Task 5A: Work Based Ethics

Within my working environment I feel that there are a range of ethical issues. The school I am in contains over 1100 students and close to 100 staff not to mention points of contact for each student. As a result the ethics will differ based upon whether I was dealing with:

1.      Students
2.      Parents/Carers
3.      Colleagues

There are a number of ethical matters that I feel apply to all three of these groups. I shall cover these now as I feel that they represent an ethical consistency that I feel should be maintained across the board in order for us all to coexist successfully as an overall school community. 

1.      Duty of Care: For all of us this needs to be of a top priority as an ethical matter. First and foremost as a member of staff the safety and well-being of our students both academically and emotionally is pivotal in all we do. If a student does not feel safe within their learning environment or feels they cannot speak to somebody then we can not to expect them to develop sufficiently on any level. The school and parents should be able to communicate appropriately in order to ensure that students are able to progress.
2.      Equal opportuninties: As in any working environment, all students, staff members, parents should have an equal footing. In no circumstance must anybody ever be treated differently due to race, religion, gender, disability. If such instances ever occur, the school would need to address the situation appropriately. 
3.      Communication: This is also pivotal and in my opinion an important ethical matter as in order to make correct decisions regarding students whether it be academic or social, all parties involved need to be communicated with to ensure that the correct outcome is made with the students’ best interests at heart.

I feel that the above are general ethical issues that would exist within my work place. In relation to my research I feel that certain ethical issues may affect different groups in particular ways.

Students:

-       Data protection would certainly be paramount to any research that was done based around students. My instinct would be that permission would need to be given in order to conduct any form of research involving students. Also student’s contributions should remain anonymous to protect the student’s identity.
-       Also ensuring that students were comfortable in taking part in any form of research would be pivotal

Parents/Carers:
-       Ensuring that parents are aware of the research being conducted is for and that they have given their consent for their child to take part.

Colleagues:
-       Honesty. If colleagues are taking part in any research ensure that they are aware of its purpose and be prepared to share the findings with that colleague.
-       Do not name any member of staff (or student) within your findings