The role of research ethics committees: Friend or foe in educational research? An exploratory study

Ethics committees have an important role to play in ensuring ethical standards (e.g. BERA, ESRC, RCUK recommendations) are met by educational researchers. Balancing obligations to participants, society, institutions and the researchers themselves is not, however, easy. Researchers often experience the ethics committee as unsympathetic to their research endeavour, whilst ethics committees find some research approaches do not make ethical implications sufficiently explicit. This potential for misunderstanding is evident in the literature, but studies investigating how participants perceive this relationship are missing. This research comprises a novel empirical study which explores researcher perceptions of research ethics committees. Fifty-five participants in higher education departments of education responded to an online survey. Open and closed-ended questions were used to collect data on roles, methodological stance, experiences of the research ethics committee, perceived tensions and examples of good practice. The results indicated that contemporary educational researchers regard research ethics committees as friends when researcher and reviewer are transparently engaged in a shared endeavour. When this shared endeavour breaks down, for a variety of reasons—including apparently unreasonable demands or mutual misunderstanding—the research ethics committees can become foes. The difference between foe and friend lies in the quality of communication, clear systems and a culture of respectful mutual learning. The contributions of this study have practical implications for the ways that education researchers and research ethics committees relate to one another within university settings, both to alleviate areas of tension and to arrive at a shared understanding which will enable best ethical research practice.     

The ethics of competition: accountability policy enactment in Chilean schools’ everyday life

ABSTRACT

Public policies have a moral order, an ethical horizon. They offer a vocabulary of imagined micro-policies. Using the case of Chile, this paper examines the ways in which accountability policies are reworked within schools and how they affect actors’ subjectivities. It adds new findings to the existing body of research on school accountability policies, offering in-depth evidence based on the case of Chile, which has a high-stakes testing model and a widespread competitive voucher system. The research is based on case studies of ten public and private subsidised schools, framed by a sociological perspective of policy enactment theory. The research findings show the ways that accountability policies are recreated, expanded, and intensified at the local level, permeating an ethic of competition. The analysis focuses on three qualitative trends: school actors’ sense-making of test scores and labels; zones of safety and risk for teachers under an accountability regime; and the emergence of a sticky web of persuasion, surveillance, and coercion among school members in order to improve performance. The practices examined are not understood as ‘secondary effects’ or an ‘implementation problem’, as if they occur unconnected from the policy rationale. The outcomes are consistent with the policy itself in interaction with school life.     

When ‘research ethics’ become ‘everyday ethics’: the intersection of inquiry and practice in practitioner research

The act of engaging in sound and ethical practitioner research, regardless of context, encourages and indeed demands an alignment between the ethical framework employed in the research enterprise and the ‘everyday ethics’ of practice. This paper explores the ethical dimensions of what Cochran-Smith and Lytle have termed the dialectic of practitioner inquiry. The paper argues that the reflexive nature of the theory/practice dynamic means that, in the context of sustained practitioner inquiry, the ethics of research and the ethics of practice both hold the potential to be shaped by and to shape the other. Elsewhere in discussions of the issue of quality in practitioner and other practice-based research, Groundwater-Smith and Mockler have argued that ethical professionalism can and does work as a platform for quality, pushing practitioner inquiry ‘beyond celebration’. This paper builds on these ideas and, in exploring the intersection of inquiry and practice in practitioner research, examines the implications of issues relating to: informed consent; ‘voice’ and ownership; transparency and negotiation; confidentiality, anonymity and trust; and deliberative action in the context of both practitioner inquiry and classroom practice.     

The changing pattern of higher education in England and Wales — The end of an era?

During the past twenty years great changes have taken place in British higher education. During the 1980s these changes have been even more noticeable, so that by the middle of the 1990s the pattern and the ethos of British higher education will be very different from that prevailing in the 1970s. Not only have there been structural changes but there have also been concerns about autonomy and freedom, accountability and appraisal in the face of government demands for improved management efficiency, restrictions on tenure and alternative forms of finance. This paper analyses these changes in universities, polytechnics and teacher education colleges and traces the growing intervention on the part of government. It also seeks to draw out implications for other education systems facing the same pressures. A glossary of abbreviations and acronyms appears on p. 301.

