Research Project Ethics

When starting to think about the ethical considerations of my research project I found reading 3 in the ethics reader particularly useful. Although I am not a full time teacher I will be carrying out interviews and surveys in several vocational colleges so lots of the information was relevant.

The first thing I will seek before conducting my research is 'voluntary informed consent'. I think the most important thing here is transparency. I will inform all participants what the inquiry is about, what my aims and objectives are, any detriment that may arise for them as a result of taking part, and how and where the information will be used. Hopefully by doing this I will not have any problems getting participants. Luckily my project doesn't involve anyone under the age of eighteen which makes obtaining consent much easier but still crucial.

The people I interview I will give a full list of questions in advance so they can veto any they think are inappropriate and do not want to answer. I will give them a copy of the transcript afterwards and give them the opportunity to clarify or remove information. I will also make sure I will inform them of any previously unforeseen issues that have arisen that could be detrimental to them.

I will make it very clear that all participants are free to withdraw their consent at any point. I will not put any pressure on them to stay involved. Hopefully if I have been transparent enough from the outset about the purpose and outcome of the research then this won't happen.

I am going to ensure the anonymity of all the people involved in the research and of the colleges themselves. Firstly I don't think the identities of the colleges or people will have an impact the findings of the research and secondly I intend to survey students who I believe will give more honest answers about their training if they know there is no way their answers can be traced back to them (particularly if want they want to say is something bad).

Importantly I want to make clear that when obtaining informed consent form the students that it is one hundred percent 'voluntary'. I want to make sure they in no way feel pressure from me or more importantly from their head teacher to be involved. It is important to be aware of the unbalanced power in this situation, where the teacher can significantly impact the success of the student. They must be told that nothing bad will happen to them if they do not become involved. I think that anonymity will also help here because it makes it impossible to tell who has answered and who hasn't. I intend to get consent from the head teacher to survey the students (with them acting as Gatekeeper) but I then intend to get individual consent from each student as well.

In my last blog I mentioned the word 'balance' and it is my intention within this research project to balance out any ethical conflicts that may occur between the 'importance and rights of the individuals involved' (ethics reader, 2010). Equal consideration must be given to the needs of all participants. I should not assume just because it is something I want to know that others should have to help me. I also should not assume that because a piece of information is useful to me that it is justifiable to use it. I intend to make everyone involved aware of these possible conflicts and they will therefore have the choice to proceed or not.

One of the conflicts of interest I can see already is as follows. There is no direct benefit for the graduating students who help me. If the aim of my project is to improve training in musical theatre then this could actually have a negative impact on these students' careers. Their training is over but future generations, and their direct competition, will hopefully be trained better and therefore will be better able to get the already scarce jobs. In helping me the students will be helping their competition. I will make the students aware of this but hopefully they will also see that better training will improve the industry as a whole. An industry that they love and that they want to thrive. Hopefully they will also see that change takes time so perhaps the direct impact on them will be less than initially thought.

Another conflict may be that the information the graduating students provide may conflict with the interests of the college. If a student were to say detrimental things about the training it could affect others' opinions of the college. Hopefully keeping all information anonymous will prevent this but there is the risk that the students will talk about what they said in their surveys. I think it also important therefore to make them aware of why the information should kept anonymous. I think also that by making the various colleges aware of the benefits they could receive from the completion of the project (for example, a stronger consensus on what is required of a musical theatre performer) they may decide that they outweigh any negative possibilities. Again, transparency.

I think finally it is worth mentioning reliability of information. It is important not to 'falsify, sensationalise or distort findings'. As a general rule all information that is gathered should be included. Evidence should not be removed because it doesn't match your desired pattern. Similarly something shouldn't be quoted out of context or highlighted if it goes against the general trend. However, it is important to consider whether it is justifiable to include information that is clearly detrimental to participants even if it is vital for the project. I want to make sure at the very least that i am not directly harming any of participants. So once again I will be using reasoned consideration to achieve a balance between conflicting agendas.

Ethical Frameworks

My next blog will be about my ethical considerations with regards to my research project but I thought I would give context to this by firstly summarising my feelings on the differing ethical frameworks in place.

It seems to me that ethics is about responsibility to a social good. It is rarely about yes or no, black or white. Instead it is to do with the way we approach those hard to answer questions. Those grey areas. I think Hobbes' (1651) idea that ethics is a 'practical solution to social harmony and good' (BAPP course reader 5; professional ethics, 2010) is very accurate. Simply put, we are all competing for the same things, we all have equal need for them, and we are generally not always altruistic. Ethics are in place to ensure that we act fairly and with thought to others, but also that they do the same. Hobbes' idea suggests that morality for mutual benefit is what keeps society steady. Is this on closer inspection however under selling why people act ethically?

