Ethics and the Post Compulsory PGCE Consideration of ethical issues in the Post Compulsory PGCE.

Ethics and the Post Compulsory PGCE Consideration of ethical issues in the Post Compulsory PGCE.

1. Key points

1. While some consider ongoing teacher practice and teacher improvement to be a form of research, for the purposes of formalised processes UCL IOE do not treat such practice as research requiring the formal UCL ethics procedures to be followed.
2. Nevertheless, the Post Compulsory PGCE programme expects student teachers to follow an equivalent, local procedure* in order:
   1. To make sure that proposals for professional enquiry are appropriate and tutors agree to these before they are undertaken
   2. To make sure that ethical issues are understood by student teachers and employed across all aspects of the programme (eg confidentiality, ensuring appropriate data collection, informed consent, consideration of potential harm)
3. Student teachers complete the Post Compulsory PGCE Proposal and ethics form, send to their tutor by the date identified and liaise with their tutor before undertaking data collection activity.

* Full UCL research ethics procedures involve review by more individuals than just a single tutor, registration with the UCL Data Protection Officer and completion with full set of signatories before any data collection activity is undertaken.

2. Background

ITE provision at UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is oriented towards the professional formation of teachers who share the characteristics of an ‘IOE teacher’. Two of these characteristics, as set out in the IOE ITE Strategy (2018), are:[unique_solution]

• A personalised, situated, and contextualised understanding of practice informed through deep theoretical, and research-informed knowledge of learning and teaching;
• Critical engagement with practice and a propensity to question.

Learning from, and through, enquiry / research activity contributes directly to each of these characteristics, and this activity is therefore an important part of IOE teacher preparation. The IOE takes seriously its responsibility to equip teachers to think and act ethically in relation to all aspects of their practice, particularly given the specialist and specialised function of UCL as a research-intensive university.

Teachers are privy to large amounts of data and information on the children / students / learners they teach. There can be serious consequences to the misuse of this data which include the safeguarding of learners and compliance with the law. IOE student teachers should engage sufficiently with ethical issues and approaches that they use data / information with caution and due regard, during and beyond their ITE programmes.

Nevertheless, we recognise the difference between

Enquiry                 The systematic exploration of a teacher’s own practice for the purpose of improving this practice;

Research              The systematic collection and analysis of data about one’s own practice or that of others, for the purposes of sharing with others and contributing to a wider knowledge base around education.

The majority of activity carried out by student teachers on ITE programmes is expected to align with the definition above of enquiry, rather than research.

As such, the IOE’s Ethical Practice Guidelines recognise the special case of activity which forms part of normal professional practice and does not require this activity to undergo a full ethics review in the same way as other student research projects. Nonetheless, clear principles and processes are necessary to determine what approaches are suitable in different situations

3. Being Ethical

IOE student teachers learn to act ethically as teachers in all aspects of their practice. They learn to pay due attention to issues that include:

• (informed) consent;
• Transparency;
• Confidentiality;
• Anonymity;
• Power relations.

Student teachers are encouraged to adhere to relevant guidance and engage in debates in relation to ethical practice.

4.       Data protection

As well as ethical considerations, student teachers must comply with the law on data protection. When we ask student teachers to use information about students / pupils / learners in assignments, for the purposes of enquiry or for research, this constitutes processing data in relation to GDPR. According to UCL guidance, the following category would usually be used as a legal basis for this processing:

Public task: the processing is necessary for you to perform a task in the public interest or for your official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.

It is not necessary, therefore, to seek informed consent from children / students / learners from the perspective of data protection legislation. However, there may still be good ethical reasons for seeking consent before undertaking enquiry or research.

Stricter legislative guidelines apply in relation to special category data, which may require different actions to be taken. Special category data includes:

• racial or ethnic origin
• political opinions;
• religious or philosophical beliefs;
• trade union membership;
• genetic data;
• biometric data;
• health; or
• a person’s sex life or sexual orientation.

For the protection of student teachers, their students and their tutors, student teachers should avoid collecting special category data from individuals in any research or enquiry activity undertaken as part of an IOE ITE programme.

5.       Ethics and enquiry

Enquiry is woven through IOE ITE programmes. Some enquiry happens as part of formal assessments, some of which contribute to M-level assessments.

In relation to ethics, student teachers are expected to apply to enquiry activities the same rigour and care that would be applied in any other aspect of teaching. In practice, this means considering intended activity from an ethical perspective at the design stage and acting ethically while collecting and analysing data and writing up work.

All student enquiry activity undertaken at the direction of ITE course tutors (e.g. substantial independent study tasks; written assignments; portfolio tasks) should be reviewed at the proposal stage by the student teacher’s tutor.

When undertaking enquiry, student teachers should:

• Address explicitly ethical considerations in any proposal for enquiry that is submitted to tutors for review;
• Respond to feedback from tutors in relation to ethical considerations;
• Complete a declaration at assignment submission confirming that they have considered ethical issues in the work being submitted.

The Post Compulsory PGCE programme has adapted the UCL ethics proforma and expect student teachers to use this proforma. Student teachers will liaise with their tutors over the ethical issues concerned with their proposed activity.