Adolescent Voices, Qualitative Tensions, and YA Literature: Reimagining Child-Parent Research for Classroom Co-Inquiry

Abstract This chapter explores the meaning making that becomes possible when teachers and students engage in classroom co-inquiry that centers on young adult (YA) literature. Focusing on qualitative and post-qualitative methods and drawing on the partnership dynamics of child-parent research, the chapter showcases how classroom co-inquiry creates possibilities for critical, deep learning about self, about others, and about society. Examples of such co-inquiry are offered through the lens of YA literature, which also serves as a bridge between theory and practice. The authors contend that, by engaging in research together, students and teachers can transform the curriculum, their understandings of self and others, and the process of learning itself.