Power is a central concept to all forms of participatory research, and all participatory projects are complex spaces in which to negotiate power (Pain 2004). When working with young people, the relationship between the facilitator and participants can be complicated by the difficulty of being an adult facilitator with a group of teenagers (McIntyre 2008). The power imbalance when working with children and young people is heightened because of the age and status difference (Corsaro 2005; Christensen & Prout 2002; Morrow & Richards 1996).
At the beginning of each project, I was aware that the young people were cautious of the fact I was an adult, and may have been reluctant to engage fully in the discussions out of concern over what I might learn. In particular, these issues were especially heightened in the school project (Wang 2013; Punch 2002). Here, my position as an adult placed me with the teaching staff in the minds of the young people. At the beginning of the project, the young people often referred to me as 'Miss' despite my repeated requests to use my first name. In fact, my objections to being called 'Miss' were so vehement that it became something of a joke with the school students, who included it in the group contract, and addressed their thank you card at the end of the project to 'Miss', which had then been crossed out, with 'Ellie' written underneath.
In response to this, I made a conscious effort in both projects to attempt to deconstruct their assumptions about my status as an adult. In schools, the age-hierarchy and the difference between staff and students are reinforced by dress. While both staff and students are expected to dress smartly, the control of the school uniform is positioned in opposition to the relative freedom of staff dress. In order to combat assumptions made about my role as an adult, and the power imbued in that, I deliberately dressed in a way that visually placed me in opposition to the rest of the staff. While many of the female staff generally wore smart trousers, dresses, blouses and heels, I deliberately wore jeans, boots, and jumpers. This outfit choice helped to label me as 'student' rather than 'teacher'. In the youth group setting, both adults and young people wore more casual outfits, so this distinction was less pronounced. However, I once again tried to dress in a more casual manner than most of the other staff.
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In addition to the visual marker of dress, I also tried to reflect on the everyday acts of my behaviour within the research space. I took care to seat myself with participants, rather than at the front of the room, or stood up in front of the white board, like a teacher. While these small everyday acts may seem unimportant, it has been argued that "such little actions, however mundane, are not insignificant" (Sultana 2007, p.379).
While I attempted to position myself away from the label of 'adult' or 'teacher' through these markers, in the end it was the content of the topic that began to break down the boundaries of age. During the discussions with both groups, I was involved in frank conversations with participants about gender, sexuality, identity and the self. We discussed experiences in school, the effect of relationships, the risks of sending explicit photographs and other, sometimes sensitive, topics. As the young people became more comfortable, these discussions expanded. The young people asked for my advice and opinions on matters relating to relationships and sex and what to expect from university and moving away from home. As the project progressed, I felt that the young people began to see me less and less as a member of staff. After only a few meetings, the young people felt comfortable discussing sensitive issues around me, telling me (sometimes embarrassing) stories from their own lives, and asking me questions about mine. I was confident that at least to some extent, the young people had become comfortable enough around me and each other to engage fully in the PAR project without restraint.
While I felt confident that I had broken down much of the conception of myself as a teacher, and allowed the young people to become comfortable around me, that is not to say that I had removed myself from a position of power. In fact, in many ways I became conscious that I had simply removed one position of power and replaced it with another. While the young people no longer saw me as a teacher, instead they now saw me as a young student. This was a similar experience to that described by Wang, in her study in a secondary school. She realised that the young people had conceptualised her as a student, and frequently asked her questions and advice about university and applications (Wang 2013). However, whereas in Wang's study she felt this broke down the power dynamic between herself and the student, in this project it appeared to do the opposite. For the participants, the role of student was perceived to be somewhat glamorous and exciting. They were curious about my life, and quizzed me on my university experiences, my relationship with my partner and my future plans. As this happened, I became conscious that while I had attempted to break down one form of power relationship, I had simply replaced it with another.
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