Chapter 7: Whose Ethics Am I Concerned with? Perspectives from Qualitative Research with Retired Educators in Botswana

This chapter outlines some unanticipated ethical issues that arose in the course of conducting qualitative research for my doctoral research on the experiences of retired educators in Botswana. I describe how, in the course of conducting the fieldwork, I encountered ethical dilemmas in terms of my subjectivity as a researcher, role-conflicts between my professional roles as a counsellor and as a researcher, and tensions around power and cultural dynamics. I indicate how, as I analysed these dynamics, I began to understand the problems I encountered in a wider context. This entailed framing ethical issues in a different way than was done during the research ethics review at the outset of my research. Whereas the review drew on established ethical codes to focus on practices related to informed consent, confidentiality and anonymisation, protection from harm, and justice, it became clear in the course of my fieldwork that less recognised ethical issues may emerge at later stages. Although such issues cannot always be anticipated, research ethics committees may benefit from reflection and training on broader perspectives on ethics – such as on understanding the significance of Indigenous knowledge, researcher subjectivity, and cultural and power dynamics. In conclusion, I recommend that ethics training for researchers too should be extended beyond the established track of familiarisation with key tenets of conventional research ethics to include opportunities for reflection and discussion about wider issues arising from fieldwork in community settings.