Ethical Action Plan, Version 2

1. What is your project focus?

How can tutors engage with Pre-sessional Students in a manner that is unlikely to induce unnecessary anxiety?

The context is international students, who do not have English as their native language, undertaking a course of short duration (up to 12 weeks), high workload, and high stakes (not making the grade means not being able to progress onto chosen course), so consequently can lead to high levels of anxiety.

The scope of this focus is limited to factors that the tutor has an element of control over, centering upon the classroom environment and language adopted.

2. What are you going to read about?

The principal reading will likely focus upon:

1. Research undertaken that explores levels of students’ mental health (interesting of itself, but also serves to validate the necessity of addressing this issue)
2. Factors that cause anxiety in students
3. Teacher language, and its effect on students’ wellbeing.

Additionally, there is the need to read further on research practices.

3. What action are you going to take in your teaching practice?

Present expectation is that there are three areas where action can be taken:

1. Creation of a learning environment that, whilst active, avoids undue stress.
2. Utilise one-to-one tutorials in a manner that allows students to express how they are feeling, and receive support from their tutor.
3. Adoption of appropriate teacher language that encourages students to make maximum effort whilst not inducing unnecessary anxiety.

4. Who will be involved and how?

I will communicate with one or two colleagues with responsibility for overseeing the Pre-sessional programme.

A short questionnaire will be sent to my own students from the 2024 course (those that I know achieved and were permitted to progress onto their main course). Questions will explore how ‘anxious’ the student felt at different stages of the course, and also attempt to gather some opinions of tutorials. There will be 16 students contacted, but as a qualitative approach take-up from just a few students will be sufficient.

As Pre-sessional will not be running again until the summer of 2025, there will not be the opportunity to apply the findings of this research during its cycle.

N.B. If any of your participants/co-researchers will be under 18, please seek advice from your tutor.

5. What are the health & safety concerns, and how will you prepare for them?

Largely not applicable, but I should proceed with the awareness that discussing mental health issues may be difficult for some.

6. How will you protect the data of those involved?

Any references to actual students will be generalised and anonymised.

7. How will you work with your participants in an ethical way?

With sensitivity, and any discussions with colleagues/students will be applied to ‘students in general’ and not directed to individuals

Disclaimer!

Of course, many aspects of this action plan may change during the course of the project, perhaps as a result of new information gained, but also due to avenues that may not be open.

One thing that concerns me is the brevity of this plan – whilst reasonably happy with its content, I feel it necessary to flesh it out in the coming days.