Doctoral School

Summer school: Critical approaches to knowledge production with children through narrative, co-creative and/or arts-based research

Target audience

This summer school is designed for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in the social sciences in general and researchers in childhood studies/ children’s cultures in particular who either already employ narrative, co-creative and/or arts-based approaches in their research or seek to integrate them into their projects.

Abstract

Through theoretical discussions and hands-on methodological exercises led by guest researchers, practitioners and lecturers, participants will engage with critical inquiries into how narrative, co-creative and/or arts-based approaches can serve as rigorous, reflexive, and ethically attuned methods of social scientific investigation.

Objectives

By the end of the summer school, participants will have deepened their understanding of the transformative potential of narrative, co-creative and/or arts-based approaches in social science research. They will be encouraged to incorporate such approaches into their own work, not only as an expansion and, importantly a refinement, of methodological possibilities but as a responsibility and commitment to a more socially engaged and democratically accessible knowledge production. Within the context of childhood studies, this relates to the quest to transform neoliberal, adult-centered, gendered and colonial thinking about childhood by scaling up intersectional and decolonial pedagogies. In doing so, this summer school aims to inspire new paradigms of interdisciplinary research that challenge conventional boundaries between scholarly research and societal engagement.

Dates and venue

June 24th, 26th and 27th (Ghent)

Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University (Belgium).

Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium (registration on June 24th will be on the second floor in room 120.140).

June 25th  (Brussels)

Morning session at 9am: Zinneke, Masuiplein 13, 1000 Brussel.

Afternoon session at 1.30pm: ABC House, Gaucheretplein 13, 1030 Schaarbeek

Preliminary Programme

Day 1: Tuesday June 24th 2025

  • 9h: Registration, Coffee & welcome
  • 9h30-10h30: Introductiontten (UGent)

During this session we will officially open the summer school. We will present the set-up and rationale of the program, and we will present the Marie Curie Staff Exchange project K-Reporters as an inspiring context and background to the summer school.

  • 10h30-12.30: Expert dialogues with Kay Tisdall (University of Edinbrough) and Elisabeth De Schauwer (UGent). 

During this session Lieselot De Wilde (UGent) will engage in a dialogue with experts in the field of childhood studies to explore the challenges of critically questioning and transforming neoliberal, adult-centred, gendered and colonial thinking about childhood. Kay Tisdall is Professor of Childhood Policy at the University of Edinbrough and Elisabeth De Schauwer is Professor of Disability Studies at Ghent University.    

  • 12h30-13h30: Lunch break
  • 13h30-15h: Practices of Research: Methodological Pathways for Co-Producing Knowledge with Children and Young People

This session delves into creative and critical methodologies for working with children and youth in research. PhD researchers Sara Lembrechts (UGent), Laura Segarra Ayllón (University of Lleida), and Eveline Meylemans (UGent) share experiences from participatory and co-research projects with unaccompanied minors and young children.

  • 15h-15h30: Coffee break
  • 15h30-17h: Opening circles: sharing research, curiosities and questions

In small, informal groups, participants will share their research interests, positionalities, and expectations for the summer school. Joined by keynote speakers, these opening circles offer spaces to start building connections, surface shared curiosities, and create a collective grounding for the days ahead.

 

Day 2: Wednesday June 25th 2025

  • 8h15: Train to Brussels-North
  • 9h30-11h: From Representation to Reparation: Story-making with and for Children

In this participatory session, Christelle Pandanzyla draws from her lived experience as a cultural practitioner and founder of Le Monde de Jahi, a community-rooted platform addressing the need for deeper representation and narrative justice in youth-centered spaces. Moving beyond surface-level inclusion, the session invites participants to engage in a multi-voiced exploration of how working with and for children becomes an act of symbolic and cultural reparation.

Combining personal storytelling, field-based reflections and collective dialogue, this session opens a space to examine both the visible and invisible constraints faced when implementing inclusive initiatives — from institutional expectations to internalized norms and adult-centered frameworks. Through real-life case studies, co-analysis of quotes from children, parents, and educators, and a collaborative mapping of systemic tensions, participants are encouraged to reflect critically on their own practices and to imagine transformative approaches grounded in co-creation, imagination and ethical responsibility. 

Christelle Pandanzyla is a Brussels-based cultural organizer, educator and curator. She is the founder of Roots Events, a non-subsidized non-profit that has been promoting Afro-Caribbean cultures in Belgium for over 20 years through multidisciplinary programming across literature, arts, education and community empowerment. Her work actively challenges dominant narratives and creates space for historically marginalized voices. Among her key initiatives is Le Monde de Jahi, a project born from the need for greater representation and cultural diversity in youth-oriented content. More than just a store, Le Monde de Jahi is a holistic platform combining cultural production, critical pedagogy and community-based engagement.

