A Final Word on Ethics

A Final Word on Ethics

Action research is, at its heart, an ethical practice. It is teachers studying their own work in order to teach better. The whole purpose is to serve the students.

If your study harms the students, even slightly, it has betrayed its own purpose. If your study lies about the data, it has betrayed the field. If your study exposes individual students, it has betrayed the trust that makes teaching possible.

So the shortest summary of action research ethics is this:

Do no harm. Be honest. Protect your students. Stay open to what the evidence tells you.

That is the work.

Flashcard

What is the shortest rule for action research ethics?

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Answer

Do no harm. Then be honest. Protect your students. Stay open to what the evidence tells you.

A second card to make sure the rule sticks.

Flashcard

Shortest ethics rule.

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Answer

Do no harm. Be honest. Protect your students. Follow the evidence. Four short clauses that cover the whole chapter. If a decision you are about to make in your study breaks any one of them, change the decision before you change the data.