Participatory research approaches on design principles for emergent learning

Educational design research (EDR) seeks to concurrently advance theory and generate useful design knowledge for practitioners. EDR is led by educational researchers who provide rigour and theoretical grounding to research (Dunn et al., 2019). Systematic reflection by an experienced researcher, whether on theory-informed interventions in EDR (Plomp, 2007), or on practice-informed theory (Bakker, 2018) can yield actionable knowledge in the form of design principles. However, participatory research approaches which claim objectivity and equity risk perpetuating privileged positions of power (Bang & Vossoughi, 2016) which may limit equitable stakeholder design agency (Sannino, Engeström, & Lemos, 2016; Virkkunen, Vilela, Querol, & Lopes, 2014). The aim of this methodological paper is to explore design agency in equitable participatory research for the creation of design principles. The paper explores emergent learning in two distinct educational settings – early childhood education in Denmark, and higher education in Australia. First, examination of research approaches in preschools are discussed, reporting on a project where children, researchers and preschool teachers codesign for playful and explorative learning computational thinking. This is followed by examination of a relational research approach taken to generate design principles for an interdisciplinary university course. The paper proposes that in both research contexts, enabling equitable design agency with forms of dialogic approaches may benefit EDR, but requires reconsideration of how design principles for emergent learning are created and validated, and offers suggestions for retaining rigour while being more inclusive of participants throughout the research processes.