Ethical considerations and dilemmas in an ethnographic study - in respect to participating children

• Ethical considerations and dilemmas in an ethnographic study -In respect to participating children Today video recording is increasingly and more frequently used in practice based research. As a methodological tool it provides new opportunities to scrutinize interaction and communication between participants in the school practice. Therefore it generates new ethical questions into the field of doing research with children (Sargeant & Harcourt 2012). In this paper the experiences from an ethnographic study together with 100 children and four teachers are discussed. The aim of the study is to follow the teachers´ math education during a year and their relational work intertwined in education. To be able to get close to the interlocutors, I as a researcher moved around in the classroom and captured the interaction: a framework that prioritizes the situated and interactional accomplishment of practical action (Heath, Hindmarsh & Luff 2010). I will discuss ethical considerations and dilemmas connected to three phases of the PhD work: design phase, field work and the final writing phase. In the first and the last stage there is more time for the researcher to reflect upon ethical questions, but during the fieldwork the researcher might not be prepared for complex ethical situations that sometimes arise. Emerging fields of video-based research in social sciences give distinctive ways of producing data and opportunities to look upon the recording over and over again. The implications of being filmed can be hard for participating children and their parents to understand, to the full extent. In the beginning, during the design phase and while informing children and parents about the study, it is therefore important to clarify the implications of children’s involvement, as well as their rights to step out of the study. Another fruitful cooperation with children is giving them opportunity to erase parts of the recording, if a situation would emerge that could be of great stress to them. Just knowing this possible “way out” could give children power to act and control implications of being filmed to a greater extent. In the writing phase there is also more time for the researcher to reflect upon what data to use, analyze and last but not least how to present the result in an ethical and respectful way in relation to participating children. This is also a phase where support and discussion together with colleagues and supervisors might be of great importance. But during the field work the situation is more complex. Behind the camera the researcher is alone, anything can happen and the researcher needs to take immediate decisions of ethical and moral nature. Fundamental for research in which children are involved, is the CRC's rights (2000, 2007, Article 3 and 12) where the child's best interests and also the child's right to be heard and respected must be of primary consideration. As a researcher you constantly have to reflect upon your thinking and actions. Can I go this close right now with the camera? How are the children reacting? Does the filming distract them? Should I take a step back? In this paper, ethical experiences from the study are discussed. References Heath, C., Hindmarsh, J. & Luff, P. (2010). Video in Qualitative Research. London: SAGE Publications. Sargeant, J. & Harcourt, D. (2012). Doing Ethical Research with Children. Berkshire: Open University Press. UNICEF (2000). Barnkonventionen, FN:s konvention om barnets rättigheter. UNICEF (2007). Implementation Handbook for the Convention on the Right of the Child: Fully Revised Third Edition. Hodgkin, R., & Newell, P. Geneva: Switzerland.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

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