In this paper, we present two examples of research projects aimed at amplifying voices that are often silenced in research: those of children and/or youth from refugee backgrounds. Refugees are often excluded from research for both ethical and practical reasons: because of their assumed vulnerability as well as the challenges related to language or access. In the research projects presented, we aimed to employ methods that suited these groups of children and youth to understand their experiences in ways that they wanted to express them, and in situ. We argue that starting from, and finishing with, the point of view of the knowledge holders illustrates one means (although not exclusively so) by which to amplify their voices and knowledge to counter epistemic injustice in educational research. 45 refugee background students studying in Finnish (20) and Australian (25) primary and secondary schools participated in a modified, child-led version of critical incident procedure (Woods, 1993). In these interviews, the children drew and talked about their learning journey from the time they started school in their counties of origin and/or their transit to the present in Finland or Australia. The children were further instructed to mark on their drawings any key moments when they remember feeling that they had succeeded in something. Researchers and students then explored the drawings together, with students answering clarifying questions such as: What happened here? What were you doing? How did it make you feel? Who helped you here? What did you learn in this situation? This discussion illustrated what the children themselves saw as important in their school journeys. It also gave the researchers the possibility of teasing out some of the less visible arrangements that had enabled or constrained the children’s feelings of success. Moreover, 25 teachers and 10 educational leaders who worked in multicultural schools in Finland and Australia were invited to share their views on how they could support students from refugee backgrounds in their work. In a later stage of the same study, small groups of younger children (13 in Australia, 8 in Finland) collected videos of their educational practices. The aim of this stage of the study was to get a child’s view footage of educational practices as they happen, and to analyse this audiovisual material together with the children. The complete data collection was complemented by praxiographical observations (Bueger & Gadinger, 2014) in selected schools.

Bueger, C., & Gadinger, F. (2014). Towards praxiography: Research strategies and techniques. In International practice theory: New perspectives (pp. 76-96). London: Palgrave Pivot. Kemmis, S., Wilkinson, J., Edwards-Groves, C., Hardy, I., Grootenboer, P., & Hardy, I. (2014). Changing practices, changing education. Singapore: Springer. Woods, P. 1993. Critical events in education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 14(4), 355–371. doi:10.1080/0142569930140401