Behind the scenes of reflective practice in professional development: A glance into the ethical predicaments of secondary school teachers

Abstract

This case study examined 12 American secondary school teachers' ethical predicaments involving reflective practices in professional development programs (PDPs), and the impact of these predicaments on their school's work processes. Qualitative measures revealed ethical ramifications of professional development's (PD) reflective procedures, whereby teachers experienced deleterious effects regarding their students and their colleagues, to the extent that teachers may have experienced moral injury. Furthermore, findings showed that teachers who served as group facilitators struggled to set an ethical balance between formative evaluation and summative evaluation, to the extent of violating confidential PD codes. Implications for reflective practices in PD are discussed.