Further ethical considerations. The research design and data collection process was carried out after gaining approval from my university Ethics Committee. Information sheets and consent forms are included in the appendices of this study, which have been referred to in the discussion above. In addition to this, there are four further ethical considerations to highlight. Firstly, by acting as my own gatekeeper and drawing on my emic position, it is possible that my pre- existing relationships with staff and students would bias the data collection or analysis. Specifically, there could be a perceived pressure on participants to ‘say something good’ about the school and resist focusing on negative information. In practice, this was not an issue that emerged in the interviews. Students offered very thoughtful and balanced opinions, and there was no evidence that students felt the need to withhold or modify their opinions. In part, this might be explained by the age of the participants who, between the ages of 16 and 19, were confident to assert their point of view. Secondly, as a post-16 tutor and teacher, I was careful to limit the ways in which my position of authority might influence the recruitment and participation of students. I have detailed the recruitment process, which enabled students to put themselves forward independently without directly asking individuals for their involvement. In addition to this, an information sheet was created that outlined the aims and methods of the study, what student involvement might consist of, and guidance concerning their right to withdrawal at any stage and how to contact my own supervisors. Before each interview, we read through this information sheet again to ensure that all participants understood the nature of their participation, and participants left with a copy of the information sheet in case they wished to contact project supervisors at a later point. In practice, there was no reason to consider my position as a member of staff as a hindrance or limitation to the project as students were enthusiastic about their involvement and, in general, viewed this as an opportunity to tell me about ‘how it really is’ in their eyes. Thirdly, as this research sought to draw out the views of young people about their school lives, it was possible that during interviews participants might be asked about topics that were sensitive to them or that they preferred not to disclose their views about. Again, this was a concern highlighted on the information shee...
