Ethical Practice in Early Childhood

Ioanna Palaiologou, Ioanna Palaiologou

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781446290224
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

Ethical considerations are raising new questions about the involvement and participation of children in research. By considering the ethical issues that can arise when working with and doing research with young children from birth to five years, this book examines a wide range of topics including:

- involving young children in research

- informed consent

- research tools with children under five

- researching children with special needs

- researching vulnerable groups

- researching other cultures

- multi-agency working

- loss and bereavement

- ethical practices when studying early childhood

- safe-guarding young children

- inspection

- ethics and leadership

Examples from education, health and social work are examined, and there are chapter overviews, activities, case studies, points for discussion and recommendations for further reading and useful Websites in each chapter; which help to engage the reader and facilitate critical thinking and reflective practice. This is a comprehensive guide to a developing field for the early years student and practitioner.

Part 1

Ethical Issues in Research

1

Involving Young Children in Research

Donna Green

Chapter overview

The chapter discusses ethical practice when involving young children in research and it focuses on the crucial issue of ‘participation’ in the context of the rights of young children to be valued and respected. Although the issue of participation will be the main concern throughout the first part of the book, the chapter will attempt to illustrate the means by which young children are invited to participate in research as well as the importance of listening and tuning in to their early communications in order to gain their consent to research. Key policy and initiatives are evaluated critically to explore the emergence of a new wave in thinking in regard to children’s rights and the wider impact these have upon research with children. Finally, the journey towards gaining ethical consent from young children and adults is defined through exploring the relative problems. The term ‘children’ is often used to refer to individuals across a variety of ages, in most cases to those under the age of 18 (UN, 1998); here, ‘young children’ includes those under the age of five. The chapter aims to examine the term ‘participation’ in the context of young children giving their consent; to evaluate the key policies and initiatives and their impact upon valuing young children in their own right, and: to evaluate the relative levels of informed consent and the ways in which it is elicited to gain the participation of young people/children in research.

A Right to ‘Participation’: When Does It Begin?

The term ‘participation’ means ‘becoming actively involved’ and ‘the act or state of participating, or sharing in common with others’ (Collins, 2001: 394). Given such meaning in the context of working directly with children, it could be said that we practitioners are all ‘actively involved’ in practice on a day-to-day basis and ‘share in common’ the best interests of all children with whom we engage. Taking participation a step further in the wider context we are ourselves ‘participants’ in the lives of certain children and their families. In real terms ‘participation’ may be seen as causing a ripple effect as individuals’ actions touch others. Communication, both verbal and non-verbal, conveys meaning to others thus enabling connectivity through sharing common interests. Achieving inclusivity through being involved, irrespective of the level of engagement, is true ‘participation’.

The infectious nature of what could be described as true participation unlocks the excitement and possibilities for children to become active meaning makers in their own lives. As such:

[I]t could be argued that ‘participation’ in society begins from the moment a child enters the world and discovers the extent to which they are able to influence events by cries or movements, but it is worth bearing in mind that through these early negotiations, even in infancy, children discover the extent to which their own voices influence the course of events in their lives. (Hart, 1997: 4)

Babies communicate from their earliest weeks. Many months before their first recognisable words babies become adept at communicating, with a range of vocalisations through sound making, facial expressions and useful gestures such as pointing to direct attention and to share their current interests and dislikes (Lindon et al., 2001; Elfer et al., 2003; Keenan & Evans, 2009). Therefore, during such early stages babies are able effectively to participate in their environment, to communicate and ultimately to influence what happens to them. The importance and value of such participation should not be underestimated. Listening to children and acknowledging children’s views has benefits for both children and the adults who are listening. Listening to children can impact positively upon their development of skills and understanding, raise their self-esteem and change their everyday experiences, whereas adults seeing and hearing children can gain unexpected insights into children’s interests and capabilities, reveal different possibilities for engagement and share serious concerns (Clark, 2004: 2).

In terms of research, acknowledging that our youngest children are able effectively to participate, share their feelings and make a valuable contribution is essential, yet this acknowledgement in itself is not enough: the researcher has an immense responsibility to ensure that the best interests of the child are paramount and take priority over those of the research. Nevertheless, it may traditionally be seen that ‘most research directly on children is devoted to measuring them, using the model of animal research to measure their growth, disease or behaviour’; ‘this is usually to atomise and process them through the grid of adult-designed research’ (Alderson, 1995: 40). This being the case, such non-child-centred research fails to uphold the best interests of child participants, nor does it respect the child as an individual; rather, it prioritises the interests of the outcome of the research and thus regards the child as a mere subject to be studied which informs current practice in the relative disciplines. It is here that the powerlessness and vulnerability of participants in relation to adult researchers is seen (Morrow & Richards, 1996; Valentine, 1999).

Some of the early pioneering work undertaken with young children has given invaluable insights into child development and still informs current practice. Although such work has contributed to the understanding of child development, the means by which such understanding was achieved could only be described today as unethical. The following cases serve as an example of practice where young children, and in some cases their carers, were powerless and vulnerable within research.

