The ethics of engagement in participative forms of educational research.

Dr Lorraine Foreman-PeckHonorary Research Fellow, Oxford

University

Forms of participative research

• Teacher research with teacher colleagues/students

• Teacher researchers with academic researchers• Teacher researchers with academic researchers

and other professionals • Participative action research; participative

evaluation, participative curriculum development

Complexity

• Across settings with different institutional cultures

• Different professional identities• Different priorities

• Leads to experiences of discontinuity

Complexity- the held in hand project

• The group consisted of 6 -7 youngsters of about 14-15 yrs of age who had a variety of disabilities and physical difficulties. Most were in wheel chairs. Most had speech delay or communication problems. In the classroom with the artist were the teacher, three teaching assistants and the two researchers/evaluators.

Turquoise Box

Orange Box

Green Box

A critical incident

• At the start of the break time the artist asked the teacher how she thought it had gone and whether he was on the right lines. She said ‘I don’t know, I really don’t know’. One researcher who was standing beside the artist, and fearing that he might have been discouraged by this remark, said that she thought it was going well and that the group had been engaged and were obviously interested in the materials and objects.

Researcher contradicted the teacher

(Later, the artist reported that the teacher had told him privately that he was talking ‘over their heads’ and they would not have understood anything he had said). This indicated a complete misalignment of perceptions of what had occurred in the workshop , between the teacher and the researcher/evaluator).

An ethical quandry?

• Briefly, the teacher in discussion afterwards was hostile towards the researchers and disparaged their suggestions for future workshops.

• What is the right thing to do? • Basic ethical question is ‘what is the right

thing to do? ’or ‘what ought I to do?- I did not know what to do.

Current Ethical guidelines do not help!

• This raises the question about how useful the ethical guidelines are in informing an ethics of engagement with people with whom one is researching, as opposed to research on or about

Why not?

• The advice is general, that is it is independent of contexts or institutional settings

• It implies a certain social distance from the subjects of research.

• The advice is ‘front ended’ – it is concerned with precautionary advice and legal obligations

More useful ethical guidance ? Some ideas

• For teacher-researchers and academic researchers:

• and bring into awareness not only what people say, but the context in which they are working- anticipate problems

• define the dual roles people are to play and get

agreement as to their acceptability

• Test the boundary of your second role as a participative (teacher) researcher-what will co-researchers/institution allow you to do/be? is it good enough? i.e does it accord with your values ?

• Be courageous when things seem to go wrong and use the appropriate form of discourse to discuss it (i.e open/exploratory and empathetic ) not audit or task.

conclusion

• Precautionary ethical guidance is necessary (e.g. Voluntary informed consent, do no harm)

• But it is not sufficient for practice based research that involves engagement between

teacher researchers and others.

references

• Foreman-Peck, L and Travers, K. (2012) Using Art objects in special needs settings: a responsive evaluation of the Held in Hand Project . A Report for Leicester County Council. Available as a pdf at http://www.artsmuseumlearning.com/publications-and-resources

• Tripp, D (2012) Critical Incidents in Teaching: Developing Professional Judgement. London and New York, Routledge.