Conducting Ethical Professional Inquiry Alongside Children: Children as Fellow Researchers

When we conduct practitioner research, we must be very wary of the impact that our research has upon others – the researcher footprint. The best research considers a range of perspectives. Often that becomes peers and parents because of the ethical implications of working with children; yet our espoused theory is to listen and respond to children. How can we successfully research alongside children in a way that is gentle and nurturing, but prompts children to question and challenge? To ask, “Is this the best way?” This chapter makes reference to child-based research that has taken place in many cultural contexts, from Iceland to Australia. Although this piece has a UK perspective, it is internationally recognised that children are entitled to use their own voices to explain their understanding of the lived experience, as sanctioned through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989).