Pupil voice: listening to and hearing the educational experiences of young people with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD)

This paper provides an overview of a PhD pilot study which aimed to develop innovative, exploratory research strategies for harnessing the pupil voice of children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD). The paper highlights how a PhD pilot study engaged young people in novel data collection methods. The main aim of this paper is to locate the pupil at the heart of the data collection and to examine how specific turning points can impact upon the educational experiences of young people with BESD. An overview of the methods employed in the research are offered here; these included activity sessions that involved role play and games in order to facilitate an exploration of pupils' responses to their different experiences of BESD provision. Following on from the activity sessions, interviews were conducted to gain a more detailed insight into pupils' educational experiences. The methods employed throughout this paper were interactive, with emphasis placed on engaging and involving the young people in the research process. The paper ends by offering a discussion of the preliminary findings from the pilot study and the researcher's experiences of engaging young people with BESD in research.