This doctoral research explores the intersection between children's educational rights and their civil and political rights, with a focus on the role of teachers as duty-bearers. The study examines the examples of school protests in Thailand in 2020-2021 as an exercise of civil and political rights in defence of a child's educational rights, as well as other children’s rights under the UNCRC. The original methodology proposed to work alongside a group of Thai secondary school students as co-researchers; however, ethical factors led to the exclusion of children from the research design. Instead, the child rights-based approach (CRBA) developed by Lundy and McEvoy (2012) has been adapted for use with a group of "recent adults" who were in school at the time of the protests but are now over the age of 18. The CRBA is based on a foundation of children's rights and incorporates the concepts of Article 12 and children's ‘right to be properly researched’ (Ennew & Plateau, 2004). The study recruited a YPRAG (young person's research advisory group) (Lundy, McEvoy & Byrne, 2012) of five young people, who were supposed to collaborate throughout the substantive stages of the research project to explore how best to examine teachers’ roles in the implementation of civil and political rights in schools. The collaboration with the YPRAG was intended to mitigate some of the researcher's European bias, reduce the risk of tokenistic examination of the data, and ensure that the research was culturally appropriate (Datta et al., 2014; Hart, 1992). Despite many mitigations explored, COVID-19 presented a substantial challenge, as participatory research relies on sustaining relationships between the researcher, gatekeepers, and the advisory group (Loveridge et al., 2023). The research faced other challenges as well, such as the flux in young peoples’ lives, making it difficult to maintain consistent participation, and after the research design stages, the YPRAG withdrew before data collection had begun. The discussant offers reflections and lessons learned from their doctoral study, suggesting that the CRBA is an ideal standard to maintain, but it should not be used in place of stringent and thoroughly considered ethical decision-making. The participation of children in doctoral research should be thoroughly considered, and researchers must be open to exploring other avenues. The study offers advice for researchers in similar sensitive contexts and emphasizes the need to prioritize ethical considerations and adaptability in decision-making.

Datta, R., Khyang, N., Khyang, H., Kheyang, H., Khyang, M. & Chapola, J. (2014). Participatory action research and researcher’s responsibilities: an experience with an Indigenous community. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 18. 1-19. Ennew, J. and Plateau, D.P. (2004) How to Research the Physical and Emotional Punishment of Children. Bangkok: Keen Publishing (Thailand) Co., Ltd., International Save the Children Southeast, East Asia and Pacific Region Alliance. Hart, R. (1992). Children’s Participation: From tokenism to citizenship. UNICEF. International Child Development Centre. Loveridge, J., Wood, B. E., Davis-Rae, E., & McRae, H. (2023). Ethical challenges in participatory research with children and youth. Qualitative Research. https://doi-org.queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/10.1177/14687941221149594 Lundy, L., & McEvoy, L. (2012). Children’s rights and research processes: Assisting children to (in)formed views. Childhood, 19(1), 129-144. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568211409078 Lundy, L., McEvoy, L., & Byrne, B. (2011). Working With Young Children as Co-Researchers: An Approach Informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Early Education & Development, 22(5), 714–736. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2011.596463 United Nations (1989). UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.