to think that you should get permission to use a child for a college assignment?

[HoneyPablo]

I work in a nursery and am key-person for a child with global developmental delays, currently receiving portage and further involvement with other agencies.
A member of staff is doing a course and asked if she could have a copy of the report from the portage service to use in an assignment.
Fine, I said, as long as you have permission from child's parent.
She stormed off and later told me I need to grow-up
So, as parents, would you like it if confidential information was given to a member of the staff to use in their assignment without your permission?
I know I wouldn't if I hadn't given my permission first. But would probably be ok if I was asked.
AIBU?

YANBU - you did absolutely the right thing.

Y definitely NBU. You did the right thing.

YANBU at all, she absolutely should be asking for permission.

YANBU at all, this worker needs to grow up and know how to be professional.

You absolutely did the right thing.

Well, firstly her attitude stinks. Telling a colleague to 'grow up' over such a thing is ridiculous!

However, as a former teacher who also worked as a tutor for student teachers, I would say that students do not, as a rule need permission from parents to use such info as long as it is all used in a confidential manner and the child is not identified. So, she could have referred to the child in her class with GDD and what challenges that presented in terms of her own professional development as long as she did not in any way identify that child. For this, she would not need parental consent.

Well done to you - you did exactly the right things IMO. I have twice been asked by staff working at schools if they could use DS as their case study for a course and have given my permission and copies of notes on both occasions. They have also promised to blank out all ref to names when photocopying reports.
AFAIK no one has used DS as a 'case study' without my permission.

I think a little word with her line manager is in order here.

I agree with Nanny0gg.

Well obviously everyone else thinks she should seek permission but in my experience of these things, which is quite considerable, student teachers have always had access to confidential reports on children in the class. It is part of their ongoing professional development to know how to handle such reports sensitively. They often make reference to these children in professional assignments and I've never known them need to seek parental permission.

You are nbu she must get permission from the parent and also replace the childs name with a single initial in any document. (I used to be deputy-manager of a nursery btw) I'm fairly sure there is some legal requirement for her to do so and in any case it is likely to be in breach of your nursery confidentiality policy for her to use information about a specific child without permission.

I agree with Nanny0gg... She clearly lacks a basic understanding of her professional responsibilities. Confidentiality is a key component and I think her line manager needs to know so it can be addressed.

I know I am in the right, as I did the very same course last year and know the college insist on getting parental permission. I made sure I got permission and explained what I was and why I was doing it. I also gave the parents the chance to read my assignment.
I feel quite protective of my key children and don't want them used in this way. She needs to treat the parents and children with respect and recognise that this child is a person in her own rights and not just a way to get marks in an assignment.

I wouldn't allow my students to use anything related to children until postgrad level, and only then with ethics board clearance and signed permission by parents/guardians. Can't believe any college would really, its well known best practice.

As part of my BA QTS, I had to do child observations and reports. It was stressed by my tutors and lecturers to always seek the permission of the parents before using their child as a case study, even if the child wasn't named. YANBU.

You did the right and ethical thing. I have just finished a postgrad course using information about a child I worked with and we were explicitly told that ethics require you to gain explicit permission from the parents. As a parent of a child with SEN I would expect to be asked, and be very angry if I wasn't and complain to whichever educational establishment about the student who did this and to their employer as it is a confidential report not to be used without permission, and expect some sort of disciplinary action to be taken.

If your colleague wants guidelines then she could look at this -Shaw, C., Brady, L. & Davey, C (2011) Guidelines for Research with children and Young People. London: National Childrens Bureau Research Centre - which is very definite on the matter and is very good at explaining why.

When studying for a PGCE (or any higher teaching qualification), you don't need to ask permission. YOu just have to make sure the child is anonymous.

What MrsStephenFry said- am on a postgrad Autism MA and the Ethics / clearance aspect is huge.

When I was at school we did studies like the one in the OP but never since. There was an assignment in the other module stream where the students had to write a pen portrait of aomeone they ahd worked with but it was at a very non identifiable, narrow focus level IIRC (although i didn't take that module so cannot be sure).

Mrsstephenfry, not sure what being a postgrad has to do with it. IME, both BEd students and PGCE students had access to confidential reports relating to children they were required to teach. That was part of the remit for preparing them to be class teachers. I have also known many teachers ask students who are on long or final placements to sit in on reviews etc as this often helped the student plan more appropriately. As long as no references are made which could identify a child, then it's perfectly acceptable to refer to that child in terms of your own professional development.

I have always been told to seek permission from the parents - as nancerama says even if the child cannot be identified. If you don't it's unethical.

In fact, the students on my course working with nonverbal and children with very low IQs have had to put in ++++++++++++ work WRT to seeking permission, so definitely YANBU

Thank you, bodyofeeyore, I was beginning to think I was going mad.

You need parental permission.

In my college undergrads aren't allowed to research with children or vulnerable groups, they are deemed far too inexperienced. But I'm not teaching education. Ethics board has to clear all research though.

Same where we are but again not education.