Ethical Dilemmas in the Classroom: A Narrative Approach to Professional Ethics in Indian Teacher Education
Abstract
Background. Professional ethics is a critical yet often underexplored dimension in teacher education, particularly in contexts where cultural, institutional, and systemic challenges intersect. In India, where educators regularly face value conflicts in classrooms—ranging from caste discrimination to gender norms and curriculum constraints—there is a growing need to address how ethical dilemmas are experienced and navigated by pre-service teachers.
Purpose. This study explores ethical decision-making in teacher education through a narrative inquiry approach, focusing on the lived experiences of student-teachers across four Indian teacher training institutes.
Method. A total of 28 participants engaged in reflective journaling and semi-structured interviews, recounting ethical tensions encountered during practicum or coursework. Thematic narrative analysis revealed recurring dilemmas related to authority, bias, institutional silence, and cultural contradiction.
Results. Participants often expressed uncertainty, emotional distress, and conflict between personal values and institutional expectations. However, the process of narrating these experiences also served as a reflective tool, enabling critical ethical reasoning and professional growth.
Conclusion. The study concludes that narrative reflection can be a transformative pedagogical strategy in teacher education, fostering ethical sensitivity and professional identity development in complex educational environments.
Full text article
References
Agnew, D., & Pill, S. (2023). Creating Caring Environments: An Exploration of Football Managers and Coaching. Sports Coaching Review, 12(1), 27–46. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/21640629.2021.1896209
Call-Cummings, M., Hauber-Özer, M., & Dazzo, G. (2019). Examining researcher identity development within the context of a course on PAR: A layered narrative approach. Qualitative Report, 24(9), 2178–2196. Scopus.
Camporesi, S., Vaccarella, M., & Davis, M. (2017). Investigating Public trust in Expert Knowledge: Narrative, Ethics, and Engagement. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 14(1), 23–30. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-016-9767-4
Carnevale, F. A., Teachman, G., & Bogossian, A. (2017). A Relational Ethics Framework for Advancing Practice with Children with Complex Health Care Needs and Their Parents. Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Nursing, 40(4), 268–284. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694193.2017.1373162
Chang, S.-H., Chuang, J.-F., & Wang, C.-H. (2019). Ethical judgment process for employee assistance program professionals on confidentiality issues. Bulletin of Educational Psychology, 51(2), 231–256. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.6251/BEP.201912_51(2).0003
Chen, X., Wei, G., & Jiang, S. (2017). The ethical dimension of teacher practical knowledge: A narrative inquiry into Chinese teachers’ thinking and actions in dilemmatic spaces. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 49(4), 518–541. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2016.1263895
Cooper, S. (2021). A failed social experiment: Damaged professional identity post ‘transforming rehabilitation.’ British Journal of Community Justice, 17(2), 46–66. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.48411/q52p-j685
De Costa, P. I., Randez, R. A., Her, L., & Green-Eneix, C. A. (2021). Navigating ethical challenges in second language narrative inquiry research. System, 102. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2021.102599
Di Leo, J. R. (2022). Boylan’s Fictional Narratives and the Reshaping of Philosophy. Dalam Reshaping Philosophy: Michael Boylan’s Narrative Fiction (hlm. 19–33). Springer International Publishing; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99265-1_2
Dubnewick, M., Lessard, S., Clandinin, D. J., & McHugh, T.-L. (2019). A narrative inquiry into becoming attentive to relational ethics in recreation practice. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(5), 636–649. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1591494
Evans, C., Evans, K., Booth, A., Timmons, S., Jones, N., Nazmeen, B., Sunney, C., Clowes, M., Clancy, G., & Spiby, H. (2022). Realist inquiry into Maternity care @ a Distance (ARM@DA): Realist review protocol. BMJ Open, 12(9). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062106
Frade, A. I. A., Pinto, V. M., & D’espiney, L. (2024). Narrative inquiry as a nursing research methodology: Reflection on ethical issues. Onco.News, 48. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.31877/on.2024.48.01
Gallagher, K. M. (2017). Anthropology, the military, and the risks of ethical inertia. Human Organization, 76(2), 150–159. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.17730/0018-7259.76.2.150
Glavan, M., & Ferreira, R. (2024). Extended Abstract: Bridging Deep Tech Ethics, Community Literacy, and Computer Science Education. IEEE Int Prof Commun Conf, 236–237. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1109/ProComm61427.2024.00053
Gorman, R., & Farsides, B. (2022). Writing the worlds of genomic medicine: Experiences of using participatory-writing to understand life with rare conditions. Medical Humanities, 48(2), E4. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2021-012346
