Peer Researchers – Rhizo-Eduscapes

Peer Researchers – Becoming Researchers Together: Collaborative Peer Research for Immersion in the World of Research

The concept of peer researchers emerged from the need to make the Rhizo-Eduscapes research project more participatory. To achieve this, we formed pairs of researchers who were close in age but brought different experiences regarding research, the specific research field—namely accommodation centres for unaccompanied minors—and refugee education. These pairs brought together early-career researchers from the Volos Linguistic Landscape Research Group, graduates of the Department of Language and Intercultural Studies, and young emerging researchers who are currently students and/or professionals with refugee backgrounds, many of whom had lived in similar accommodation facilities in Greece as minors.

The peer researchers initiative constitutes one of the core participatory actions of the Rhizo-Eduscapes research project (a sub-action of the Working Group on Research Ethics, Politics of Place and Institutional Frameworks for Unaccompanied Minors, coordinated by R. Kitsiou). Within this framework, collaborative research aspires to become a model of polyvocal, socially and ethically sensitive inquiry that seeks to redefine the relationships between knowledge, lived experience, and the research process. The initiative involves five peer researcher groups, each working collaboratively on different aspects of the project.

The initiative brings together five peer researcher groups:

The initiative is grounded in the idea that research can be developed through processes of co-constructing knowledge, dialogue, and mutual learning, challenging traditional hierarchical relationships between researchers and research participants. Its primary aim is both to support the development of small-scale research projects focusing on issues of language, education, and the everyday experiences of young people with refugee backgrounds, and to foster the gradual development of participants’ own research identities. The theoretical and philosophical framework of the initiative is encapsulated in the motto: Exploring learning as a rhizome — without roots or hierarchies. Mapping new paths of learning through sociolinguistic imagination & epistemic justice”

This perspective approaches learning as an open, polycentric, and non-linear process that evolves through relationships, experiences, and trajectories, while placing particular emphasis on sociolinguistic imagination and epistemic justice. Through this lens, participants are encouraged not only to contribute to research but also to become active producers of knowledge, bringing their own experiences, perspectives, and forms of expertise into the research process.

The micro-research projects developed by the five peer researcher groups are organised around five thematic areas: linguistic repertoires and multilingualism, employment, university life, school experiences, and the arts, with a particular emphasis on dance. These themes are approached not only as research topics but also as sites of personal experience, social negotiation, and identity construction.

The digital extension of this initiative finds its space for expression on Instagram and is coordinated by K. Makri. In particular, the Becoming Researchers Instagram account functions as a digital space for public sociolinguistic expression, reflection, and dissemination of the research process taking place through the face-to-face and hybrid interactions of the peer researchers. In doing so, it strengthens relationships of trust and enriches collaborative practices among the members of the peer researcher groups.

The content co-created by the peer researcher groups is published weekly in both Greek and English and occasionally incorporates additional languages spoken by the participants. This multilingual approach seeks to highlight diverse aspects of the sociolinguistic repertoires of the emerging researchers as they interact and collaborate. The account therefore serves not only as a dissemination platform but also as a participatory space where research, multilingualism, and lived experience intersect.

Posts are organised into thematic categories that rotate over time and combine scientific inquiry with creative and accessible forms of communication. Following training sessions led by K. Makri and K. Vlachos on Instagram content creation using the Canva platform, and through the use of a shared collaborative workspace, members of the peer researcher groups began producing and publishing their own content on a designated day each week. Mondays are devoted to languages, Tuesdays to school experiences, Wednesdays to university and student life, Thursdays to employment and labour rights, and Fridays to artistic expression.

The textual genres used in these posts are collaboratively selected by the participants, who contribute their own ideas and express their interests and needs. The genres employed thus far include the following:

“Did You Know?” presents short sociolinguistic and cultural facts related to languages, migration, and education.

Memes use humour as a means of social commentary and critical reflection on stereotypes and everyday experiences.

Tip of the Day / Recommendation of the Day features suggestions for books, films, music, and other cultural resources connected to the themes explored in the peer researchers’ micro-research projects.

Debunking Our Stereotypes is based on true-or-false questions and aims to challenge social, linguistic, and cultural stereotypes through brief, participatory, and reflective interventions.

Through this process, peer researchers—as becoming researchers together—do not merely participate in a research project; they become active producers of knowledge, public discourse, and sociolinguistic intervention. In doing so, they contribute to the development of more participatory, multilingualism-sensitive, and socially just forms of research and education.