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Progressing the ‘Impact’ Agenda in Education: Including Children & Young People in Research
Anne Graham and Robyn Fitzgerald
Centre for Children and Young People
Southern Cross University

2. The Centre for Children & Young People at SCU…
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The Centre for Children & Young People at SCU…
interdisciplinary Centre
research, education and advocacy
collaboration - researchers, practitioners, children & yp
rural and regional perspective

3. Current research topics include:
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Current research topics include:
Children & YP in out of home care
Children’s involvement in decision-making following parent’s separation
Children’s social and emotional wellbeing
Children’s spirituality
Rural Childhoods
Children’s citizenship
Children & the law

4. ‘improving’ rather than ‘proving’
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Cohering interests…
enhanced provision, protection and participation (including in research)
‘improving’ rather than ‘proving’

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Work draws on a range of theoretical interests - sociocultural theory, new childhood studies, constructivism, poststructuralism, critical theory, complexity theory, futures studies, hermeneutics….

6. So the key issues we will consider today?
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So the key issues we will consider today?
A rationale for facilitating children’s participation
The benefits of involving children in research
Some constraints in the current Australian research environment

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The starting point ….
Children and young people are social actors and citizens in their own right
Their views and perspectives are critical in creating responsive social institutions

8. And …. Children are conceptualised as competent
Not simply ‘objects’ of adult concern
Actively involved in shaping their own lives
Need to find ways to better understand and describe children’s experiences
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And ….

9. Why involve children in research?
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Why involve children in research?
 Philosophical & sociological perspective
…reflects an interest in children as persons in their own right and as worthy and capable of recognition, respect and voice
‘Recognition is a vital human need’ (Taylor, 1995, p226) - no different for c & yp
Assumes children are persons of value
Research is done ‘with children rather than on or about them and, in the process, to give their views legitimacy (Smart et al, 2001, p.14)

10. Why involve children in research?
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Why involve children in research?
…vindicates the right of children to have a say and to be heard, as afforded to them under the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
Expectation that children can put forward their views and represent their interests in the expectation they will be listened to and respected (Cairns, 2006)
‘Allowing children to be active participants in the research process enhances their status as individuals with inherent rights to participation in society…and the right to be heard in their authentic voice’ (Glover, 2004, p.90)
Doesn’t necessarily mean affording special status…
 Human rights perspective

11. Why involve children in research?
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Why involve children in research?
 Socio-cultural perspective
Children as active and dynamic citizens - nurtured by social experiences and interactions with others
Reflects a view that children’s participation takes place in partnership with adults who need to provide appropriate support and guidance, in order to help them formulate their views
Research therefore understood to be a collaborative process

12. Why involve children in research?
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Why involve children in research?
 Empirical support for children’s participation
…reports benefits for children’s wellbeing, as well as for improving the way we do things in families, schools and communities
Evidence suggests participation helps develop a sense of belonging, gain new skills and experiences, meet new people, build a sense of their own agency, greater awareness of ecological and social justice issues etc.
Eg. Cashmore et al (2007), Bagshaw et al (2006), Smith (2003), Smart (2002), Landsdown (2001), Kjorholt (2004), Rantaliaiho & Teige (2006)
The impact of such research is now translating into demonstrated benefits - as defined in the ‘social benefits’ domain of the RQF

13. Applying research to schools - impact on practice??
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Applying research to schools - impact on practice??
 On students
…greater self-esteem and confidence, improved academic outcomes, improved interpersonal and political skills, better understanding of how decisions are made, greater sense of direction.
 On teachers
…better student - teacher relationships, decreased teacher stress, improved teacher practice
…enhanced school organisation and governance, improved student behaviour
 On schools
 Outside of schools
…benefits for students feeling they make a difference in the community
Inspiring Schools: Impact and Outcomes (Davies, Williams & Yamashita, 2006)