Gümü?ok, F. (2021). Looking back with pride-looking forward in hope: The narratives of a transformative teacher. Dalam Professional Learning and Identities in Teach.: International Narratives of Success. Teachers (hlm. 106–122). Taylor and Francis; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003028451-7
Hunter, K., & Cook, C. (2020). Indigenous nurses’ practice realities of cultural safety and socioethical nursing. Nursing Ethics, 27(6), 1472–1483. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733020940376
Jean Clandinin, D. (2019). Journeys in narrative inquiry: The selected works of D. Jean Clandinin. Dalam Journeys in Narrative Inquiry: The Selected Works of D. Jean Clandinin (hlm. 334). Taylor and Francis; Scopus. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429273896
Kelly, A. M., & Mullan, P. B. (2018). Teaching and Assessing Professionalism in Radiology: Resources and Scholarly Opportunities to Contribute to Required Expectations. Academic Radiology, 25(5), 599–609. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2018.01.008
Lande, D. R. (2023). Unreliable Vaults, Holy Disbelief: Narrative Ethics in Dead Sea Scrolls "News. Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 11(3), 331–361. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1163/21659214-bja10059
Lane, J., Robinson, S., Bowen, A., Rattigan, D., & Moses, B. (2020). Post-hurricane schooling in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and an adapted hierarchy of needs. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 20(8), 46–55. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.33423/jhetp.v20i8.3228
MacDonald, J., Liu, J., Roy, S., Dennis, J., Rothschuh, S., & Simmons, M. (2021). Toward engaging difference in a globalized world. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 16, 273–290. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.28945/4742
Marsh, W., Robinson, A., Shawe, J., & Gallagher, A. (2020). Removal of babies at birth and the moral distress of midwives. Nursing Ethics, 27(4), 1103–1114. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733019874503
Nazari, M., Nejadghanbar, H., & Hu, G. (2024). An activity theory inquiry into emotional vulnerability and professional identity construction of language teacher educators. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2024.2354350
Nolan, S., Hendricks, J., Williamson, M., & Ferguson, S. (2018). Social networking sites (SNS) as a tool for midwives to enhance social capital for adolescent mothers. Midwifery, 62, 119–127. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2018.03.022
Pajakoski, E., Leino-Kilpi, H., Stolt, M., ?artolovni, A., & Suhonen, R. (2024). Nurses’ justifications for morally courageous acts in ethical conflicts: A narrative inquiry. Nursing Ethics. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330241284357
Passos dos Santos, R., Tatsch Neves, E., & Carnevale, F. (2019). The moral experiences of pediatric nurses in Brazil: Engagement and relationships. Nursing Ethics, 26(5), 1566–1578. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733017753744
Pifarre, J., Esquerda, M., Torralba, F., Bátiz, J., & Bofarull, M. (2024). Persons with mental disorders and assisted dying practices in Spain: In response to Ramos et al. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 94. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2024.101980
Pillay, A. (2017). How teachers of english in South African schools recognise their change agency. South African Journal of Education, 37(3). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v37n3a1296
Pullman, D. (2022). Slow motion ethics: Narrative responsibility in clinical care. Clinical Ethics, 17(1), 105–109. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1177/14777509211057253
Remein, C. D., Childs, E., Pasco, J. C., Trinquart, L., Flynn, D. B., Wingerter, S. L., Bhasin, R. M., Demers, L. B., & Benjamin, E. J. (2020). Content and outcomes of narrative medicine programmes: A systematic review of the literature through 2019. BMJ Open, 10(1). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031568
Rondeau-Lutz, M., & Weber, J.-C. (2017). The Absent Interpreter in Administrative Detention Center Medical Units. Health Care Analysis, 25(1), 34–51. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-014-0285-4
Wailoo, K. (2022). Patients Are Humans Too: The Emergence of Medical Humanities. Daedalus, 151(3), 194–205. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01938
Woodman, J., & Way, S. (2020). A qualitative study exploring women’s experiences of conversations with maternity professionals when home birth is not recommended. Evidence Based Midwifery, 18(3), 5–12. Scopus.
Yamagata-Lynch, L. C., Garty, E. R., Hostetter, S. T., & Lunga, M. L. (2022). Grappling with professional ethics in instructional technology by participating in an online service-learning course. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 34(1), 189–210. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-021-09288-w
Zasiekina, L., Pastryk, T., Kozihora, M., Fedotova, T., & Zasiekin, S. (2021). Cognition, Emotions, and Language in Front-Line Healthcare Workers: Clinical and Ethical Implications for Assessment Measures*. Psycholinguistics, 30(1), 8–25. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.31470/2309-1797-2021-30-1-8-25
Authors
Copyright (c) 2025 Aditi Verma, Karan Singh, Meera Gupta

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.