Persistence and perseverance: working with university research ethics committee processes to elicit children's views, voices and volitions

McGregor, Deb, Frodsham, Sarah and Deller, Clarysly ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5504-652X (2022) Persistence and perseverance: working with university research ethics committee processes to elicit children's views, voices and volitions. In: Thinking Critically and Ethically about Research for Education: engaging with voice and empowerment in international contexts. Routledge, pp. 11-26. ISBN 9780367556907 (hardback); 9781003094722 (ebook)

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Abstract

The chapter reports on scrutiny of a lesson that involved a range of different small group and whole class participatory activities. As outlined earlier, questionnaires, group interviews, video of the lesson and individual audio recording of pupils' talk were designed to provide juxtaposed insights regarding the processes of pupils' learning about evolution. Administering questionnaires is a common and readily accepted approach that often purports to elicit students' thoughts, views and ideas about teaching and learning and is highlighted by well-cited reports. In the case discussed in the chapter, pupils were invited to answer questions about their understandings of adaptation and evolution at the beginning and end of a particular lesson. Eliciting how pupils participated in the classroom activities and observing who did what enabled elicitation of a range of moments when social constructivism was enacted. There is a clear need to protect young people who are generally perceived as ‘vulnerable’ in school-based research.