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This paper reflects on the appropriateness of using focus groups with young children, based on a real life study carried out in Liverpool, UK which used 12, single‐sex focus groups (n=50, mean age=7) to explore children’s perceptions of smoking. The technique proved both useful and appropriate for young children, although in practice the groups needed more direction by the moderator than is thought to be ideal with adults. The findings produced by the study were comparable to those attained by other research methods. There was no evidence of over conformity as a range of responses were given, and the children appeared to enjoy the exercise, which encouraged spontaneity. We conclude, with certain preconditions, that focus groups with young children are a viable method for exploring young children’s perspectives but need to be small in number, homogenous and interactive, to maintain a high level of interest.

One common feature of different variants of participatory and action research is rejection of technocratic, undemocratic elements in science and inquiry, aiming to break the dominance of traditional academic views of science. These variants open up broader participation of people, and emancipate knowledge creation for the production of actionable knowledge with transformative potentials. The purpose of this chapter is to recognize and clarify a striving for knowledge democracy in these explicit or implicit democratizing ambitions and tendencies in the sense of broadening the participation of concerned parties in research and development work on open and equal terms. This recent concept, still in the process of formulation, has been proposed as a global mobilizing and unifying thinking for distributed networks and movements for participatory oriented research. The concept and movement had an initial embedding in the First Global Assembly for Knowledge Democracy in June 2017, Cartagena, Columbia. The purpose of the chapter is to elaborate on the meaning of knowledge democracy as a vision for the participatory and action research community. Particularly I will distinguish between different orientation to knowledge democracy, and the character of the logic of a more, open, democratic and coproductive science that can be a carrier of it.

This paper discusses the teaching and learning of sustainable development at a single additional support needs primary school in Scotland. This school provides education to students of ages 4–12 years and with learning requirements that may not be accommodated in a mainstream education setting. Teaching of sustainable development to students with additional support needs is bound by the same standardised education policies as mainstream primary education in Scotland, and yet, there needs to be differences in practices to ensure all students can access and learn from sustainable development experiences and opportunities. This study asks 2 questions: (1) How is sustainable development taught at an additional support needs primary school in Scotland? and (2) What makes an additional support needs primary school in Scotland successful with teaching and learning of sustainable development?

This paper is underpinned by the relational posthuman philosophy of kin and kinship. The paper draws on findings from a 2-year case study of a single additional support needs primary school in Scotland. The data were gathered through photography in photo-voice and semi-structured interviews with 12 participants. All participants of this study are education practitioners employed at the school and have a remit for teaching and/or supporting the teaching and learning of sustainable development at the school. Additionally, observations I made in my dual role as education practitioner and researcher of this study are included.

The main concept arising from the data collected is relationships. Teaching and learning practices are focused on providing students with sustainable development experiences and opportunities which may differ to that of a mainstream primary education school. The teaching of sustainable development at the case school is achieved through the entanglement of connections students make with their human and non-human kin, and the affect this has on them to become active agents in creating stronger communities and sustainable futures for all. Furthermore, the relationships these students have with their human and non-human kin are driven by the varying additional support needs of students, effectively meaning that students are involved with how they are taught about sustainable development.

The findings can have implications for formal education systems around the world by providing an alternative lens by which to view and review how teaching and learning of sustainable development occurs and what this currently looks like to students with additional support needs. A review of curriculum and the framework for teaching, learning and assessing sustainable development to students with additional support needs can ignite change towards inclusion in this area and enable all learners to be active agents of sustainability practices in their everyday lives. This in turn will ensure that all citizens can participate in sustainable development at a local level and thereby contribute to national and global climate change goals, and ultimately ensure all life (human and non-human) on Earth can flourish.

This paper provides an alternative view to the teaching and learning practices of sustainable development to students with additional support needs by thoughtfully considering who and what are our kin and how kinship is made. This posthuman theoretical perspective provides a lens by which to view the different relationships students with additional support needs have not only with people but also with objects, and how these connections can enable this group of vulnerable learners to become active agents in sustainable development practices in their communities, and, as such, through posthuman philosophy, this paper illustrates the intersection between sustainable development and inclusion. The study also reveals the successes and barriers of teaching sustainable development to students at a single additional support needs primary school in Scotland, and how kinship can promote agency in students with additional support needs by providing community spirit through connection with the human and non-human. Recommendation following this study is for governments, schools and education practitioners around the world to review how sustainable development is taught and learnt across formal education systems and to consider alternative relational posthuman teaching and learning approaches to sustainable development that shift away from tokenistic practices that are steeped in a humanist mindset.

This article reports on a literature review of interventions specifically identified as emanating from a mental health promotion (as opposed to prevention) paradigm. A number of recurring debates in the field were identified, including language and terminology, defining ‘mental health’, models of mental health promotion, the use of overgeneralised concepts, values, beliefs and assumptions implicit in mental health promotion interventions, and diversity in what gets called mental health promotion and who does mental health promotion. The paper concludes by highlighting key issues critical to the future development of mental health promotion: the implications of mental health promotion being at an embryonic stage of development, the need for greater reflexivity, the need for integration, and issues concerning professional identity and practice in the mental health promotion field.

The purpose of this paper is to present an exploration of parents', teachers' and childrens' perspectives on children's understanding of wellbeing with the aim of illuminating and comparing the conceptualisation of wellbeing from these three perspectives.

The participatory method developed to undertake the study in this paper stems from the adoption of the “draw and write” technique, with children taking photographs rather than drawing and participating in data analysis. Children aged eight to 12 years took 723 photographs representing wellbeing, while a second set of children grouped the photographs into categories. A third set organised these categories, developing and illustrating through schemata the pattern of relationships between categories. This process was repeated for parent and teacher groups drawing on the photographs taken by the children.

The findings in this paper show that differences emerged between parents and teachers and children and adults. Parents provided a more detailed conceptualisation than teachers. Children included pets where adults perceived school as being more important in children's wellbeing. The identification of the differing perspectives between children and adults suggests that this approach has enabled children to illuminate their own unique perspective on wellbeing. The paper also demonstrates that children can express complex understandings of abstract concepts.

In the paper the findings reinforce the need to gain children's perspectives rather than relying on adult perceptions of children's perspectives, in order to inform quality service, practice and policy developments.

The purpose of this paper is to outline a three‐stage process for engaging with students to develop school level indicators of health; in sequential class groups students first generated, then categorised indicators and finally developed schematic representations of their analyses. There is a political and practical need to develop appropriate indicators for health‐promoting schools. As key stakeholders in education, students have the right to be fully engaged in this process.

The sample in this paper comprised 164 students aged 16‐17 years in three medium‐sized Dublin schools. In the first classroom, students answered the question “If you moved to a new school, what would it need to have to be a healthy place?” on individual flashcards. In the second classroom students classified the flashcards into groups using a variation of the card game “snap”. In the third classroom, students discussed the relationships between the developed categories and determined how the categories should be presented. These procedures were repeated twice in three schools, resulting in six developed schemata.

The paper finds that the six sets of categories showed remarkable similarity – physical aspects of the school predominated but emotional and social health issues also emerged as potential indicators. The schema demonstrated the holistic perspectives of students. They illustrate the importance of relationships and the physical and psycho‐social environment within schools.

The paper illustrates that students can productively engage in the process of indicator development and have the potential to act as full stakeholders in health‐promoting schools. The methods enabled student control over the data generation, analysis and presentation phases of the research, and provided a positive, fun experience for both students and researchers.