophy of the Centre embraces a critical analysis of the constructions of childhood and youth, focusing on a deconstruction of adult-child relationships and supporting a view of the importance of children and young people as social actors. One of the Centre’s aims is to focus on the social and cultural context for the study of childhood and youth and the policy and provision that is made available for children and young people. Essentially a critical analysis will inform the research as changes occur in matters of policy, law and discourse. ASK Youth will provide a critical analytical response to professional ideologies, philosophies and discourses, and the policies and practices of those engaged in working with children and families.

ASK Youth will establish a reputation for research across a range of topics that will be concerned with the study of childhood and youth in their broadest contexts. Current staff are very active in research, publication and supervision of research students. Staff interests include for example such areas as: gender and curriculum issues in early years education and care; psychological and sociological perspectives on emotional literacy and identity; the social policy analysis of safeguarding children and young people and children’s mental health. These interests lie within a range of academic and professional groups. 

The Centre’s research draws mainly upon the disciplines of sociology, social policy, education and psychology with a particular focus on multi-disciplinary research.  Collaborative and inter-disciplinary approaches are at the heart of the Centre’s vision as is the prioritising of collaboration with external academics and other relevant stakeholders and partners.

ASK Youth engages in a wide range of teaching, research and consultancy activities, from local, national and international perspectives. We welcome visitors, students, teachers and researchers from around the world and seek to develop a thriving research community, with staff and students working on a variety of projects relating to the study of childhood and youth. We nurture high quality research in order to develop a strong position amongst the UK and international academic community as well as other stakeholders. We are also committed to the principle that good professional practice must be grounded in rigorous theoretical understanding, and much of our research has implications for professional practice with children and young people.

Aims

• To develop child-centred research of national and international importance, addressing issues that confront socially excluded and vulnerable young people, by undertaking research with, by and for children and young people.

• To work with relevant stakeholders in the community, and particularly children and young people themselves, at local, regional, national and international levels, to develop a portfolio of consultancy and knowledge transfer activity designed to challenge the inequalities facing today’s youth.

• To develop research, consultancy work and related dissemination and knowledge transfer activities informed by a holistic approach to the well-being of the child and an expansive understanding of who constitutes youth and young people.

Last updated: 04-Jun-2008