Drawing (im)mobility. potential and limitations of a child-centred participatory technique

Abstract

Considering the scarce methodological literature on child migration and mobilities, as well as the incomplete approaches to the phenomenon, this article analyses the potential and limitations of a child-centred participatory technique used in a study about child mobility in the Barcelona metropolitan region. It consists on drawings made by children (10-12 years old) which represent their (im)mobility trajectories in the form of maps. Situating the drawings in the debates on how to conduct research with children, and stressing the specific challenges of studying mobility, four types of reaction to the technique are presented: from confusion to fluidity in the narratives; the technique as a school exercise; resistances to the technique; and enhancing the creativity, expressivity and reflexivity. These reactions are contextualised in the fieldwork carried out in two schools, showing the influence of the school environment in the resulting visual productions and comments about them. Finally, the articulation between verbal and visual narratives is examined, delving into the performativity of the technique in its ethnographic and relational dimension.