A Step-by-step Example of Ethics in Practice

A Step-by-step Example of Ethics in Practice

A Grade 9 teacher runs an action research study on the use of small-group discussion to improve speaking confidence.

Ethics in practice

Consent and assent. She informs parents in writing at the start of term, and explains the study to her students in age-appropriate language so they can give assent. The letter describes the study, the data she will collect, and how it will be used. She gets signed responses.

Do no harm. When she notices, in week 2, that one shy student is becoming visibly distressed during group discussion, she adjusts the intervention: that student is given the option to write her ideas instead of speaking. The student remains in the study, but the harm is removed.

No disadvantage. All students are part of the intervention. There is no control group. She compares scores and confidence before and after, for the same students.

Privacy. In her final report, no student is named. She uses Student A, Student B, and so on. The school name is not given in the report version that will be shared outside the institution.

Honesty. The intervention had mixed results. Twenty-two of thirty students reported higher confidence. Eight did not. She reports both findings. Her reflection examines why the eight did not improve, and what cycle 2 should do differently.

Objectivity. She uses three data tools (observation, questionnaire, interview). She keeps a reflexive journal in which she notes her own hopes for the study. She asks a colleague to read her interview transcripts and comment on her analysis.

That is an ethically clean action research study.

Flashcard

In the step-by-step example, how does the teacher protect student privacy?

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Answer

She uses pseudonyms (Student A, Student B) in her report. The school name is removed from versions shared outside the institution. No student is named publicly.

One more card on the six principles the example puts to work.

Flashcard

Ethics in practice.

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Answer

Six principles run through the example: consent, no harm, no disadvantage, privacy, honesty, and objectivity. The teacher informs parents, adjusts the intervention when a student becomes distressed, includes all students, uses pseudonyms, reports both the twenty-two who improved and the eight who did not, and triangulates her data with a critical friend.