I have looked into Consequentialism and into Deontology but I don't think either of them completely satisfy and support my ethical standpoint. Initially the Consequentialist idea of maximising good is a very appealing one. Surely if we do that then the world would become as good as it can be. However, I have a problem that the ethical stance on something should be decided entirely on the outcome. Here is an example. 

A person is trapped under the rubble after an earthquake and four people decide to help get them out. It is very dangerous moving the rubble but they manage to free the trapped person and they all go on to live the rest of their lives. 

The outcome here is a good one. There were five survivors from the incident which is definitely maximising the good. Based on the outcome of this event it was ethically right for the people to help the trapped man but what if the outcome had been different?

A person is trapped under the rubble after an earthquake and four people decide to help get them out. It is very dangerous moving the rubble and in the process three of the rescuers are killed. The fourth rescuer and the trapped person go on to live the rest of their lives.

The outcome here is less good. Only two out of the five people survived which is no longer maximising the good. Based on the outcome of this second event the rescuers were ethically wrong for attempting to help the man. In light of examples like this I begin to question whether Consequentialism is actually that satisfying.

Perhaps Deontology has the answer? Immanuel Kant (1779) argued that the 'only absolutely good thing is good will'. I think this is a much more appropriate and useful concept when dealing with ethical considerations. It is by looking at people's intentions that we decide whether an act is ethically right or not. Looking again at the examples above through the eyes of Deontology in both instances the actions of the rescuers can be thought of as ethically right because their intentions were to save a trapped man who would have otherwise died. The outcome is now irrelevant. This way of looking at things seems much more clear cut and absolute which is where the problem with Deontology lies. It is about absolutes. It is about black and white and yes and no which I believe goes against the very nature of ethics. If things were black and white we would have no need for ethics. We would just know that something was right or wrong. For example, in Deontology lying is always considered wrong. What if you are lying with the good intention of saving someone's feelings? Killing a man is always wrong, but what if you are doing it with the intention of protecting your children? Deontology on the surface seems to be about intentions but is too rigid in it's framework. It is too full of moral absolutes.

So does Virtue Ethics hold the answer? This is about the moral character of the individual which at first seems to me to be rather ambiguous. This is surely a hard thing to judge and to quantify. Its origins come from Aristotle who believed virtue to be a habitual action that was the 'mid-point between two extremes' (ethics reader, 2010). The example given in the reader is that the virtue of courage is half way between cowardice and foolhardiness. What about the virtue of honesty then? If it is a mid-point then what are the extremes? Presumably one end of the scale is lying but what about the other end? Could it be saying exactly what you think all the time with no consideration for feeling? In that case it would seem that to have the virtue of honesty you don't always have to tell the truth. Perhaps a comforting thought to those people who were trying to find a way to justify their white lies.

So Virtue Ethics appears to be about balance. A word that I've seen used on a few different blogs (apologies for not remembering who you all are now) and which I really think clarifies things. Ethics to me is about using a reasoned, considered approach to achieve balance between conflicting ideas. Whilst doing this a persons intentions are of more importance that the actual outcome of events.

I think viewing ethics in this way is very useful when approaching a research project. The ethical role of the researcher is to ensure that equal consideration is given to all participants and that any conflicting needs and wishes are balanced. The researcher's intentions should be good and they must make their intentions clear. It is not enough to act ethically, you must also be seen to act ethically. This will instill trust from you participants and give your research credibility.

Survey

Hi everyone. I have created a survey that I would love as many people to do as possible. It is designed for people who trained in some kind of performance (i.e acting/singing/dancing). I would also love any comments you might have on the questions I asked or the way they were phrased.

I used Survey Monkey and it is really simple once you get the hang of it. As a free user you are only allowed to ask ten question which at first annoyed me but which actually meant I had to really think about what I wanted to ask and what would be beneficial to my research.

Here is the link http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/S5LX8HP
Thanks for your time.

Award Title Rationale

This is something I have been thinking a lot about over the last couple of months but I realised recently that I haven't yet written anything down. Hopefully it will clarify my thinking now that I finally am.

My training at Arts Ed London was in Musical Theatre so I think a key element of my awards title has to be Musical Theatre. Joanna mentions a conversation she had with Alan (in a comment on her blog) where he pointed out that the work we are doing now only makes up a third of our degree. Our previous education and work makes up the other two thirds so I think it would be difficult for me to justify not including the words Musical Theatre.

It is important to me that my award title will help progress my career. In the future I would like to move into teaching on a vocational musical theatre course so I want my award title to somehow reflect and aid this.

As I am interested in musical theatre and the way it is taught I am basing my inquiry around the best way to train musical theatre students. I want to investigate what is established, if it works, if there is a better way, and even if there is a consensus. I am excited about my inquiry and think it will lead to benefits not only for me but also for future students and the industry as a whole.

