Moving beyond mosaic: Co-creating educational and psychosocial resources using military children's voices

Abstract: The Mosaic approach has been effectively used to gather children's voices in early childhood settings using a children's voices framework, although research translation using these voices is less reported. This paper bridges this gap by reporting on the voices of young children from military and veteran families and the free, narrative-based resources co-created using these voices to strengthen children's capacity to survive and thrive in these families. Children from military families can experience frequent relocations, multiple and prolonged parental deployments and heightened anxiety about the safety of the member parent. Children from military and veteran families might also experience the challenges of living with a parent who is injured (physically, mentally and/or morally). The children's voices gathered in an initial study revealed four themes about their experiences in Australian military and veteran families, namely, (i) Department of Defence supports, (ii) communication, (iii) acculturation and ritual, and (iv) narrative. The research team worked with the affected community and partners to co-create resources that aligned with these themes. To achieve this, the team conducted an additional online survey with community members who had lived experience in military and veteran families, along with research partners and professionals who supported these families. The aim was to identify the types of resources and content they felt would best support children's psychosocial development. The children's voices, subsequent research data, and the literature were woven together to co-create free, online research-based educational and psychosocial resources to strengthen the coping strategies of young children from these families. This will interest those who aim for children's voices not only to be heard but to have an impact on the world.