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The “Wicked Problem” of Ethics in Self-Study Research: Dominant, Silent and Marginalised Discourses

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Ethics, Self-Study Research Methodology and Teacher Education

Part of the book series: Self-Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices ((STEP,volume 20))

Abstract

While Nash (2004) was writing about the ethics of scholarly personal narrative (SPN), his argument that ethics is lived “mostly backward, not forward” (p. 135) highlights the inherent challenges when considering issues of ethics in self-study research. While we might seek to identify ethical tensions, issues and dilemmas in advance, as we see from the contributions in this volume, the consideration of ethics is a dynamic, emergent and reflective process. In this chapter, we frame ethics in self-study research as a “wicked problem” (Rittel & Webber, 1973), and we draw on the international perspectives in this book to present a thematic analysis of the contributions within the volume. In doing so, we identify the concepts and discourses associated with ethics in self-study that are dominant, present those that are silent or marginalised and offer suggestions for future research.

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Correspondence to Sharon McDonough .

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McDonough, S., Brandenburg, R. (2019). The “Wicked Problem” of Ethics in Self-Study Research: Dominant, Silent and Marginalised Discourses. In: Brandenburg, R., McDonough, S. (eds) Ethics, Self-Study Research Methodology and Teacher Education. Self-Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices, vol 20. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9135-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9135-5_11

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