Initially I thought a good title would be BA Hons Professional Practice (Education in Musical Theatre). I then read a comment by Alan (again on Joanna's blog) where he says that in using the word 'education' it perhaps implies that you have 'studied pedagogy and curriculum', which I of course have not. So how do I incorporate Musical Theatre as well as he work I am doing on vocational training, with the aim of looking impressive to future employers from vocational colleges? Perhaps BA Hons Professional Practice (Vocational Training in Musical Theatre)? Or does this perhaps sound like I have just had the training myself rather than being able to train someone else. Perhaps BA ........ (Teaching Vocational Musical Theatre) would be better?

Any thoughts or suggestions you might have would be hugely appreciated. It is amazing how changing even one word can hugely impact a person's understanding of what you are qualified in. I want my award to mean something. To really say something about me and my abilities and achievements so please give me your thoughts. Thanks.

Ethics For Teachers

As I said in my earlier blog on ethics I am only just moving into the area of teaching and as such my knowledge of the profession and the ethics involved are some what limited. I decided to start my investigation into teaching code of ethics by simply using Google. The first site I came across was a teachers' code of ethics as laid out by the Ministry of Education, Employment and the Family. Here is the link;

http://www.education.gov.mt/ministry/doc/code_of_ethics.htm

One of the main things that struck me was the sheer detail of the code. Not only does a teacher have an obligation to his/her students (which is what I imagined) but they also have an obligation to the students parents, the other teachers they are working with, the school they are working for and the community as a whole. There are bound to be so many conflicts of interest when you have obligations to so many different groups. I initially thought that even though you should respect the relationship with the parents and the school your duty must be foremost to your student. I then read the following exert from the Association of American Educators website;

'We strongly affirm parents as the primary moral educators of their children. Nevertheless, we believe all educators are obligated to help foster civic virtues such as integrity, diligence, responsibility, cooperation, loyalty, fidelity, and respect-for the law, for human life, for others, and for self.'

I struck me that within this statement there lies a dilemma. You will have personal beliefs about the way people should behave and live. A personal code of ethics or sense of morality. However, as stated above it is not necessarily your place to morally educate a child, it is the place of the parent. If the parents' beliefs conflicted with your own on certain issues (as long as the actual welfare of the student was not at risk) you would have an ethical responsibility to hold your tongue. In this case you are surely giving more weight to your duty to the parents than to your duty to the student. I know that I would find this very difficult because the things I believe, I really believe. I think this must be the way science teachers feel when they are made to teach evolution and creationism side by side as scientific theories because of the moral beliefs of the parents and the school. If this was me I would feel like I was depriving the child of a true and fair education but it would not be my place to intervene. In protecting one ethical code are you not ignoring another?

I began to think about teaching on a vocational musical theatre course (as this is the direction I am heading in) and wondered what if any were the ethical conflicts involved. The first thing that occurred to me was that the students on a course like this would be over eighteen and as such you would no longer have an obligation to their parents. The decisions the student makes are entirely their own. This significantly reduces the areas of conflict. However, you still have an obligation to the school and the profession as a whole.

I started to think about the discussions that some BAPP students have been having about body image and how quite often people's perceptions of their bodies are strongly influenced by the way they were treated and how they were taught during their training. As a teacher on a vocational course is your objective to make your students the best they can be? To give them the best possible opportunity of getting as much work as they can? Is it to supply the industry with fiercely trained professionals who can strengthen and progress what is already in place? Is it also to improve the reputation of the college by producing graduating students of an incredibly high standard? If this is the case then you have to be hard on your students to make them the best. Who cares if you give them an eating disorder? In fact it would be unethical of you not to.

So clearly what I just wrote is ridiculous. There must be more to it. Perhaps it is less about making your students the best and more about making them the best they can be. It is about considering their individual needs not only as performers but also as people. I guess the ethics are really in place to keep a balance. You are obliged to train your students hard and make them good (you would be failing them otherwise) but you are also responsible for maintaining their emotional well being. In the long run this will also benefit the college and the industry because the graduating students will be well rounded individuals who have the chance of achieving longevity in an extremely challenging profession. This thought makes me come back to the idea that really the most important element is the student. As a teacher if you focus on their needs then ultimately there is advantage for everyone.

Ethics For Performers

Since my previous blog on ethics, where I wrote down what I thought would be good codes of practice for my two professions (Musical Theatre Performer and Teacher), I have been investigating the established ethical framework for these fields and seeing how they compare with my initial thoughts.

