ABSTRACT
All researchers have a responsibility to ensure that their research participants and other people involved in the research are treated ethically, and teacher-researchers are no exception to this rule. The teacher-researcher is in a slightly different position—they are both the person conducting the research and an employee of the school or organisation who has pastoral responsibility for the participants, i.e. the pupils. There are certain areas where a teacher does not need to worry about research ethics, simply because this issue is already covered by the existing standards of professionalism. The main body which oversees educational research in the UK is the British Educational Research Association, and they provide a code of conduct for all educational researchers in any setting. Informed consent means that the participants agree to take part in the study in full knowledge of what is going to happen. Consent should also be obtained in a way that is not subject to coercion.