  • 11h30: Introduction to Zinneke

This session introduces the Zinneke project, which brings together about 2,500 participants and 50,000 to 80,000 spectators at its biennial Zinneke Parade — the artistic, festive, and exuberant and typically Brussels’ carnival, in the streets of the capital. Zinneke is a fundamentally participative project, creating spaces for encounters, collaboration, and creativity through artistic initiatives (Zinnodes) inspired by participants' ideas and imagination.

These creative hubs foster new forms of collective solidarity, promoting artistic and social connections among residents, associations, schools, and artists from Brussels and beyond.

  • 12h-13h30: Lunch break and moving to ABC
  • 13h30-16h: Exploring ABC House: Workshop on Art, Play & Collaborative Learning

During this visit to the ABC House (Art Basics for Children) in Brussels, participants will discover a unique space dedicated to artistic exploration, play, and co-creation with children. Through an interactive workshop, we engage with ABC’s pedagogical approach and reflect on how spatial, material, and aesthetic practices can inspire participatory research and knowledge-making with children.

  • 16h30: Train to Ghent (from Brussels-Nord)

Day 3: Thursday June 26th 2025

  • 9h-10h30 Free floor on knowledge production & decoloniality

In this session, five members of the Decolonizing Education and Research on Migration (DERM) network - Dr Sonia Romero and Professor Juan Carlos Ruiz from the Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitanadel (UTEM), Professor Blanca Cordero from the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Professor Ilse Derluyn and Dr Giacomo Orsini (UGhent) – reflect on their research experiences engaging with marginalized groups of migrant/mobile people.

  • 11h-12h30 Workshop on knowledge production & decoloniality

In this workshop DERM scholars - Dr Sonia Romero and Professor Juan Carlos Ruiz from the Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitanadel (UTEM), Professor Blanca Cordero from the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Professor Ilse Derluyn and Dr Giacomo Orsini (UGhent) - and the doctoral school participants share the strategies they (try to) use to conduct research with marginalized groups. Moving from a decolonial perspective, the workshop critically engages with questions of agency and vulnerability, to think together about modes of co-creation which allow exposing the autonomy of migrants and other marginalized subjects and groups.

  • 12h30-14h00: Lunch break
  • 14h-17h Weaving memories: critical reflections on multimodality, fieldwork and (visual) anthropology.

During this workshop, Arjang Omrani (UGent), Tahereh Aboofazeli (University of Cologne) and Simone Pfeifer (University of Cologne) will present their research project Weaving memories: A project of transformation. They will take the participants through the collaborative, critical pedagogical, and transformative aspects of the project, and then move into a discussion around co-curation, exhibition strategies, and alternative dissemination methods.             

 

Day 4: Friday June 27th 2025

  • 9h-10h30: Practices of Research: Arts-Based Methodologies in Motion

This session highlights how artistic practices can act as powerful tools for inquiry, expression, and critique across diverse research contexts. Researchers Clod Yambao (UGent),  Joanna Empain (UAB), and Simon Allemeersch (UGent) share their work at the intersections of art and academia—exploring how visual storytelling, music and performative methods can open up new ways of knowing, sensing, and relating within research.

  • 10h30-11h: Coffee break
  • 11h-12h30: Closing Circles: Reflecting, Connecting & Looking Forward

In this final session, participants come together in small groups to revisit their research journeys, insights, and emerging questions from the summer school. Through shared reflection and dialogue, we create space to connect threads across sessions, exchange feedback, and imagine future collaborations.

Registration

Registration fee

Registration is free for participants from Ghent University and the other Flemish Universities as well as for researchers that are part of the Marie Curie Staff Mobility Project K-Reporters.

For other participants, there is a registration fee of 150€.

Coffee and lunch are provided.

Accepted participants need to provide their own accommodation and transports. 

Number of participants

Maximum 30

Language

English

Evaluation method

To have the summer school recognized as a specialist course, we expect 15h of attendance and active participation. Students can present their work in a format that is most relevant for the scope and progress of their respective research projects.

After successful participation, the Doctoral Schools will add this course to the UGent Doctoral candidates' curriculum of the Doctoral Training Programme in Oasis. Please note that this can take up to one to two months after completion of the course.

Accommodation suggestions

Budget

  • Hostel Uppelink: https://www.hosteluppelink.com/
  • Hostel KaBa: https://www.kabahostel.be/nl
  • Hostel De Draecke: http://de-draecke-hostel.ghent-hotels.co.uk/nl/

Mid-range

  • Ibis Cathedral: https://www.booking.com/hotel/be/ibisgentkathedraal.nl.html
  • Ibis Opera: https://all.accor.com/hotel/1455/index.nl.shtml
  • NH Belfry: https://www.nh-hotels.com/nl/hotel/nh-gent-belfort

Contact us

The organizing team is happy to help you! 

Contact [Critical.Approaches@ugent.be] for all questions related to the content of the Summer School and for submitting your research proposals.