Wykład otwarty profesor Kathleen Manion

wtorek 14 października 2025 r. godzina 10:00 sala 3213, bud.C, II piętro

"Uncovering the complex challenges faced by vulnerable youth globally through collaborative, youth-centered research"

Research has the power to move beyond surface-level narratives about children and youth and uncover the structural, systemic, interpersonal and cultural dynamics that shape youth experiences. These insights can make meaningful change for interventions meant to help these youth. This talk presents findings from five international participatory research projects, with that illustrate some of the most persistent and complex issues facing young people today. These findings reveal how well-intentioned interventions can inadvertently reinforce stress, silence, or exclusion when not grounded in lived realities of the participants they are meant to support.

Topics include the unintended consequences of linking housing to employment, the normalization of online sexual violence, the opportunities of rights-based education, the transformative potential of youth-led inquiry for adolescent mothers, and the conceptual ambiguity surrounding "inclusion" in educational settings across various countries, including, Canada, Uganda, Kenya, and Albania. Each case demonstrates how research can expose hidden tensions, reframe policy debates, and guide the design of more responsive, equitable systems for children and youth. This session will focus on the importance of methodological creativity, reflexivity, and engagement with the communities we aim to serve.

Kathleen Manion, BA, MA, LLM, PhD, is a Professor in the School of Humanitarian Studies. With a particular focus on social justice and children’s rights, Kathleen has had a diverse career working in academia, government, the not-for-profit sector and as a consultant. As such she is particularly interested in helping bridge the gap between practitioner experiential knowledge, academic theory and policy objectives in teaching, research and policy development. Kathleen’s academic, research and practice interests focus on systems that support children to thrive. Using various research methodologies and community engagement processes, Kathleen has worked on projects related to child protection, child rights, socioemotional learning, digital safety, homelessness, climate justice, early childhood development, environmental justice, service innovation, trafficking, violence against children and within families, inclusion, youth justice, and child migration in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific.