In this paper we explore the role of various participatory methods to engage student-researchers in primary schools. Participatory research has been used as an “umbrella term” which includes research where children and young people are being involved in collecting data or are being engaged in actively making decisions in the research process, or in both ways (Montreuil et al., 2021). Levy and Thompson (2015) highlight the close link between student voice and participatory research approaches and emphasise the need for “listening to children and hearing their voices” (p. 139). Participatory approaches necessitate a shift in the way children are viewed, from being passive objects of research to being active agents who can make meaningful contributions to the research process, thereby anchoring the outcomes of the research in alignment with children’s perspectives (Gallacher & Gallagher, 2008). Findings from a study that involved ten primary schools in England (5-11-year-olds), exploring how an engagement with students’ voices can promote inclusion within schools, will be analysed. The schools belong in a research-practice partnership, (RPP) “a long-term collaboration aimed at educational improvement or equitable transformation through engagement with research. These partnerships are intentionally organized to connect diverse forms of expertise and shift power relations in the research endeavor to ensure that all partners have a say in the joint work.” (Farrell et al, 2021, p. iv). Our RPP, the “School Voices Research- Practice Partnership” aims to support schools in responding to student diversity and improve learning outcomes for all, whilst at the same time promote inclusion, by focusing on students’ voices and dialogues between teachers and children and young people through participatory research approaches. Lesson observation, training of student researchers, fieldnotes from meetings, and interviews with teachers and children were collected over a period of four years. Data analysis highlighted how participatory approaches and methods (student researchers approaches, sticky notes with unfinished sentences, visual methods and observations) allowed students to be actively involved in the research process and led to changes in their schools. We argue that participatory methods can be a powerful means for change in schools, only if they are used in ways that enable sustained dialogues between teachers and students in schools. Of all the methods that we explore, we highlight observation used by student researchers as having a great potential for facilitating such efforts (Messiou et. al, 2025). We will also discuss some of the challenges involved in using such approaches.

Farrell, C.C., Penuel, W.R., Coburn, C., Daniel, J., and Steup, L. (2021). Research-practice partnerships in education: The state of the field. William T. Grant Foundation. Gallacher, L.-A., & Gallagher, M. (2008). Methodological Immaturity in Childhood Research?: Thinking through ‘participatory methods’. Childhood, 15(4), 499–516. Levy, R., & Thompson, P. (2015). Creating ‘buddy partnerships’ with 5- and 11-year old-boys: A methodological approach to conducting participatory research with young children. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 13(2), 137–149. Messiou, K., de los Reyes, J., Potnis, C., Dong, P., & Rwang, V. K. (2025). Student voice for promoting inclusion in primary schools. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 29(7), 1168–1182. Montreuil, M., Bogossian, A., Laberge-Perrault, E., & Racine, E. (2021). A review of approaches, strategies and ethical considerations in participatory research with children. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20, 1–15