Meaningful informed consent with young children: looking forward through an interactive narrative approach

Abstract

Ideas about ethical research with young children are evolving at a rapid rate. Not only can young children participate in the informed consent process, but researchers now also recognize that the process must be meaningful for them. As part of a larger study, this article reviews children's rights and informed consent literature as the foundation for the development of a new conceptual model of meaningful early childhood informed consent. Based on this model, an ‘interactive narrative’ approach is presented as a means to inform three- to eight-year-old children about what their participation might involve and to assist them to understand and respond as research participants. For use with small groups, this approach revolves around a storybook based on research-related factual images delivered via interactive (re)telling. This narrative approach to informed consent is unique in its holistic design which seeks to address the specific needs of young children in research.

Keywords:

• informed consent
• early childhood
• young children
• research
• Rights of the Child
• interactive narrative

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Linkage Grant (LP110200756) to Christine Howitt and Léonie Rennie, in partnership with Scitech and Rio Tinto. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the researchers and should not be attributed to the funding body.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Fiona Mayne is in the final stages of her PhD candidature through the Graduate School of Education at The University of Western Australia. Her PhD research focuses on early childhood research ethics in science education contexts.

Christine Howitt is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at The University of Western Australia, where she teaches science and mathematics education. Her current research focuses on learning science in informal contexts along with methodological and ethical issues associated with such research.

Léonie Rennie is an Emeritus Professor at Curtin University. Her research interests concern the processes, outcomes, and assessment of learning in science and technology, particularly in out-of-school settings.