As an organisation dedicated to learning, faith formation and wellbeing outcomes for students and families in Catholic schools, the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) is committed to being informed by high quality research that is consistent with the provisions of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research and meets additional guidelines for research.

NCEC encourages research that:

  • has quality research design and methodologies and a strong evidence base
  • is of benefit to Catholic systems, schools or students
  • contributes to new knowledge and/or builds on prior research
  • aligns to the NCEC’s mission and strategic priorities and Catholic values and teaching
  • is ethical and includes privacy, security and storage protocols and
  • meets requirements of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research

Each Catholic Education, Diocesan or School Authority in Australia assesses school research applications independently according to their research approval guidelines. When assessing research applications, Catholic education authorities consider:

  • benefit – the potential benefit of the research, especially educational benefit
  • feasibility – the likelihood that these benefits will be realised
  • impact – on time and effort required by staff and students as participants and coinvestigators and, on the learning programs of students
  • ethical requirements – whether the participants (including staff, students and parents/carers) are accorded the respect and protection that is due to them
  • legislative and policy requirements – privacy and confidentiality, the risk of participants legally incriminating themselves or others and the high levels of duty of care expected of all educational jurisdictions for the students in their care
  • sensitivities – the appropriateness of conducting the proposed research activities in a school setting, consent processes, the data to be collected and the method of data collection.
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Conducting Research in Schools Guidelines

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