Case study 1

Dennis & Dennis (1941): Infant Development Under Conditions of Restricted and Minimum Social Stimulation

The aim of the study was to create a situation in which young children were deprived of stimulation in a controlled environment. Dennis and his wife cared for two female fraternal twins from the age of one to 14 months. However, the term ‘care’ in this situation is used to describe the existence of the twins within the home of the researcher, in a heated room with no pictures or toys and minimal furniture, being fed and changed regularly, with very limited social interaction.

During the first seven months of the research it appeared that the twins remained within normal developmental limits for their age, although slightly below average. However, in the second part of the experiment, from ages seven to fourteen months, development became more seriously impaired and at 14 months the twins were classified as seriously retarded (Jarvis & Chandler, 2001: 181).

Case study 2

Watson & Rayner (1920): Little Albert (Classical Conditioning)

Watson and Rayner trained Albert, a nine-month-old baby, to fear a neutral stimulus (a white rat) after presenting it several times in the company of a loud sound (clanging an iron bar behind the infant’s head). While initially Albert reached out to touch the rat, he soon learned to fear it, ‘crying and turning his head away from sight of the animal’ (Harris, 1979; Keenan & Evans, 2009). Baby Albert in this case was subjected to a stressful situation where his communicated distaste and fear for the situation were subsequently ignored. Watson and Rayner had exercised their power status over baby Albert.

Case study 3

Gessell (1932): The Developmental Morphology of Infant Behaviour Patterns

Arnold Gessell’s pioneering work on capturing developmental milestones in child development further depicts children as research subjects rather than as participants: ‘our subjects are normal infants selected as to race, gestation period, health, parentage and socio-economic factors’ (Gessell, 1932: 140). The way in which he conducted his research was by no means as damaging to children as in the two cases previously mentioned; however, they were non-naturalistic in the sense of the environment in which they took place. Young children were placed in what Gessell referred to as the ‘observation dome’. The operator, observers and parent are stationed outside; the infant is in the crib in the universal focal area of the cameras. The surrounding laboratory is darkened, effectively concealing the observers from the infant – who himself is clearly perceived as he displays his repertoire of behaviour in his crib (Gessell, 1932: 40). The children who took part in Gessell’s research were observed in a scientific environment, viewed as objects similar to animals in a zoo. The mere fact that children were placed in such non-naturalistic surroundings and unable to see their parents would have been stressful for them. Given what is known today about ‘attachment theory’, the participant-children had, in the absence of their parents, no safe base from which to explore, and no source of comfort, encouragement or guidance (Crawford, 2006: 43).

The building of relationships between practitioners and young children, as well as those adults responsible for their care, is essential to ensure equality in power and status when undertaking research. However, the building of relationships has inherent possible difficulties, such as children feeling let down when a research project ends, difficulties in establishing rapport with young children, their parents and other key people involved in their care, and environmental barriers beyond the researcher’s control. Hart (1997) argues that some of the inclusive practices to involve children in research are actually limited and he adopts the term ‘tokenism’. Tokenism in that context is a false appearance of inclusive participation of children in research. It is also a difficult issue because it is often unintentionally applied by adults who wish to give children a voice, but have not considered it carefully or critically; this results in children having little or no choice about the subject or the style of communicating it, or the time to formulate their own opportunities (Hart, 1997: 41). Lansdown (2005) proposed the ethical approach to prevent adult manipulation or control. Creating meaningful participation provides a useful tool for good practice in this regard. The process has to be transparent and honest; staff should have a shared understanding and commitment and shared principles of behaviour towards each other; children must have appropriate information; the barriers children might face should be considered; and staff should work towards creating a space in which children are able to develop their own ideas (Lansdown, 2005: 29).

It is evident that researchers today have a huge amount of responsibility when embarking upon research involving the participation of young children. Given what is now known about the capabilities of young children, current practitioners are readily able to pass judgement on the work of our research forbears. It is therefore essential that an appreciation exists of the emergence of a new wave in thinking in regard to valuing the participation of young children.

Before the chapter moves on to discuss the developments of the new wave of thinking about research involving young children it must at this point be emphasised that a key element in children’s participation in research is simplicity. When young children are involved in research it is essential for researchers to create an environment where it allows time for all (children and adults/researchers) to reflect; time for children to express themselves free from pressure; time to ensure the environment is suitable for purpose and does not constitute a barrier; time to listen and observe responses; and time to build relationships between researcher and children. In addition, physical space holds an equally central place in achieving simplicity in space: for children to be able to express themselves and for key people to meet and discuss issues around the research. Finally, the key issue in achieving simplicity is mutual respect among all concerned, shared understanding and commitment, alongside engagement with young children and the key people ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• List of Abbreviations
• About the Editor and Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: Towards an Understanding of Ethical Practice in Early Childhood
• Part 1 Ethical Issues in Research
• Part 2 Ethical Issues in Policy and Practice
• Index