In BERA Ethical Guidelines (2024) it is stated that:
‘The Association believes that all educational research should be conducted within an ethic of respect for: people; knowledge; the quality of educational research; the environment; and academic freedom… Trust is a further essential element within the relationship between researcher and researched, as is the expectation that researchers will accept responsibility for their actions.’
This quote highlights the importance of ethical conduct in higher education and educational research, while I am new to this area of study I am struck by the weight of responsibility as an educator and researcher to uphold ethical practice within higher educational settings.
By way of visualising my process of understanding and the evolution of my intervention and ethical action plan, I share the following two diagrams as below. In my experience and as stated on the the ethics form this was a useful way for me to:
‘Begin shaping your project while thinking through its ethical considerations, implications, and responsibilities.’
In V1 (Fig.1) my initial project proposal was to undertake an intervention entitled Drawing for Design: Mapping Diversity. I received tutor feedback as below:
‘A well thought out plan… but it may end up being a massive project with too many threads of conversation.’
In response to this feedback and further conversations with my PgCert peers and GMD colleagues, I chose to adapt and align the intervention more closely to my area of drawing expertise and core GMD subject areas and relevant GMD student skillsets e.g.drawing and visual thinking as an integral part of the design process.
In V2 my confirmed project proposal was to undertake an intervention entitled Drawing for Design: Mapping the Design Process. I received tutor feedback as below:
‘If possible add a brief note about your own specialism in drawing, and how the school actively promotes the sharing of staff expertise with students.’
In response to the feedback this reminded me of the importance of sharing my wider contextual positionality as educator, researcher and creative practitioner – with students especially within the setting of my Action Research Project.
In my view undertaking the process of creating an ethics form for my Action Research Project has enhanced my teaching as follows:
- Consider my (new) dual role as educator and researcher
- Embedding ethical reflection and awareness into my practice
- Identify the power dynamic between myself (as tutor) and my students
- Ensure that I promote transparency and autonomy to participating students
- Encouraged intentional, relevant planning e.g. clearly defining the role of the workshop activities beyond routine core studio sessions
- Fostering an inclusive environment where students can engage with drawing at varying confidence and ability levels
The ethics form also raised my awareness of handling written and physical visual data produced during the workshops e.g. completed questionnaires, photographs of students at work, annotated drawings and diagrams, completed feedback and reflection forms.
To conclude, I took all required steps to ensure any student work featured in my project was anonymised. Engaging with ethics approval supported my ongoing reflective practice helping me to further respect and protect student work – especially if shared outside of the studio. I now feel better equipped to respond sensitively to student needs as the ethics form served as a valuable tool to enhance the overall quality, inclusivity and responsibility to diverse groups within my teaching.
Note: My ethics forms V1 and V2 are available to view below:
Reference
British Educational Research Association (BERA). (2024). Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research (5th ed.). www.bera.ac.uk/publication/ethical-guidelines-for-educational-research-2024 (Accessed: 6 Jan 2026)