Ethical and meaningful research with young children about their care for nature

Research with young children presents ethical and methodological challenges, requiring approaches that are authentic, respectful, and developmentally responsive. Participatory methods must prioritise child agency while addressing informed consent, children's right to withdraw, and minimising adult-imposed agendas.
This study, conducted with 19 children aged three to four in two preschools in South West England, explored preschoolers' feelings towards nature through an interpretivist paradigm. Employing the Mosaic approach to operationalise participatory principles, the methodology integrated naturalistic observation, children's drawings, child-led tours, photography, teacher interviews, and parent surveys. Child-led methods, particularly tours and photography, enabled non-verbal expression and autonomy, yet surfaced ethical tensions around privacy, consent, and interpretation. While traditional methods like parent and teacher interviews provided contextual depth, they risked overshadowing children's own voices.
Authentic interpretation remained challenging, as adult perspectives inevitably filtered findings; involving children in data analysis can enhance authenticity but introduces further complexities. The study demonstrates that ethical research with young children requires continuously balancing methodological rigour with respect for child agency, avoiding tokenism while acknowledging that complete child control presents ongoing difficulties. Ultimately, child-centred research demands flexible, reflexive approaches that navigate, rather than resolve, inherent ethical and methodological tensions.