This article contributes to efforts to challenge adult-centred educational research through an arts-based narrative inquiry co-composed with Octávio, Raposa, Cármen and Flávio—children aged 6 to 10 from minority communities in Brazil and Portugal. Their narratives emerged through shared storytelling, conversations, interviews, hugs, and playful moments in their schools. Although focused on their school trajectories within art experiences, their participation re-signified the research process itself. The children's involvement unsettled research approaches, including those framed within poststructuralist methodologies, highlighting the need for more relational and responsive inquiry in education. Through stories attentive to time, place, and sociabilities, the article foregrounds children's methodological agency and their roles as co-authors of knowledge. The findings, presented through four methodological stories—that's not funny, it's my turn, I don't want to talk anymore, and switch the record off—reveal how children assert political presence and negotiate the boundaries of research.
{"title":"Resistance, Creativity, and Critique in Researching With Children Through Arts-Based Narrative Inquiry: Aporetics of Subalternity as Methodological Knowledge in Education","authors":"André Freitas, Rita de Cássia Frangella","doi":"10.1111/ejed.70486","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.70486","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article contributes to efforts to challenge adult-centred educational research through an arts-based narrative inquiry co-composed with Octávio, Raposa, Cármen and Flávio—children aged 6 to 10 from minority communities in Brazil and Portugal. Their narratives emerged through shared storytelling, conversations, interviews, hugs, and playful moments in their schools. Although focused on their school trajectories within art experiences, their participation re-signified the research process itself. The children's involvement unsettled research approaches, including those framed within poststructuralist methodologies, highlighting the need for more relational and responsive inquiry in education. Through stories attentive to time, place, and sociabilities, the article foregrounds children's methodological agency and their roles as co-authors of knowledge. The findings, presented through four methodological stories—<i>that's not funny</i>, <i>it's my turn</i>, <i>I don't want to talk anymore</i>, and <i>switch the record off</i>—reveal how children assert political presence and negotiate the boundaries of research.</p>","PeriodicalId":47585,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Education","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ejed.70486","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146136846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In contrast with other early-tracking education systems, schools in the Dutch system can provide several combinations of school tracks during the first years of secondary school. We study how the attended type of track(s) affects students' chances of obtaining a pre-academic school certificate. Our target group is students just below the margin of entering the pre-academic track. We differentiate between strict tracking and two forms of mixed tracking, including either one pre-academic track (partly mixed) or both pre-academic tracks (broadly mixed). We examine whether our target group obtains a pre-academic degree directly or indirectly via stacking certificates. We use an instrumental variable (IV) approach to estimate causal effects. Our results show that students' are more likely to obtain a pre-academic certificate when they attend mixed tracks that allow for upward mobility, i.e., comprise a pre-academic track. High-SES students are more likely to attain a pre-academic certificate indirectly via stacking certificates. We conclude that our nuanced analysis contributes towards a better understanding of the causal effects of tracking on individual student outcomes. The downward trend in mixed tracks in the Netherlands should, from an attainment perspective, be encouraged to be reversed.
{"title":"Types of Tracking and Upward Mobility: Causal Effects on (Social Inequality in) Educational Attainment in The Netherlands","authors":"Per Bles, Melline Somers, Katarina Weßling","doi":"10.1111/ejed.70451","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.70451","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In contrast with other early-tracking education systems, schools in the Dutch system can provide several combinations of school tracks during the first years of secondary school. We study how the attended type of track(s) affects students' chances of obtaining a pre-academic school certificate. Our target group is students just below the margin of entering the pre-academic track. We differentiate between strict tracking and two forms of mixed tracking, including either one pre-academic track (partly mixed) or both pre-academic tracks (broadly mixed). We examine whether our target group obtains a pre-academic degree directly or indirectly via stacking certificates. We use an instrumental variable (IV) approach to estimate causal effects. Our results show that students' are more likely to obtain a pre-academic certificate when they attend mixed tracks that allow for upward mobility, i.e., comprise a pre-academic track. High-SES students are more likely to attain a pre-academic certificate indirectly via stacking certificates. We conclude that our nuanced analysis contributes towards a better understanding of the causal effects of tracking on individual student outcomes. The downward trend in mixed tracks in the Netherlands should, from an attainment perspective, be encouraged to be reversed.</p>","PeriodicalId":47585,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Education","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ejed.70451","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146140177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}