Module 2: Task 5c - Reader 5 and Online Session on Ethics

Before taking on Reader 5 my views on ethics were very straight forward and simple. I knew the importance of privacy and keeping personal information confidential (a lot of this coming from when we looked at ethics online). However, now I've read Reader 5 in depth there is much more to ethics than I first thought. Not only is it about protecting yourself, but being certain that the discovery you are trying to make won't harm others.

When taking in all this information on ethics, I attempted to relate all the theories to my place of work or inquiry ideas.  For example, 'Immanuel Kant (1779) believed that moral rules are absolute and he based this on reason rather than religion. He argued this from a categorical imperative stance whereby you should help people no matter what your desires are.'

I tried to think of different practices to compare to my own where this ethical stance might not be appropriate. For example, within a school environment it would be morally and ethically wrong for a teacher to lie to a parent about their child. However, in a different line of work such as retail; in an effort to sell a product, staff might be encouraged to lie about using the said product themselves or exaggerate it's benefits. The latter would not have a damaging affect on anyone involved.

I personally feel that given the fact I work with young children, Kant's (1779) deontologist viewpoint is how I should approach my inquiry. There is a huge amount of responsibility given to teachers with the amount of time they spend with their students and the impact they have on their learning and development. I hope my inquiry will benefit children and their education. Therefore, anything that I come across during my inquiry that I deem ethically or morally wrong, I will immediately act to change this.

Reader 5 definitely allowed me to see ethics from different perspectives in general and with regards to my inquiry ideas. When reading the case studies within the reader, the different ethical viewpoints allowed me better grounds on which to make a decision to whether the action taken was morally right or wrong.


On Wednesday 25th October, I took part in an online session with Paula and a group of my course colleagues. This session cleared up any confusion I had with ethics and opened my mind to some ethical problems that may arise during my inquiry.

• Originally, I wanted to interview the children but as the session brought to light, this would involve having parents permission as the children are under the age of 16. As well as this, I would have to explain to the children that they could opt out of the inquiry at any time. However, due to the young age of the children I currently work with, I feel their understanding would be limited and would therefore affect the results of my investigation. I have decided that I will observe the children instead, as this will just involve me being in my normal position as a Teaching Assistant among the students. This will hopefully provide me with more accurate discoveries. 
• I will need permission from the Headteacher at my school and will explain to them the investigation I am carrying out as part of my degree. With that, I can also interview practitioners that I work alongside in order to deepen my investigation and collect information from another perspective. Those that I interview will need to sign an Ethics Release Form.