Exploring informed consent and dissent through children's participation in educational research

Involving children and young people in educational research has been foundational in developing and understanding theories of learning, and understanding child development. Attempts to identify children's perspectives on policies and practices that directly affect them in educational settings have resulted in an increase in the involvement of children to inform research. This means children are interviewed by researchers about matters of interest to their research agenda, and raise questions around the children's experiences and benefits from such participation. This article explores the involvement of children in educational research with a specific focus on the two-sided images of consent: the dilemmas of negotiating and maintaining children's informed consent and the related nature of informed dissent during the research process. The introduction of a Children's Research Advisory Group to explore these issues provides a tier of analysis closer to the young people.