This paper discusses the ethical and methodological dimensions of educational research with refugee children. We illustrate that research ethics need contextual, temporal and social flexibility to resonate with the changing needs and extraordinary contexts of this population, and that the flexibility is often too complex for ethical preassessments to address. We propose relational ethics, engaging with children and working from the “minds and hearts” rather than fixed ethical guidelines as one way to consider the ethics of working with this vulnerable population.

Keywords
Refugee children, research ethics, relational ethics