A child's-eye view of social difference

A unique strength of this project was the participation of children from contrasting backgrounds and the research clearly maps the dimensions of social difference from the perspective of children themselves. [...] The children Participation in the project Access to recruiting the children was negotiated though a youth centre for the estate children and an independent fee-paying school for the private schoolchildren. [...] In order to protect the identity of the children involved (and their families and communities), it was agreed that the anonymity of individuals, the estate and the school would be preserved in all project outputs. [...] 10 Children’s perceptions of social difference The ‘otherness’ of poverty and affl uence The fact that the children distanced themselves from notions of poverty and affl uence refl ected the fact that they defi ned poverty and wealth in extreme terms and to signify social ‘otherness’. [...] At the outset of the research, both the estate children and private schoolchildren were asked to identify the most ‘important things’ in their lives.