Ethnography and Education, Volume 5 Issue 2 2010

Ethnography and Education, Volume 5 Issue 2 2010
ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN THE FIELD: THE COMPLEX NATURE OF DOING EDUCATION ETHNOGRAPHY

Guest introduction
Ethical dilemmas in the field: the complex nature of doing education ethnography
Barbara Dennis
Pages 123 – 127

Articles
The relationship between ethical positions and methodological approaches: a Scandinavian perspective
Dennis Beach; Anita Eriksson
Pages 129 – 142
In this article, based on reading ethnographic theses, books and articles and conversations with nine key informants, we have tried to describe how research ethics are approached and written about in educational ethnography in Scandinavia. The article confirms findings from previous research that there are different methodological forms of ethnography there. It adds that although ethical descriptions can of course be described by using formal-philosophical ethical-typographies there is also a relationship between ethical holdings and methodological approaches. The different approaches reflect critical, feminist, interactionist and micro-ethnographic forms. The ethical types have been termed utilitarian, deontological, relational and ecological. The main conclusions are that the research we have analysed has always considered ethical issues and that these considerations often in some sense reflect national ethical guidelines from research authorities and financiers. A drift can also be discerned away from utilitarian ethics to relational and ecological thinking in accordance with methodological and ideological commitments and beliefs.

Teacher–student sexual relations: key risks and ethical issues
Pat Sikes
Pages 143 – 157
Researching actual or purported sexual contact between teachers and students raises many difficult ethical issues, questions and dilemmas, which may help to explain why few have ventured into the field. This experientially based paper addresses key problem areas under the headings of: the ethics of researching a sensitive taboo topic; the ethics of challenging normative notions and master narratives around child abuse and protection; obtaining ethical clearance to study teachers, pupils and sex; ethical issues related to giving voice to teachers considered or alleged to have committed sexual offences against students; and ethical issues around the protection and re-presentation of research participants. The paper considers the difficulties faced when seeking to conduct critical transformative ethical ethnographic research which is committed to child protection, whilst challenging practices and legislation which can lead to the perpetration of serious social injustice against teachers.

Exploring some ethical dilemmas and obligations of the ethnographer
Andrew Barbour
Pages 159 – 173
This paper focuses on the ethical position of the ethnographer when encountering unethical activities. Ethnography affords a rich insight into cultures, often behind previously secure doors but it is also a demanding science. Our gatekeepers control our access and our relationships with them can determine our destiny. This paper offers an exchange with ethics and the conditions experienced during an ethnography that challenged and disturbed this researcher's understanding of its rules and expectations. By drawing on data and experiences from a classroom ethnography it aims to consider the limits of ethics and the generic ritual that regardless of cost we must do no harm to others.

Preserving a space for cross-cultural collaborations: an account of insider/outsider issues
Joan Parker Webster; Theresa Arevgaq John
Pages 175 – 191
This paper focuses on the notions of insider and outsider and these positions as they are situated in and out of the established western academic tradition, and the associated ethical, epistemological and methodological concerns, specifically as relates to both our independent and collaborative research with(in) Alaska Native Yup'ik communities. The paper begins with a brief discussion of traditional views of the dualistic notion of insider/outsider in ethnographic research, which is juxtaposed with tensions existing between traditional views of insider/outsider and the views of Indigenous ethnographers conducting research among Indigenous populations. Using examples taken from our independent and collaborative research data and transcripts from our Independent Study discussions, we map the paths taken in reconstructing a dualistic view of insider/outsider, western/indigenous, knowledge creator/knowledge receiver. Drawing on Habermas' theory of communicative action, Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of language and learning and Indigenous approaches to decolonising research methodologies, we take first steps to open a dialogue that reconceptualises what it means to participate in collaborative research, working the hyphen with(in) the contact zone.

Accountability to research participants: unresolved dilemmas and unravelling ethics
Martin P. Levinson
Pages 193 – 207
Drawing on findings from an ethnographic study of Romani Gypsy groups in England (1996-2000), along with data from follow-up work involving original and additional participants (2005-ongoing), this paper explores several ethical issues that arose. It traces developing relationships across a 13-year period, identifying the problems of attempting to construct a 'research community' consisting of individuals with diverse lifestyles, and at times, conflicting agendas. It problematises issues concerning the negotiation and maintenance of access, and considers, also, the prioritisation of certain voices at the expense of others, and the difficulties of 'openness' when the researcher is unsure where a project is heading.
Rather than engaging with a full literature review of the themes discussed, this paper seeks to highlight the situated negotiation of ethics within a specific research context. The focus is on shifting events in which official codes of practice do not seem to provide an adequate means of navigation.
The paper argues that it is not sufficient for the researcher to pay lip service to superficial guidelines, calling, instead, for deeper reflection that might lead to greater honesty with both oneself and the community/communities involved in research. It implies a need to react quickly to events in the field, informing participants about any perceived flaws and ambiguities in the original research design that may have emerged during data collection and led to changes of direction. Finally, it recommends that participants are fully involved in processes, including those that are interpretive, and that they, too, share any benefit of considering the research study, retrospectively, as an historical artefact.

Ethical dilemmas in representation: engaging participative youth
Deborah Romero; Dana Walker
Pages 209 – 227
This paper reflects upon the ways that multi-modal data and student productions enhance and challenge our methodologies and ethical commitments in our collaborative critical ethnographic research in youth media. We review recent research and theory related to multi-modal representations and we critically explore how our data are produced, including how claims are represented and substantiated in the findings. We consider, through specific examples, how youth media provides insights into the meaning-making and identity work of minority youth, while presenting new representational demands for traditional scholarly publication. In closing, we discuss perceived tensions in the representation and disembodiment of voice, confidentiality of youth participants and issues of empowerment evidenced in the communication of multi-modal research findings.