Children, their invisible contexts: Cultural anthropological perspectives and the role of qualitative research

This study aims to dismantle the écritures of infants, toddlers, and children used in the early childhood education field and deliberately use the term ‘children(어린이)’ to discuss the contribution of cultural anthropological perspectives and children’s studies, as well as the academic intersections and roles of qualitative research and cultural anthropology, by breaking away from existing discourses. In the past, research on children was viewed from the perspective of developmental studies and psychology, and thus children were viewed as universal and general passive objects. However, many cultural anthropological studies criticized the universality of children, viewing them as socialized differently depending on the cultural context in which they are placed. This positioning has led to a conceptual reestablishment of humans as beings with subjectivity beyond the concept of ‘vulnerable beings.’ Qualitative research can be said to be an academic intersection with cultural anthropology. Qualitative research, as a philosophical implementation method for understanding humans, emphasizes understanding cultural diversity and context. To this end, qualitative researchers need to reveal children’s daily lives through ‘thick descriptions’ and look at children as social actors by adding an ‘etic’ perspective to the ‘emic’ foundation. In order for the 3Es of ‘participant observation’, ‘in-depth interviews’, and ‘fieldwork’ for children to be practiced, they must be conducted on the basis of a correct understanding of children as beings and ethical awareness. Ultimately, researching children means revealing the invisible context of children’s lives, and to do this, it is necessary to listen to children’s voices and face their lives. When this is done, children’s research will become authentic research.