---

Zusammenfassung Während der vergangenen zwanzig Jahre gab es in der britischen Hochschulbildung große Veränderungen. Im Laufe der 80er Jahre sind diese Veränderungen besonders deutlich geworden, und bis zur Mitte der 90er Jahre werden sich die Struktur und das Ethos der britischen Hochschulbildung von den in den 70er Jahren vorherrschenden stark unterscheiden. Es hat nicht nur strukturelle Veränderungen gegeben, sondern auch besorgte Überlegungen zu Fragen der Autonomie und Freiheit, Verantwortlichkeit und Beurteilung angesichts der Forderungen seitens der Regierung nach verbesserter Wirtschaftlichkeit der Verwaltung, Begrenzung der Amtszeiten und alternativen Finanzierungsformen. Im vorliegenden Artikel werden diese Veränderungen an Universitäten, Technischen Hochschulen und Pädagogischen Hochschulen analysiert, und es wird den zunehmenden Eingriffen durch die Regierung nachgegangen. Darüberhinaus wird versucht, Auswirkungen auf andere Bildungssysteme aufzuzeigen, die mit denselben Zwängen konfrontiert sind. Ein Glossar der Abkürzungen und Akronyme erscheint auf S. 301.

---

Résumé Au cours des vingt dernières années, de grands changements sont intervenus dans l'enseignement supérieur en Grande Bretagne. Ces changements sont devenus encore plus sensibles durant les années 1980, si bien que, vers le milieu des années 1990, la structure et l'éthos de l'enseignement supérieur britannique seront très différents de ceux qui prévalaient dans les années 1970. Non seulement il y a eu des changements structuraux, mais on s'est également préoccupé d'autonomie et de liberté, de responsabilité et d'appréciation en dépit des exigences gouvernementales à l'égard d'une gestion plus efficace, d'une réduction de la période d'exercice des fonctions, et de nouvelles formes de financement. Le présent article analyse ces changements dans les universités, les collèges polytechniques et les écoles normales et décrit le rôle grandissant de l'Etat. Il s'efforce également d'en dégager les leçons pour d'autres systèmes éducatifs qui font face aux même pressions. Un glossaire d'abbréviations et d'acronymes apparaît à la page 301.

---

Abbreviations and Acronyms CATE Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education - CHEs Colleges of Higher Education - CNAA Council for National Academic Awards - CVCP Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals - DES Department of Education and Science (equivalent to a Ministry of Education) - HMI Her Majesty's Inspectorate - HMSO Her Majesty's Stationery Office - INSET Inservice Education for Teachers - LEA Local Education Authority - NAB National Advisory Board for Public Sector Higher Education - PCFC Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council - PDEs Polytechnic Departments of Education - PGCE Postgraduate Certificate in Education - PICKUP Professional, Industrial and Commercial Updating Programme - PSHE Public Sector Higher Education (i.e., all higher education not under university control) - UCET Universities Council for the Education of Teachers - UDEs University Departments of Education - UFC Universities Funding Council - UGC University Grants Committee - WAB Welsh Advisory Board for Public Sector Higher Education - binary divide the separation between universities and polytechnics, etc. - White Paper a government document setting out official proposals prior to introducing legislation in parliament     

Challenges to the counsellor in a changing world — The impact of environmental changes in universities on the concepts of student counselling

This article will first consider in a systematic way how student counselling is related to change. In doing so it will refer to the development of student counselling in Germany. Formulating the thesis that student counsellors find themselves symptomatically confronted with changes which hint at deeper challenges than those they have known before, it will then explore new dimensions of change in universities and show how they may be linked with impulses and answers given by counselling and psychotherapy. Finally it will take a look at the professionalization of student counselling in the light of those changes.Bergische Universität — Gesamthochschule Wuppertal     

The ‘subject of ethics’ and educational research OR Ethics or politics? Yes please!

