Gunnel Colnerud

Teacher ethics as a research problem: syntheses achieved and new issues

Research on teacher ethics and the moral dimensions of teaching has contributed to extensive and valuable knowledge, which has sometimes led to constructive syntheses of positions. Four research problems which have been elucidated are discussed in this article: the relationship between care and justice, the conflict between the ethics of virtue and the ethics of rules, the relationship between moral education and professional ethics and what is morally significant in the teaching profession. Furthermore, an invitation to renew the discussion and formulate the next generation of research problems is made. Two issues are proposed. First, to answer the question why is it so difficult to be a morally good teacher and, second, teachers’ moral responsibility for the content taught.

Academic dishonesty, ethical norms and learning

This study is aimed to deduce which ethical norms and considerations are implicitly present in the students’ answers when they are asked to define to what degree the presented actions in a questionnaire are acts of cheating. Data are analysed by factor analysis as well as qualitative analysis. The questions asked are: What characterises the items regarded as cheating? What characterises the items not regarded as cheating? The implicit logic in the students’ attitudes is: The lower the degree of effort and work, the lower degree of learning can be expected; the lower is the degree of learning, the higher will be the degree of academic dishonesty. If the academic dishonesty does promote learning, it can be morally justified by mixed arguments from three ethical theories, consequentialist, deontology and virtue ethics.

Moral stress in teaching practice

The purpose of this article is to study whether moral stress is a phenomenon relevant to teaching practice and which may make a significant contribution to understanding why teachers repeatedly reported feeling burdened by work. Moral stress can be caused by acting in conflict with one’s own conscience, e.g. when one knows the right thing to do but institutional constraints make it difficult to act in a way that is consistent with one’s morals. The method used in this study is critical incident technique focusing ethical dilemmas in teaching. The findings add a phenomenon to previous research of moral stress in other professions; moral stress can be caused not only by external regulations, but also by internal moral imperatives in conflict with one another.

Ethical dilemmas in research in relation to ethical review: An empirical study

The aim of the present article is to contribute empirically derived knowledge about Swedish researchers’ experience of ethical problems, conflicts and dilemmas in their research practice in relation to the ethical vetting legislation and procedure. The study has been carried out using the critical incident technique, with researchers from various disciplines providing examples from their own research practice of problems relating to research ethics. The analysis of the researchers’ responses indicates three phenomena, partly in line with similar studies in other countries: (i) the law of ethical vetting puts limits on the relevant research ethical questions; (ii) it is not possible to anticipate all questions of research ethics; and (iii) there are consequences to the fact that the boards for ethical vetting ignore problems that fall outside the law.

Bystander passivity in health care and school settings: Moral disengagement, moral distress, and opportunities for moral education

ABSTRACT Bystander passivity has received increased attention in the prevention of interpersonal harm, but it is poorly understood in many settings. In this article we explore bystander passivity in three settings based on existing literature: patient abuse in health care; bullying among schoolchildren; and oppressive treatment of students by teachers. Throughout the article we develop a theoretical approach that connects Obermanns unconcerned and guilty bystanders to theories of moral disengagement and moral distress respectively. Despite differences between the three settings, we show striking similarities between processes of disengagement, indicators of distress, and the constraints for intervention that bystanders identify. In relation to this, we discuss moral educational efforts that aim to strengthen bystanders’ moral agency in health care and school settings. Many efforts emphasize shared problem descriptions and collective responsibilities. As challenging as such efforts may be, there can be much to gain in terms of welfare and justice.