1. ETHICS 4
Consent and Assent
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2. Voluntary informed consent
This is a fundamental tenet of ethical behaviour in research.
‘It is normally expected that participants’ voluntary informed consent to be involved in a study will be obtained at the start of the study, and that the researchers will remain sensitive and open to the possibility that participants may wish, for any reason and at any time, to withdraw their consent’ (p.9).
‘Researchers should do everything they can to ensure that all potential participants understand, as well as they can what is involved in a study’ (p.9).
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3. Consent in school settings
There are considerations in school settings regarding:
Gate keepers in school
Parents
Children and young people
Young children
Your colleagues
Pages 9-16 of the BERA guidelines provide detailed information about these considerations and more.
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4. Gate keepers in school
Since the school has an interest in the research, researchers should consider whether they should approach gatekeepers (e.g. head, year lead, class teacher) before approaching participants directly for consent.
Public social media messages, blogs, newsletters and the like should not be assumed to be data, available for researchers to use without consent (see BERA guidelines p.10-11).
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5. Parents
The BERA guidelines advise that in supporting the UNCRC (see ETHICS 3) researchers should respect the rights of children to express their views, and also take account of the rights and responsibilities of those who have legal responsibility for children (parents and guardians, or social workers).
This may involve gaining consent for children’s participation, from their parents or guardians.
Schools may advise all parents and guardians that children will routinely be involved in research throughout the year, via a home-school agreement or similar. Researchers should ensure they attend to parents’ right to refuse their children’s participation where this participation involves activity that is different from normal classroom routines.
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6. Children and young people
When participating in research means that children are involved in activity that is in addition to, or outside of normal classroom activity, or they are the focus of an observation for research - rather than assessment - purposes, researchers should consider how best to secure voluntary informed consent and the right to withdraw in a meaningful way.
See the next slide for an example and illustration.
Some teacher-researchers are surprised at how interested the children are in the fact that the teachers are finding out more about their own teaching.
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7. Example
Delyth is interested in how Y7/8 children experience an innovation in literacy support that has been introduced at the school; she would like to talk to a small focus group of children from different classes. The easiest time to get together is for 20 minutes at lunchtime. She decided that taking time out of lessons is not conducive to the children’s learning.
How might Delyth:
ask the relevant children if they would like to be involved?
explain what the children will be asked to (ie. what their participation involves)?
explain that the children can say no, in a way that they feel it would be OK to say no?
explain that the children can change their mind and leave the focus group if they want to, even after it has started?
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8. Illustration…ongoing consent
Some researchers use a smiley/sad-face or tick/cross system to ensure on-going consent. This can also be done with reversible statement cards.
By giving children a reversible card they can simply switch the card over to indicate that they are happy to continue or that they wish to leave.
I am happy to continue
I would like to leave
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9. Young children
Young children may not have the capacity to provide fully informed consent as they may not be able to understand the implications of the research and/or their participation, however researchers should secure young children’s assent to participate.
Assent means that children agree to doing what is asked, and are able to say no before – or during – the research activity.
Gweler y sleid nesaf am enghraifft a darlun.
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10. Example
Llinos is researching the extent to which the Nursery children choose a variety of playful activities over the period of a session, or tend towards the same ones. She has decided that video- recording three sessions and tracking children’s movements between play choices and time spent at each choice will provide her with some useful data.
How might Llinos:
inform the children about what she is planning to do?
decide whether children can opt out of the video? If so, how does she secure this option?
seek children’s assent to have their play choices tracked to help her research?
secure ongoing assent from the children to be involved?
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11. Illustration…assent from young children
Some researchers use different coloured badges, stickers or bands for children to wear to show if they are happy to be observed
After explaining that there is a video recording of the Nursery session that will be watched later, children can choose yellow or green badges, stickers or bands to indicate if they are happy for their teachers to watch them later on the video. (They can’t, in this case, choose not to be videoed).
Children have access to the badges, stickers or bands throughout the session so can change their minds at any point.
Researchers using these assent methods for the first time are often surprised at how most children are fully able to make such choices in a purposeful manner.
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12. Your colleagues
Securing voluntary informed consent and the right to withdraw with colleagues can require researchers to think carefully about reassuring them that there are absolutely no repercussions if they choose to decline to take part or withdraw from a piece of research.
Where the researcher is a senior colleague this may be especially sensitive.
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