Anne Campbell and Pat Broadhead (Eds), 2011 Oxford, Peter Lang £38.00 (pbk), 311 pp.ISBN 978-3-03430-121-3
This book is divided into two sections, the title of each of which begins with the phrase ‘Striving to be ethical…’ which catches accurately the tone of this book. The complexity of ethical considerations regarding how professionals consider firstly their own values, beliefs and hence practice and then how they engage with children and young people forms the essence of this collection of essays. Moreover, whilst most of the contributors are currently education academics or employed in education, there are also contributions from social work and health. Add to that the range of countries from which the materials come and we have a potentially rich and intricate but challenging mix that the editors have bravely taken on. Successfully, I am pleased to report.
In the introductory chapter, the editors map out the provenance of their contributors and the framework for the book. I found this chapter helpful in understanding the structure of the book, built around a series of dilemmas and stories mainly from England but also from Australia, USA and Canada.
The section on professional ethics begins with an overview of the ethical codes, tenets and dilemmas for early years educators and librarians in the US and England. The place of professional voice in engaging with policy and influencing provision and practice through exploration of issues related to rights and responsibilities, confidentiality and the choice of library materials and educational purposes requires the development of and adherence to professional ethical codes. These codes, the authors argue, however, should not be prescriptive but flexible and able to take account of changes in practice and policy. In the theoretical model that is proposed in these chapters, therefore, the relationships among ethics, policy and practice is seen as dynamic and organic with constant interaction leading to development and growth. This proposition lies at the heart of the first section and is illustrated in the chapters which chart the ethical dilemmas related to policy innovation and change and to considerations of practice as a philosophical and ethical experience. If I had a quibble about this section it would relate only to the chapter order. I felt that Anning’s chapter on interdisciplinary research with vulnerable people captured the essence of the dilemmas in this section, as did Nason and Hunt’s chapter on pedagogy as an ethical encounter. For me, these chapters would have been better placed at the end of the section; but that is personal preference.
The second section of the book consists of seven chapters related to engaging with children and young people in learning, health and research, plus a final chapter by the editors in which they tease out the ethical dilemmas for professionals and the children, young people and families with whom they work. This section represents a distinct shift in emphasis from the theoretical and philosophical to the practical.
The chapters related to researching with and through children and young people focus on the necessity of ensuring children’s and young people’s understanding of the meaning of consent, assent and confidentiality. Crucially, the authors interrogate the power relationships between researcher and participants and, in recognising children as the experts in their own lives, argue that the most secure ethical stance is to involve children and young people as co-researchers or at least to ensure that they have control over their own level of participation. Involving young research participants as co-constructors of a project, argues Kaye Johnson in her chapter, helps avoid the pitfalls of constructing children as ‘passive, ignorant and incapable’ through adopting a pedagogical approach to research by providing research workshops for participating children thereby allowing them to develop a sense of agency and competence.
Pedagogy is a central theme of the remaining chapters in this section related to engagement with young people in practice settings. The ethical dilemmas addressed range from focusing on learners and their needs rather than the demands of a curriculum, the importance of how we listen to and question disadvantaged young people to the development of autonomy in the choices that young people make in their own healthcare. In the penultimate chapter in this section, the importance of pedagogy—our values and beliefs about children and young people and how they learn and how these impact on how we engage with them—is summed up by Bridget Cooper who argues:
At every interaction between adults and young people, therefore, there is an opportunity…to engender transformation, and in each moment of connection to sow the seeds for future relationships and development. (p. 259)
This argument is redolent of Noddings whom the author goes on to reference and, for me, captures the essence of why professionals from all caring disciplines should consider the ethical issues related to their engagement with children, young people and families as a core element of their professional development and practice.
In their concluding chapter, the editors address the ethical complexities with regard to practice and research in care and education. This chapter has a future orientation and challenges the reader to think deeply about her or his commitment to ethical practice through the appropriation of policy in such a way that it makes meaning at a local level for the children, young people and families with whom they work and challenges the power relationships inherent in current policy processes.
In any collection of essays on a common theme from a range of disciplines and across continents, it is inevitable that some themes will be covered more than once and this is the case with Working with Children and Young People. In this instance, though, I found the effect to be cumulative as the different perspectives presented added to my depth of understanding of core ethical issues and the need to incorporate them into all aspects of practice.
Whilst I read this book from cover to cover, it would work equally as one in which students could engage with single or groups of chapters. I will certainly be adding it to the reading lists for my courses on inclusive education and pedagogy for both undergraduate and M-level students.
© 2012, George Head