5D - Discussing ethical considerations on my SIG

I have also posted this on my SIG which you can find here: Drama in education

It would be great if you could leave a comment or join the SIG to give me some feedback! 

Thanks, 

Lisa 

As my inquiry plan is beginning to become something 'real' there are some things that I have had to take into consideration. 

My inquiry will be about how exam syllabuses are put together - my aim is to understanding the reasons why? To make connections between the exam syllabus and methods/pedagogies of teaching? Ultimately I would like my inquiry to make me a better teacher and benefit my students.

To find out what I want to know I need to talk to other professionals; teachers, examiners, people who have been involved in creating exam syllabuses. I may also observe some classes to find out how others teach.

When talking to other professionals I may have to take into consideration that they may not be honest about any negative or constructive criticism they have of that particular exam board/organisation – especially if they still work for them. I am not looking for negative things. I am looking for the benefits of the exams and I want more understand but I do want participants to be able to be honest. Could this affect the findings of my inquiry?

Some participants may want to be anonymous. How would that work as far as being relevant? They may give me some great information but if I cannot legitimise where it came from would it seem irrelevant to the inquiry?

Documents to do with the exam boards may be confidential? This is something I will find out in my planning process when researching specific organisations.

When observing classes I would have to make students and parents fully aware of what I was doing. I would not be observing the students – I am interested in the teaching methods but ultimately I could see a particular student who responded well to a method and want to write about it. If I didn’t have the right permission I couldn’t use this in my inquiry.

Also when observing colleagues or other teachers I need to make sure I have their permission to share their teaching methods. There is something in my contract that says we can share the company’s plans or scripts with others – would this apply to teaching methods? I will of course be making my employer aware of my inquiry through the employer support forms. They do already know that I am doing this inquiry and have been very supportive.

Could anyone give any advice on these issues I could anticipate?