Ethics in practitioner research: dilemmas from the field

The 'emancipatory' or 'democratic' project of which the teacher-as-researcher is a key component has long been assumed as 'given' in scholarly work on practitioner research. This path to teacher emancipation, however, comes not without considerable ethical challenges and dilemmas relating to the processes, products and contexts of the work being undertaken. This paper will examine ethical dilemmas for school-based practitioner-researchers through the eyes of one who engages with and supports practitioner research teams in a variety of capacities and contexts. Taking as its starting point a number of illuminating 'critical incidents' (Tripp, 1993, 1997),it will address some key ethical challenges and issues for teacher-researchers, contextualised within an understanding of practitioner inquiry as a vehicle for ethical and transformational teacher professionalism