Through my PhD, I developed an interdisciplinary and participatory research practice that explores children’s relationships with place and their lived experiences of participation. My research focuses on rural China, where I engage with left-behind children and their communities to examine how they construct a sense of belonging, agency, and home. While much scholarship on left-behind children centers on vulnerability, my work highlights children’s voices, exploring how they navigate their environments and co-construct their worlds.

I adopted Photovoice and storytelling as key methodologies, enabling children to express their perspectives on place through creative and visual means. The participatory nature of my research disrupts traditional power hierarchies, positioning children as active knowledge producers rather than subjects of study. Through this approach, my research challenges deficit-based narratives and reveals the complexity of children’s experiences in rural China. It also underscores the importance of environmental and social factors in shaping children’s participation.

One of the central contributions of my PhD is the integration of place, participation, and agency into a theoretical framework that can be applied beyond rural China. My findings have implications for policies on child welfare, migration, and community development, advocating for more child-centered approaches in research and practice. Beyond academia, my work fosters dialogue between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers on how to meaningfully engage children in shaping their own futures.

At international conferences, I have shared my research with scholars and practitioners interested in participatory methodologies and child-centered research. These engagements have helped refine my theoretical approach and extended the impact of my work across disciplines, including social work, geography, and childhood studies.

Moving forward, I am expanding my research into the broader field of child empowerment, exploring how participatory research methods can be adapted to assess and support children’s agency in different socio-cultural contexts. I am particularly interested in developing tools and frameworks that can inform both academic and applied work in child participation, social work, and community development.

Engaging with communities, developing participatory tools, and advocating for children’s voices have emerged as strong elements of my ongoing research practice. I aim to continue this work by fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and embedding my research into social policies and community programs.