When researching with or about families in home-based research, there are numerous unexpected ethical issues that can emerge, particularly in qualitative research. This paper is based on reflective accounts of four homed-based research projects, two in the UK and two Australia, which examined ethical dilemmas identified when engaged in home-based…

This paper explores two concepts. Firstly, it explores how child-led photography was effectively used by as a research methodology with young children, aged three and four. Twenty children at two Australian preschools were given the opportunity to express how they experienced place at their early childhood educational. Each child was given a…

This book will support researchers in the field of education disability by outlining inclusive research approaches and their challenges, outcomes, and impact. Each chapter reports on school/university-based research supporting inclusion for young people on the autism spectrum. This research has been developed in Australian schools with students,…

Numerous higher education researchers have studied the ways in which students' or academics' beliefs and conceptions affect their educational experiences and outcomes. However, studying the learning-teaching relationship has proved challenging, requiring researchers to simultaneously address both the invisible internal world(s) of the student and…

This book presents ground-breaking research on the ways the Arts fosters motivation and engagement in both academic and non-academic domains. It reports on mixed method, international research that investigated how the Arts make a difference in the lives of young people. Drawing on the findings of a longitudinal quantitative study led by the…

This paper responds to the challenge of how educational research might be practised in a contemporary world that is no longer necessarily organised by nearness and unity. Focusing on ethnography, it argues for what a multi-sited imaginary contributes to research in the field of education. By giving prominence to the notion of multi-sited…

In many parts of the world, classrooms are characterised by cultural and ethnic diversity. Increasingly, researchers are interested in exploring these rich and socially complex contexts. However, research into "the ethnic other" can present complex ethical and methodological challenges. In this paper, the authors discuss, with reference…

The commodification of research in the social sciences sees a focus on "inputs" rather than "outputs" and an emphasis on the "science" rather than the "social". The empirical prevails at the expense of the critical, with lessening interest in, and support for, knowledge designed to interrogate orthodoxy.…

Arts-informed inquiry has attracted a great deal of controversy in recent times as it has gained popularity as an educational research methodology in teacher education. As with other innovative approaches and methodologies, there have been lively debates about its rigour, authenticity and appropriateness. This article suggests principles for its…

In March 2004, Stephen Ball and others presented a symposium at the conference of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) on the necessity of theory in educational research. Like Ball, I have observed that theory, not just social theory, is a difficult space and one that divides researchers (those comfortable with theory and those less…

This article draws on an Australian project engaging with families with complex support needs as their children start school. The project itself is focused on developing collaborative research relationships between families, community support agencies and researchers with the aim of investigating what happens for families during the transition to…

While attempting to investigate modes of musical transmission among the Yolnu People in Northeast Arnhem Land Australia, questions regarding the meaning of the word "research" led to the decisive abandonment of data collection. Specifically, the processes of observation, recording, and other typical Western means of generating data…

The tales we tell here focus on the ethical issues arising from our research practice with vulnerable young participants and those for whom research has been inextricably linked with European imperialism and colonialism. The importance of relational obligations, temporality and potential for a continuing narrative approach to ethical research…

Much of the current rhetoric in areas of child and family research and in early childhood education emphasizes the importance of listening to children in research that has a direct impact on them. Despite this, there remain qualms in some research contexts and amongst some researchers about the reliability, validity and generalizability of…

Recent years have seen a substantial growth in research that probes children's ideas about natural phenomena. This paper places that research in a context which enables comprehension of how it informs and influences the practice of science education. To this end, past, present, and future styles of research are considered to: (1) demonstrate links…