Ethical Reflections of Interviewing Young Children:Opportunities and Challenges for PromotingChildren’s Inclusion and Participation

Abstract

This qualitative research synthesis aims to describe and identify ethical opportunities and challenges in interviewing young children in early childhood education and to explore interviewing as a means to bring forward children’s experiences of participation and inclusion. These objectives have been studied through two different research cases in the Finnish early childhood education and care settings with active learning approach. The identified opportunities were supporting to show emotions, respecting diversity and special needs, enhancing the competence and agency of children, stimulating humor, playfulness and imagination, and generating meaningful encounters and feelings of empowerment. The challenges were building trust, identifying experiences from imaginary stories, listening attentively, responding to difficult life situations of children, and addressing power distribution. The paper highlights the possibilities for promoting children’s inclusion and participation through ethically considered interviewing and seeing research process as a chance to give them experiences about competence, involvement and becoming listened to by adults.