This chapter is dedicated to the empirical research undertaken in order to
discover, first, children’s perceptions on aspects of provision and practices, preselected by me, which have characterized theories and policies about classes for five to
six year old children. A second purpose of carrying out this study is to discover what
aspects of a school for children of their age these children consider essential. All data is
discussed in terms of respect or violation of children’s rights in order to highlight the
connection of children’s views with children’s rights. It is a comparative research
conducted in a qualitative manner using focus groups. The sample is five to six year
old children who attended school in Scotland and Greece and participated in two focus
group sessions. Approval for this research with children was granted by the appropriate
authorities both in Scotland and Greece. Permission to conduct the research with
children was requested by their teachers, their parents, and the children themselves.
Finally, the measures taken to ensure that this research research is conducted in
accordance with research ethics and issues on its trustworthiness are discussed.
Keywords: Comparative education, Early childhood education, Focus groups, Primary school, Qualitative research, Research trustworthiness, Rights based school, Research ethics, School based on traditional developmental psychology, Teacher-directed school.
