Methodological Issues and Challenges

The techniques I used in gaining access to children were informed by previous experience working with children in Ghana. There is also a wide body of methodological literature on access to children in development work (Valentine, 1999; Johnson et al., 1998; Ennew, 1995; Johnson and Ivan-Smith 1995). Methods recommended include visualization, and storytelling techniques in particular. However, I found out that the best approach was simply to talk to the children and let them present their own lives graphically. However, with children the extent to which one could discuss complex issues was limited. I found that children answered clearly if it was a matter of simply responding in the affirmative or negative, but more open- ended questions posed problems for the interaction. Consequently, I kept my enquiries simple and structured, and tried not to make subsequent claims about the opinions of children that could not be substantiated. I have also made it clear when it is my interpretation rather than what individuals told me by signalling respondents’ own words (in translation). Yet, overall, I was extremely fortunate in my access to children and the richness of the data has much to do

87 with the rapport I established with them. I spent a lot of time talking with children, as well as observing them in their work activities.

4.10.2. The Farming Season, and Implications for Available Time and School Attendance

The later part of my research period extended into the beginning of the farming season. While this had implications for school attendance and punctuality, it also affected how much time children had to spend with a researcher. Consequently, I was forced to meet participants in the evening and community members, including children, were not overly enthusiastic about engaging in intense discussion after a long day. Nevertheless, this eventuality also provided an opportunity to observe the community’s evening activities and proved to be a source of valuable information on how people lived their lives.

4.10.3. Translation

Another issue relates to having to rely on an interpreter both to translate my questions and to convey participants’ answers. Challenges around matters of translation are well documented (Ellen, 1984; Hammersley, 1992). However, I was very fortunate in my interpreter, who overall, was excellent and extremely conscientious, and we worked hard together at trying to avoid problems, although my competence in Dagbani, the language of the area, was never good enough to be certain of success. My interpreter was someone known to me whom I had worked with for several years on similar assignments. He was very familiar with Complementary Education Programme and School for Life, having worked on the SfL replication funded through USAID. He was also a former professional teacher and even though he was not a native Dagomba, he was fluent in Dagbani, with a university degree in Dagbani. Thus he perfectly understood both the field of enquiry and issues of translation in academic research.

In so far as is possible, the accuracy of records was ensured through checking and rechecking information in a variety of different ways and with different people. But, as with all data collection, and particularly under such circumstances, one cannot entirely rule out inexactness.

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4.10.4. Ethical Issues

An additional factor relevant to this study is that it concerned a socially, economically and politically marginalized group – the ‘rural poor’ – and, within it, children; as well as issues of some sensitivity and political significance around their education. In respect of this, there are two areas in which research is an inherently political exercise: in the relation between the researcher and the researched, and in the use of research findings.

In considering the first of these areas, it was issues of consent and confidentiality that were especially important, given that the study involved children and issues of some sensitivity. The principle of informed consent demands that the researcher should inform potential participants about the nature and purpose of the study, should obtain their permission to be part of it, and should assure them of confidentiality (O’Connell et al, 1994). However, obtaining genuinely informed consent is by no means straightforward (Wilson, 1992). Gaining permission to involve an individual presupposes that the research design can be successfully explained to him or her (Burgess, 1984), a point that is of particular concern when a study involves individuals who may not be intellectually mature enough to provide such consent.

According to Mauthner (1997), children are constitutionally unable to give their consent and are formally in the care of their parents or guardians; therefore, it is necessary to obtain permission for their participation from such adults. However, this is an inadequate premise since it implies that approval from the children themselves should not be sought. Accordingly, in addition to acquiring consent from their guardians, I aimed to explain the study in terms that were comprehensible to children and in this way secure their permission as well. There are, of course, limitations to such a stance, both in light of what has been said about intellectual maturity and the fact that in my experience– as in most societies – children in Ghana are in a subordinate position, and expected to be humble, obedient and respectful of their elders (Stephens, 2000). Therefore, the degree to which child participants in this study can be said to have consented must be seen in this light.

In addition, given that issues raised may be sensitive and children may not wish their parents and teachers to be aware of what they have said (as was in fact the case), it was particularly important to pay attention to the issue of confidentiality, both in ensuring that information did not get back to adults, and in the writing of the thesis. For this reason, the names of all child respondents have been changed. The names of GES officers and community members have

89 also been altered; however, SfL facilitators consented to having their actual identities revealed.

The relationship between the researcher and the researched was not limited to children and their parents. Since I planned to stay in the village and become a temporary member of the community, I hoped that my collaboration with a non-governmental organization (NGO) would assist in addressing some of the ethical concerns that arose out of my relationship with the community, while simultaneously dealing with issues relating to the accumulation of knowledge that might be of no direct use to the group under study (Akeroyd, 1984). Thus, being introduced to the community by the NGO School for Life assisted in my establishment as a ratified guest in a manner that caused the least possible anxiety to the individuals concerned and avoided the raising of unrealistic expectations with regard to my role.

Nevertheless, I am aware that my presence and ignorance of certain cultural values created problems. I found myself in the situation experienced by a lot of indigenous researchers. I was an insider and an outsider at the same time. I felt I was an insider because of my familiarity with the field of enquiry and the fact that I was a Ghanaian who had worked for several years in Northern Ghana. However, once I was introduced from the district office as a doctoral candidate, I was seen differently by research participants and even people I had worked with in the past. The fact that I did not speak the local language proficiently made the issues more complicated. Although one of the advantages of prolonged fieldwork was that I did eventually build trust and acceptance – and strove hard to do so by participating in the life of the community, learning the language of greeting, showing respect for customs, etc. – this did not prevent my sojourn in these schools and communities from causing a degree of unease.