" There are parallels at every point between the practice of informal education and the practice of research. The skills of asking questions in research and enquiry build on the skills of listening and engagement that youth workers use. The period of analysis with which any period of youth work engagement begins is mirrored by the question of 'in whose interest' a body of research is being undertaken." (Batsleer, 2010, in Banks, 2010:179)
I don't feel that I can continue with my research journey without taking the views of young people into account. This is so much a part of youth work practice, that the idea of constructing any form of research plan that didn't include the views of young people is completely out of the question! However, even though young people are not what I intend to study in the next phase of my research, I need to do a Tier 2 Ethics Approval Plan to ensure that everything is above board and that all angles have been considered.
It feels like I'm having to 'tell my story' over and over again - the same text justifying the same approach - and it feels a little as if I've stalled. This is not to belittle the process of thinking through the ethics of this project in depth, and I will need to keep doing this on an ongoing basis, but as a person who prefers a 'be bold, be done and be gone' approach, I'm going to have to learn not to be frustrated with the time that things might take. Even coming back to this blog is a bit of a distraction from the task that must be finished today!!
I do believe that this project is in the interests of UK youth work practice and therefore of young people, particularly in a context where I still see major contradictions in terms of how youth workers engage with digital media and issues of digital literacy and inclusion.
Banks, S. 2010. Ethical Issues in Youth Work (second edition). Abingdon. Routledge.
