ABSTRACT
Although there has been a proliferation of critical literature on research ethics in educational and social research, only limited attention has been given to a consideration of the place of research ethics in comparative and international education (CIE). For example, recent influential texts on research in CIE (see for example Crossley, Watson, and Bray 2003; Phillips and Schweisfurth 2007; Cowan and Kazamias 2009) barely make reference to research ethics. This is surprising given the attention that has traditionally been given to issues of researching across cultures within CIE, the complex ethical issues that this raises and the deep-seated nature of power and inequality implicit in researching in postcolonial settings. Further, there has been only a limited attempt to apply insights from postcolonial theory to research ethics in education (see for example, Smith 1999; Chilisa 2009)1. This is despite the growth in literature that has applied postcolonial theory to a broader understanding of education in the postcolonial world (see for example, Tikly 1999; Crossley and Tikly 2004; Hickling-Hudson, Matthews, and Woods 2004; Coloma 2009).