14. Translating the principles Challenges & barriers
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Translating the principles
Challenges & barriers
…listening to the voices of youth...makes young people feel they are valued and contributing members of society. However…the approach is not without complication. To overcome adult-centred interpretations and covert relations of power, it is essential to employ a methodology that allows youth to speak from, and be appreciated for, their own perspective. (Barron, 2000, p.44-5)

15. Considering the child subject……
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Children’s involvement and research assessment
Research ‘impact’- essentially about relevance and accessibility
Benefits of research that extend to the wider community
Can research that includes the voices of children & young people survive in a more elitist research environment?
What place does a dialogical approach have - particularly one that accommodates the complexity and ambiguity of children’s accounts?

16. Connecting impact and ethics….. can children fit into the picture?
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Connecting impact and ethics….. can children fit into the picture?

17. Or is the competition too strong?
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Or is the competition too strong?

18. ‘It’s not enough for an outcome to be ethically acceptable or even desirable; the means used to achieve it must also be ethical’.
Somerville (2006, p.25)

19. The National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research
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The National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research
Era now recognising the value of giving children a say…
Can our ethical frameworks accommodate this?
How are children defined in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct on Human Research?

20. Minors who may lack the maturity to make a decision
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Minors who may lack the maturity to make a decision
Determination of children’s maturity or competence located within legal definitions of children’s competence -subject to the law
Presumption that children lack capacity to participate exists in the determination of their capacity to consent

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Responsibility in hands of researchers to determine maturity and capacity of child to participate in research
Must also judge child’s vulnerability and level of comprehension - is research in child’s best interests?
Ambiguous methodological and ethical starting point - children lack maturity to participate but guidelines nevertheless provided to allow for it….

22. “ethics”: an exercise in risk assessment or something else?
Consider……. “the child”: questions of agency, capacity, autonomy, rationality, responsibility
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“ethics”: an exercise in risk assessment or something else?
Risk assessment/‘best interests of child’

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‘Catch 22’? Children’s participation constrained - may not gain the experience… Protection vs participation rights ‘Adults cannot protect children without understanding their experiences’ (Lansdown, 2006, p.149)

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Walking the ethical tightrope – negotiating the regulative environment of ethics in order to facilitate the respectful inclusion of children

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Ethics in practice…
How are ethical decisions reached in research that includes children?
Is research ‘ethical’ if I have analysed the risks and benefits?
Is ‘ethical research’ being conflated with comprehensive ‘risk assessment’?
Are we ‘gatekeeping’ the kids out?

26. Is this where we are headed? Examining ethical guidelines…..
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27. ‘Evolving capacities’? (Lansdown, 2005)
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‘Evolving capacities’? (Lansdown, 2005)
Shifts away from deficit model to a strengths based model - aspects which are helpful/supportive of children’s participation

28. So… Facilitating children’s participation in research isn’t easy!
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So…
Facilitating children’s participation in research isn’t easy!
Not arguing for the abandonment of legislative and ethical frameworks that guide research with children
Importance of challenging deeply embedded assumptions about children & childhood
What approaches might we take - respectful, accountable research without marginalising participation?
Burgeoning literature to draw on in conducting ethical and respectful research with kids

29. Final reflections Our sense is our work needs to:
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Final reflections
Our sense is our work needs to:
Assume and respect the competence of children & young people to engage in the research process
Begin from a dialogic standpoint - recognise the importance and value of dialogue guiding the purpose and process of research
Involve children & young people in framing research questions that matter, designing studies, developing methods etc that signal more authentic engagement - includes feedback on their experience

30. Final reflections Our sense is our work needs to:
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Final reflections
Our sense is our work needs to:
Challenge normative discourses and institutional ethics that result in ‘last resort’ inclusion of children
Ensure researchers are trained/guided in the broader ethical considerations of research with children
Value diversity in research methodologies
Pursue further understandings of the regulatory, philosophical, legal, theoretical, pragmatic issues that enable and/or constrain children’s involvement in research

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