Research Ethics in International and Comparative Education: A BAICE Thematic Forum

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BAICE Thematic Forums
BAICE Thematic Forums

This BAICE Thematic Forum has been put together by Dr Lizzi Milligan (University of Bath), Professor Qing Gu & Professor Simon McGrath (University of Nottingham), Professor Michael Crossley & Professor Leon Tikly (University of Bristol) and Dr Nidhi Singal (University of Cambridge).

The ethics of working in cross-cultural contexts is at the heart of the work that international and comparative educational (ICE) researchers conduct. A recent Compare Special Issue (Robinson-Pant and Singal, 2013) has highlighted theoretical developments and areas of potential ethical concerns in the field. At the BAICE conference 2014, a panel/workshop was held with panellists highlighting some key issues which started lively discussions about individuals’ experiences of cross-cultural educational research. These included the dynamics of reaching a consensus about the meaning and implementation process of research ethics in North-South partnerships and transnational teams; the possibility of a postcolonial research ethics; the ethical issues related to research dissemination; and the potential role for BAICE in supporting researchers in international and comparative education related to ethics. A key conclusion from this event was the need for more time and space for ethics to be discussed among BAICE members.

In the light of this, our BTF has been developed with the following three specific aims:

  1. To offer a forum for researchers in ICE to discuss, debate and challenge existing assumptions about ‘good ethical practice’ through a number of workshop events and writing opportunities; and
  1. To develop ‘ethical guidelines’, or equivalent, for within BAICE;
  1. To strengthen the links between BAICE and other WCCES partners through collaboration on ethical issues and potential guidelines.

The first planned event is a day workshop that will take place 10.30am-3.30pm on Friday 22nd May 2015 at the University of Nottingham where the suitability of existing ethical frameworks for researchers in ICE will be discussed and some potential alternatives explored. A key note speaker will be announced soon.

This event will be in collaboration with the Academy of Social Sciences and the Centre of International Education Research at the University of Nottingham.

For more details of this event or to join the BTF mailing list, please email EthicsBTF@baice.ac.uk