Artybartfast

For this evening’s MA session with Jack Whitehead I’ve been thinking about an article by Amanda Nolan and Jim Vander Putten in Educational Researcher (October 2007).

The article talks about the ethical dilemmas and difficulties that are particular to educational action research. Many of the issues raised are only relevant to teacher-researchers who work with minors – not relevant to my own practice although still interesting. I was particularly surprised to read that the penalising of non-participating pupils or students was a significant issue, and thought that this was quite an appalling state of affairs. To be honest, I was also surprised that anyone would not agree to participate in something that would eventually benefit them (maybe this just highlights how naive I am in these matters…!). I was particularly amused to read the reference to the work of Zeni (2001), which reported a concern among parents that their offspring would be ‘recognised’ by others. Surely this would only be possible if their child’s characteristics were well-known already, and therefore the ‘recognition’ would not cause an further detriment to their, or their child’s, reputation? This pre-occupation with one’s own (minor?) interests upsets me. I suppose my ideal world is one of altruism and openness!

In general, I’m not sure I agree with Mervis and Seashore’s (1982) suggestion that the roles of practitioner and researcher are in conflict. I see action research as a deep and continuous evaluation of one’s practice that has the potential to be of great benefit to one’s students.

So, it’s off to the session now and I may report back with my eyes opened and my mind changed… watch this space.