Listening To Young Children: The Mosaic Approach

How can young children's views and experiences become the focus for reviewing services? Traditional methods of consultation with user groups require imaginative rethinking if the views and experiences of children under five years old are to be listened to and responded to by adults. This gound-breaking report oulines a new framework - the Mosaic approach - for listening to young children's perspectives on their daily lives. The Mosaic approach is a multi-method approach in which children's own photographs, tours and maps can be joined to talking and observing to gain deeper understanding of children's perspectives on their early childhood settings. It also has potential as a tool to use with older children, particularly those with communication difficulties or for whom English is an additional language. It will be of interest to policy makers, practitioners and researchers who are engaged in searching for new theoretical, practical and imaginative ways of listening to young children.