Methodological Insights and Trends: Participatory Positioning of Children and Youth in Visual Art Education Research

Abstract Participatory research methods have a focus on facilitating research processes that engage with participants and, as such, aim to promote individual voice, facilitate richer reflection and dialogue, and enable the articulation of participants' unique experiences. To explore the degree to which participatory practices are enacted in visual art education research, the present study critically examines the agentic positioning of children and youth in school‐based, visual arts experiences through a systematic, methodological literature review. Findings from this review serve to ground proposed recommendations for the inclusion of supportive research practices that carefully attend to the unique considerations that arise during participatory work with children and youth in formal educational environments. Such considerations include ethical concerns, individual agency limitations, and power inequities throughout all phases of the research process. In addition, findings reveal the need for increased researcher attention to students' participatory access during critical decision‐making points in both the research process and the development of their creative work to ensure that students can shape and share their experiences through authentic engagement.