In this session, I will present my experiences of conducting a sensitive research project in
my own classroom. The project sought to evaluate how affective response could be used in
teaching to promote student engagement with emotionally challenging literature. By
encouraging students to engage affectively with potentially upsetting texts – and discuss their
experiences with me, teacher/researcher – my project risked placing a considerable
emotional burden upon participants. In order to mitigate the potential for emotional harm, I
worked in collaboration with the school counsellor to develop trauma-informed pedagogy
and data collection methods. I will begin the session by exploring the ethical complexities of
sensitive research in my context, before discussing the impact of professional collaboration
and how these concepts might be applied to research beyond the school walls.