This paper outlines a theoretical context for research into ‘the subject of ethics’ in terms of how students come to see themselves as self-reflective actors. I maintain that the ‘subject of ethics’, or ethical subjectivity, has been overlooked as a necessary aspect of creating politically transformative spaces in education. At the heart of egalitarian politics lies a fundamental tension between the equality of voices (or ways of being) and the notion that one way of being or one voice may be deemed more legitimate than another; which in turn puts the equality of beings into question. Building from Michel Foucault’s work regarding ethics and subjectivity, I suggest that a ‘subject of ethics’ can be viewed, in part, as a series of relations of self that form the horizon upon which a subject comes to work on themselves relative to moral codes and power relations. Ethical relations of self can be a useful concept for those interested in educational research that furthers social and ecological justice. In the conclusion of this paper I also discuss the limitations of locating ethics entirely within a constituted human subject.     

Beyond the sensible world: a discussion of Mark Zuss’ The practice of theoretical curiosity

In this article, Gene Fellner reviews Mark Zuss??s recently published The practice of theoretical curiosity (2012) and provides a synopsis of the book??s structure. These two sections are followed by a metalogue in which Mark Zuss, Welsey Pitts, and Fellner discuss curiosity and the conundrum of establishing limits beyond which curiosity should not roam. This is a central theme of Zuss??s book, and it is of particular significance today as curiosity, driven by developments in technoscience and transgenics, transforms nature and we who are part of it. Influenced by Merleau-Ponty??s phenomenological lens, Zuss discusses how our knowing the world through our senses is entering an uncertain future mediated by curiosity??s reach into everyday life.     

Who's afraid of research questions? The neglect of research questions in the methods literature and a call for question-led methods teaching

This paper examines the place of research questions in the teaching of research methods. It describes the neglect of research questions in both methods texts and the wider academic literature, but notes that this situation is not peculiar to educational research and that similar concerns have been raised in the social sciences more widely, as well as in the humanities. It explores some possible explanations for this neglect and argues that the lack of attention paid to research questions may be related to the availability of appropriate resources, the structure and content of methods texts and the way some research is conducted and presented. Question-led methods teaching is presented as both a logical approach to the teaching of research design and data analysis and also a strategy that may help to overcome some of the weaknesses in current practice. It is argued that focusing on research questions can encourage capacity-building among new researchers and may discourage the early formation of ‘mono-method’ identities.     

Creating a ‘third space’ in the context of a university–school partnership: supporting teacher action research and the research preparation of doctoral students

The focus of the Education Works Personalization Project was to facilitate teams of teacher action researchers whose goal was to personalize their teaching with the support of university partners including doctoral students in education. The subsequent apprentice-like research experience within this university–school partnership provided an opportunity to study the ways in which teacher action research could serve as a vehicle for bridging the culture gap between schools and universities. Both the research team experience and the development of the school–university inquiry/knowledge network were initially characterized by undefined roles accompanied by ambiguous expectations. Although the ambiguity proved difficult initially, those who persisted and engaged in new roles ultimately found these emerging inquiry communities generative and valuable. We have come to conceptualize these generative inquiry communities as third spaces and we describe how oppositional categories framed by the cultural differences between schools and universities can work together to generate new knowledge.     

Who expects to become a teacher? The role of educational accountability policies in international perspective

In this study, I examine between-country differences in students' expectations of becoming teachers. I use data from 365,298 students from 50 countries participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015. The results reveal that high-achieving students in countries that implement test-based educational accountability policies are less likely to expect to work as teachers than students in systems that do not use such policies. This suggests that test-based accountability policies may discourage highly skilled candidates from entering the teaching profession and these policies may act as barriers to attracting high-quality teacher candidates.     

