Inscribed in the UN-CRC and in other conceptualisations of children's rights are constructions of children (Storck-Odabaşı & Heinzel, 2019, p. 236). In my dissertation study I am looking at this particular aspect that lies 'underneath' and therefore I want to focus on children's interpretations of child(hood). The UN-CRC, in particular Article 12, also plays a central role in the study design, as my dissertation study is linked to a participatory research project about children’s rights that I am currently conducting with two academic research colleagues and 12 children aged 6-12 in Germany. We all meet once a month from March 2023 after school and sometimes on Saturdays to follow child-led questions. We are also providing workshops addressing children’s rights, research ethics and methods. In order to approach my question, the participating children posed in self-assembled groups still images and photographed themselves, adapting the impulse on the second day. Following the still images, we had a group discussion about the photos based on photo-voice method (Wang, 1999) and also with an impulse that took up a quote from the children given in a previous meeting. Especially at this point it can be seen how the children co-formed the research design. During the discussions, two children left the situation, saying afterwards that they were bored, which provides an interesting point of discussion for the symposium, as it particularly emphasizes the points of voluntary participation and self-determination in the research situation (Lundy, McEvoy & Byrne, 2011, p.719-720). For analysis and interpretation of the data I plan to view and discuss central video segments with the children. I want to use elements of concept mapping for visualization and following convergent interviewing techniques to ask for exceptions and explanations (Dick, 2007). By involving the children in this stage of the research process it is taken into account that the data interpretation is a moment directly affecting children (Lundy, McEvoy & Byrne, 2011). Difficulties and advantages of the study arose specifically from taking place outside school or any other institutional environment, like on the one hand building an intense, voluntary relationship or the possibility to take the time everyone needs for certain steps along the way but on the other hand finding time slots and making sure that the children can attend, which mostly meant, that parents had to drive them and pick them up afterwards.

Dick, B. (2007). What Can Grounded Theorists and Action Researchers Learn from Each Other? In A. Bryant & K. Charmaz (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of grounded theory (pp. 398–416). Sage. Lundy, L., McEvoy, L., & Byrne, B. (2011). Working With Young Children as Co-Researchers: An Approach Informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Early Education & Development, 22(5), 714–736. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2011.596463 Storck-Odabaşı, J., & Heinzel, F. (2019). „Findest du Kinderrechte sind gut und wenn ja, warum?“ Partizipative Methoden der Kindheitsforschung im Kontext von Schulentwicklung zu Kinderrechten. In C. Donie, F. Foerster, M. Obermayr, A. Deckwerth, G. Kammermeyer, G. Lenske, M. Leuchter, & A. Wildemann (Eds.), Grundschulpädagogik zwischen Wissenschaft und Transfer (pp. 233–238). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-26231-0_30 Wang, C. C. (1999). Photovoice: A Participatory Action Research Strategy Applied to Women's Health. Journal of Women's Health, 8(2), 185-192.