a. Under what circumstances would the TCPS apply to this
research?

The teacher-researcher’s privilege to conduct research involving human participants is accompanied by a responsibility to apply contemporary research ethics guidelines. The TCPS provides the Canadian ethical context for the conduct of research involving humans.

Researchers must apply the TCPS if they are:

• members of research institutions eligible to administer funds awarded by any of the research Agencies (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC); or
• members of any other agency that has adopted the TCPS and requires adherence to it.

During preliminary stages of this investigation, the teacher reflected upon her own classroom experiences, education approaches, and practices in her teaching journal and discussed these reflections at professional development conferences. Her notes, which contained information about different classroom techniques to help her students’ learning, were based on her own experiences as a teacher and various reports that she had read. No other human participants were involved in these early stages of her investigations, although she interacted regularly with students in her classes. She also talked with colleagues about her experiences and sought advice about teaching techniques to try, but those colleagues were not themselves the focus for her investigations nor were other teachers or students. When the teacher decided to focus directly on the attitudes of students and parents/guardians towards diversity in the classroom and strategies to counter racism, this became research involving human participants. The students in her class and their parents/guardians were invited to consider volunteering as research participants in this study.

Many school districts have developed procedures for review of research conducted in schools within their jurisdiction, and some of these procedures include ethical considerations as presented in the TCPS. School district policies often provide guidance regarding desirable consent procedures, expectations for parental/guardian awareness and consent, data access issues, and confidentiality provisions for participants and schools. As a teacher in a local school system, this teacher-researcher must meet the professional ethics requirements as articulated through her provincial teachers’ federation and comply with policies and procedures of her school district. The teachers’ federation professional guidelines provide context for teachers engaging in research, as teacher-researcher roles are multi-faceted and complex. For example, teachers must be aware of the potential conflict of interest when they are evaluating the work of students who also participate in their research projects. An increasing number of teachers at the Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) level are trained in understanding these multi-faceted roles and in implementing strategies for reducing conflicts and separating their teacher and researcher roles. However, teachers at all grade levels must understand the potential for conflict of interest when doing research with students in their own classes and develop and implement strategies for mitigating the power relationships that exist between their students and themselves throughout the research process.

As this teacher-researcher is also involved in graduate study at a local university, she must ensure that her practices are consistent with university policies and federal guidelines. Because the university conducts research and is eligible to administer funds awarded by the Agencies (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC), the TCPS must be applied. The teacher-researcher must follow the policies and procedures of both the university and her school district, as well as relevant provincial legislation. Now that the teacher-researcher considers shifting from reflecting upon her own teaching experiences to documenting the reactions and perceptions of students and parents/guardians, research ethics review is required at the university and a separate review may also be required by her school district.

b. Which guiding ethical principles might apply to this research?

Respect for human dignity, respect for free and informed consent, respect for vulnerable persons, respect for privacy and confidentiality, respect for justice and inclusiveness, and balancing harms and benefits may all be applicable.

Children are normally considered vulnerable persons. When they are involved in research, the ethical principles of respect for vulnerable persons and respect for justice and inclusiveness apply. A teacher may conduct research in his/her own classroom, but in so doing, would need to provide a rationale to justify why this research cannot be undertaken in another classroom setting, and why her own classroom is the only setting and her students the only sample for the research. The teacher also needs to justify how recruiting research participants from her own classroom could benefit the students (e.g. to sensitize them to elements of racism) and not be a matter of convenience for her. The teacher-researcher, in her privileged relationship with students in her classroom, has the ethical obligation to ensure that the students’ interests are central to the research and that special procedures will be taken to protect their interests (TCPS, Context of an Ethics Framework, page i.5), which translates into the moral imperative of respect for human dignity.

The teacher would also need to develop a strategy for identifying and addressing power relationships in the classroom and ensuring that student participation is voluntary. Teacher-researchers must avoid bias (real or apparent) towards those students who choose to participate in the study and those who do not participate. For example, classroom activities form part of the research data set (e.g. video recording in-class role-plays on racism) and students could be invited to participate in disseminating the results (e.g. through the school play), so individual students must be able to opt out of the research component without concern for any adverse consequences. The teacher-researcher would need to clearly outline for students (and their parents/guardians where appropriate) what the separation is between the “research” and the “classroom” activities. This information is part of the free and informed consent process for the project. For example, the teacher-researcher may wish to differentiate between components of normal classroom practices and research activities and address how the play will be developed, structured, and presented at the school assembly. The plan is that all students will participate in the same classroom activities and have the same opportunities to act in the school play, regardless of whether or not they (and their parents/guardians) agree to allow the information that is collected in the classroom activities to be used in the research study. The only difference between students who participate in the research and those who do not is that the documentation of classroom activities of those students who wish to participate would become data for the research and these students (and their parents/guardians) may be invited to participate in interviews.

As potential research participants, students might be involved in contributing ideas or strategies to the study’s emerging design by suggesting classroom activities to document and by identifying interview questions. Students may also be invited to provide their ideas on the findings, the report and the play script. The interviews with students and their parents/guardians would follow a conversational path that allows each individual to explore his/her ideas and to respond to open-ended questions. Because parents are also participants in this study, they will be given the opportunity to provide ideas on the findings, the report, and the play script.

The teacher-researcher should strive to anticipate and understand the students’ reactions to research being conducted in their classroom, as well as the impact this might have on students’ learning and their interactions within the classroom and the school. For example, the teacher-researcher should investigate and understand the implications of studying a topic that may well extend to the students’ daily lives. If racist language or violence is prevalent in the school or the local community at the time of the project, this may have a bearing on students’ ideas about the topic and how they interact with one another. The teacher-researcher will also need to anticipate and consider parental reactions and perspectives (e.g. how the research will impact student-parent relationships). As qualitative researchers typically ground their work in the broader social context, studies of this type often take current issues and experiences into account in the study’s design and implementation.

The research is focused on antiracism, a topic that brings together various cultural considerations about respectful practices. The teacher-researcher may wish to consult with various cultural groups or organizations to support her research and teaching initiatives. Representatives from these groups might be able to help the teacher-researcher judge how the students and their parents/guardians might respond to the activities before she introduces them in class or into research.

Since the students are adolescents, it is important to recognize that they are in a period of transition where they are attempting to take greater control of their lives and decision making, and some may feel that expectations or requirements for prior permission from parents or guardians are misplaced. If provincial legislation, REB requirements, or school district regulations require parental/guardian permission for these adolescent students to participate in research, then the teacher-researcher should devote time and attention to explaining this situation to the prospective student participants. She should also tell them about the need to balance her commitment to respect the rights and dignity of the research participants with the mandated requirements of free and informed consent.

Applicable school district review procedures would most likely consider student and parent/guardian perspectives, especially with respect to the contribution of the research to the learning goals within the school. The university REB membership may include teachers, parents, students, or school district personnel who would be able to consider the application for ethics review and approval from the perspectives of students and parents/guardians.