Can research realise a bit of utopia? The impact of action research on the policy of childcare in Flanders

For the past 10 years, there has been ongoing research at the University of Ghent on professionalism in childcare (the 0–3 age group) in the Flemish Community of Belgium. This research has been inspired by the ‘Contesting Early Childhood’ movement, which is based on the premise that pedagogic research can lead to social change. The first studies dealt with the relationship between gender and professionalism (2002–2010). These ‘Men in Childcare’ studies were embedded in a campaign to increase the number of male workers. Between 2005 and 2008 a PhD study focused on the de-professionalisation that has taken place within the Flemish childcare sector. This study, ‘The construction of a new profession’, was part of a large European Social Fund project involving many partners across Europe. This article aims not only to shed light on the results of these studies, but also to delve into the influences that these projects and studies have had on political decision-making through their embedding in large ‘communicative spaces’.     

'Why don't you give the money back?' Questions of accounting and accountability in three accounts of educational research

This paper explores questions of accounting and accountability through three accounts of an empirical study of flexibility in two UK further education colleges. In this study, conceptions of flexibility and lifelong learning are being interrogated primarily through the analysis of interviews conducted with students and staff during the autumn term of 1999. In three parallel representations of this research, the authors present an algorithmic tale, a tale of strategic improvisations and a reflexive tale. A discussion of the performative value, or validity, of each account is linked to questions of accountability - to funding bodies, to participants in the research process, to the authors themselves, their peers and other potential beneficiaries. The paper concludes that writing about empirical research from a poststructural perspective can be a risky undertaking.     

Teachers using learning styles: Torn between research and accountability?

The proliferation of instruments reporting learning/cognitive style with school pupils is of particular interest, because most research on them focuses on applications in higher education, training and the adult workplace, where criticisms of their integrity, reliability and validity have been significant. This study examines two such popular instruments in highly effective schools in England, UK. Neither instrument demonstrated reasonable internal consistency or results according with theoretical constructs. Concerns about their usefulness in these contexts are explored. Reasons provided by faculty for their use were: face validity; external inspection; professional accountability; institutional policy; the legacy from initial training; established classroom practice.     

Re‐negotiating autonomy and accountability: The professional growth of developers in a South African institution

Abstract

This paper considers the professional growth of academic developers from a South African perspective. Locating themselves within broad political, institutional, academic and student dynamics, academic developers attempt to influence interpretations of quality, professional autonomy and accountability, academic literacy and Africanization. Capacity‐building in academic development which is aligned with teaching and learning processes within institutions and supports institutional transformation and redress, is emphasized. Using an interactionist model of participation between developer and those participating in development initiatives, the authors focus on both the contestable notion of the term ‘development’ and the need for authentic engagement between academic and academic developer.     

The catcher in the lie: The role of emotions and epistemic judgments in changing students’ misconceptions and attitudes in a post-truth era

We extend previous theoretical and empirical work by examining the role that emotions and epistemic judgments play when learning from different refutation plus persuasive and expository plus persuasive texts. We examined how variations in messages designed to change misconceptions and attitudes about genetically modified foods (GMFs) might differentially impact the extent to which individuals engage in epistemic judgments; the emotions individuals experience during learning; and, how epistemic judgments and emotions might facilitate or constrain conceptual and attitudinal change. One hundred twenty-five undergraduate university students were randomly assigned to one of four text conditions: refutation plus positive persuasive text, refutation plus negative persuasive text, expository plus positive persuasive text, or expository plus negative persuasive text. Students were asked to think and emote out loud during learning to capture epistemic judgments and emotions as they occurred in real time. After the learning session, students also self-reported the emotions they experienced during learning. Results revealed that students who were given positive persuasive texts experienced more positive emotions (both intensity and frequency) during learning, whereas those who were given negative persuasive texts experienced more negative emotions (frequency) during learning. Students who were given positive persuasive texts engaged in more epistemic judgments and changed more misconceptions about GMFs compared to students in the other three text conditions. Finally, epistemic judgments were significant positive predictors of conceptual and attitudinal change, and both positive emotions and negative emotions predicted attitudinal change. Implications for theories of conceptual and attitudinal change are discussed.