This blog concentrates on the established ethics in place for performers. The first thing I came across was an article on the LA Stage Times website. After the death of actress Kathleen Freeman a 1945 code of ethics for theatre workers was found amongst her possessions. Here is the full article and it is an interesting read;

http://www.lastagetimes.com/2009/08/a-1945-code-of-ethics-for-theatre-workers-surfaces/

One of the main things that struck me is that everything on the code of practice is still completely relevant today. It all still applies and is common practice in the theatre industry. The other thing it highlighted for me was the difference between professional and organizational ethics. I have recently read some blogs where people felt like they couldn't write codes of ethics as performers because they hadn't worked yet so they decided to write them from the perspective of a student within the organizational environment of dance or drama school. This is a totally valid point but in looking at the 1945 code of ethics I realised that the majority of the list contained rules that weren't for any specific environment. In others words they apply to the profession as a whole rather than any particular organization.

I think this is a key point when discussing the ethics of a performer because unless you end up in Eastenders for thirty years it is very unlikely that you will frequent the same work place, or even the same type of workplace for long. The environment that a performer works in is constantly changing. You could be working in a theatre, an arts centre or a TV studio. You could be in one place or on tour. It could even be the case that one minute you are working for a big producer and the next you are producing something yourself. I think because of this performers have developed a universal code of practice that applies to all situations. This means that even though people are forever changing their work environment there is still a strong sense of cohesion across the industry.

The majority of things that are on the list I learnt when I was at college and the things I didn't I had to learn pretty quickly in the profession. I have realised how important it is to give as much of this information to students before they graduate. Not only for their sake but for the continuing strength of the industry.

I thought I would also check the Equity website to see if they list any ethical considerations or codes of practice. I couldn't find anything listed but it did start to make me consider the role of equity within the performing industry. Within society we have laws that safe guard the fair and just treatment of people. Equity functions within the theatre in much the same way as the government functions within society. It creates and campaigns for rules to be set in place that safe guard the treatment of people in the industry. For example, ensuring that people are paid a fair wage, get adequate breaks and appropriate sick pay.

Another thing that Equity has been instrumental in creating is a code of practice for foreign performers working in this country. I found this piece of legislation from the Home Office that lays out what the acceptable use of foreign performers in British theatre is. This legislation is designed to fairly protect British jobs for British performers. It does however give the opportunity for exchanges of performers between countries. It made me realise that as a performer I have worked abroad a lot and as such it has always been part of my ethical responsibility to make sure I have a legal right to work in that country.

Continuing my search for codes of practice in performance I began to come across lots of information regarding the safe guarding of children. Many jobs require children and therefore there has to be rules in place to protect them. As an adult performer it is not usually your responsibility to look after these children but you should be aware of what is considered appropriate behaviour while they are around. When I was working on 'Chitty' there were twenty children in the cast. We were told when we first started the job that we should make sure we were never alone with them. We had to make sure we used appropriate language in their presence and were always fully clothed (something which seems obvious but when you pelting across backstage in a quick change you would sometimes forget). There were also rules in place about which toilets you could use because the adults and kids were not allowed to share. It is interesting as I am talking about these rules in a performance environment but they would also apply in a teaching environment.

My next blog will investigate the established ethics that are in place for teachers and I am sure as already seen there will be some overlap.

Problem With The Special Interest Groups

Hi everyone. I'm feeling a need to write about the SIGs. Please tell me to shut up but I feel we are starting to make things more difficult for ourselves. I believe the SIGs should have fairly general headings such as 'Integrated Theatre' or "Education in Drama and Dance'. If the general topic interests you or is related to your inquiry then join the group. You can then discuss the specifics of your inquiry within that group and get the feedback from others who are interested in your topic. I think sometimes on this course people want to obviously show that they are being proactive and doing the right thing which is great. I do think that in the case of the SIGs however this is going to lead to a problem. At the moment everybody seems to be setting up SIGs that relate specifically to their inquiries. Not only does this probably mean that not as many people will join because the subject is too specialised for them but it also means we are going to end up with about 50 SIGs, one for each member of the course. This to me totally defeats the point. We may as well just be commenting on people's blogs again. I think it would be much better to have ten or twelve general SIGs that everyone's really interacts with (discussing the specifics of their inquiries within it) rather than fifty where you keep having to move groups to have conversations with people that should really be happening under the banner of one group. I hope this makes sense. It's just something that I think will help us all but tell to $*@! off if you like :)

Bernadette Peters

I wanted to post this video of Bernadette Peters singing Rose's Turn from Gypsy because she is a musical theatre performer and she is sensational. It proves that people who train and work in musical theatre have the potential to give the same incredible performances as their 'straight' acting counterparts. On one of the SIGs people have been talking about the age at which we start training. I think that quite often in musical theatre we start too young and this shows in our performances and in the current state of the industry. On Broadway the average age of a cast is at least ten years older than that of a West End cast and I believe this shows in the performances. Bernadette Peters started out as 'just' a dancer but she shows what age and experience can give to a performer.

Angela Lansbury

Angela Lansbury singing Liasons from A Little Night Music.