#2 Ethical Action Plan Revision

Aspect	Strategy
Consent	Written and verbal consent obtained in advance; withdrawal possible anytime
Anonymity	All student data anonymised; pseudonyms used if needed
Data Security	Stored on password-protected OneDrive; deleted after 12 months
Accessibility	Guided by UAL Disability Inclusion Toolkit; adjustments provided
Reciprocity	Students’ insights inform future practice; collaborative reflection encouraged
Risk Management	Site information, debriefing, and adherence to UAL safety procedures

1. Ethical Overview

This project adopts a reflexive and participatory ethical framework informed by decolonial and feminist research ethics. It recognises that research is not a neutral act but one shaped by power, positionality, and institutional structures. Ethical practice therefore extends beyond procedural compliance, encompassing relational accountability, respect, and care throughout the research process.

The Action Research Project (ARP) involves a single, structured archive visit undertaken with a small group of graphic design students. The visit will serve as both a pedagogical intervention and a site for data collection through anonymised student reflections and researcher field notes. The focus will be on understanding how engaging with a counter-archive can expand students’ critical awareness of knowledge systems in design.

2. Ethical Principles

The project will be guided by the following ethical principles:

• Informed Consent: Participants will receive clear written and verbal information outlining the purpose, scope, and voluntary nature of the research. Consent will be obtained prior to participation, with opportunities to withdraw at any stage without penalty.
• Anonymity and Confidentiality: All student reflections will be anonymised at the point of collection. No identifying details (e.g. names, student numbers) will appear in transcripts, reports, or final submissions. Pseudonyms may be used where necessary.
• Non-Extractive and Reciprocal Practice: The research aims to benefit participants through shared learning rather than extractive data collection. Findings will be discussed collectively, and students’ insights will inform future iterations of the project.
• Cultural Sensitivity and Positionality: The archive will be approached as a living cultural site rather than a neutral repository. Care will be taken to acknowledge the social, political, and historical contexts of materials encountered, avoiding appropriation or misrepresentation.
• Accessibility and Inclusion: The activity will be planned in accordance with the UAL Disability Inclusion Toolkit (Planning Academic Visits) to ensure equitable participation. Accessibility requirements (physical, sensory, or otherwise) will be discussed in advance, and reasonable adjustments made where needed.

3. Data Collection Method

The primary data collection method will be student reflections, written or verbal, collected shortly after the archive visit. These reflections will be guided by open prompts that invite students to describe:

• their experience of engaging with the archive,
• how it influenced their understanding of design knowledge,
• any challenges or insights that emerged.

The reflections will be submitted via a secure online platform or in anonymised handwritten form, depending on accessibility preferences. The researcher will also maintain field notes to capture contextual observations, group discussions, and emergent themes during the visit.

4. Data Protection and Storage

All collected data will be stored securely in accordance with UAL’s Research Ethics and Data Protection Policy and the UK GDPR.

• Digital files (student reflections, field notes, consent forms) will be stored on password-protected UAL OneDrive folders accessible only to the researcher.
• Physical materials (e.g. handwritten notes) will be kept in a locked cabinet and digitised where appropriate.
• Data will be retained for the duration of the PgCert programme and securely deleted within 12 months of project completion.
• No data will be shared with third parties or used for publication without explicit consent.

5. Risk and Mitigation

A brief risk assessment will be conducted prior to the archive visit, in consultation with the Programme Lead and institutional guidelines. Anticipated risks include accessibility barriers, emotional discomfort when engaging with sensitive archival content, or logistical challenges related to travel and participation. Mitigation measures will include:

• Providing detailed information about the archive’s environment and content in advance.
• Ensuring a supportive group dynamic, with space for debriefing and reflection.
• Adhering to institutional health and safety protocols for off-site visits.
• Offering alternative participation options (e.g. remote or asynchronous engagement) for students unable to attend in person.

6. Researcher Reflexivity

The researcher will maintain a reflective journal to document ethical decision-making, emotional responses, and emergent questions during the process. This reflexivity is central to the project’s decolonial orientation, ensuring ongoing awareness of power relations and positionality. Reflexive insights will inform both the analysis and the articulation of “next steps” in subsequent cycles of research.

The following section presents a refined version of the Ethical Action Plan, reformatted in accordance with the PgCert ethics form structure while maintaining the original project’s conceptual and methodological integrity.

1. What is the working title of your project? Also write a few sentences about the focus of your project.

Expanding Knowledge Systems in Graphic Design Pedagogy through Counter-Archival Encounters

This project investigates how engaging students with a single counter-archive can challenge the Eurocentric structures that dominate graphic design education. It explores how a visit to one local community or independent archive can introduce decolonial perspectives, expand students’ understanding of research, and prompt critical reflection on what counts as design knowledge. The research uses an Action Research framework to observe how direct engagement with non-institutional archives can reshape research habits and knowledge systems in design pedagogy.

2. What sources will you read or reference? Share 5 to 10.

• Derrida, Jacques. Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression. Translated by Eric Prenowitz, University of Chicago Press, 1995. 
• Didi-Huberman, Georges. Images in Spite of All: Four Photographs from Auschwitz. University of Chicago Press, 2012. 
• Rose, Gillian. Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials. 4th ed., Sage, 2016. 
• Gubrium, Aline, and Krista Harper. “Participatory Digital Research Ethics.” Participatory Visual and Digital Methods. Left Coast Press, 2013, pp. 45–69. 
• On the Notion of Counter Archive.” ICI Berlin Repository, ICI Berlin, 29 Apr. 2021, oa.ici-berlin.org/repository/doi/10.25620/e210429_07. Accessed 28 Sept. 2025. 
• Caswell, Michelle, and Marika Cifor. “From Human Rights to Feminist Ethics: Radical Empathy in the Archives.” Archivaria, vol. 81, 2016, pp. 23–43. 
• Ludovico, Alessandro. “Chapter 3: Activist Post-Truth Publishing.” Using Senses, Software, and Archives in the Twenty-First Century, Tactical Publishing, 2024, pp. 93–128. 
• Abdulla, Danah. Design Otherwise: A Decolonial Design Research PhD. 2019, www.dabdulla.com/Design-Otherwise-PhD-research. Accessed 28 Sept. 2025. 
• Escobar, Arturo. Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence, Autonomy, and the Making of Worlds. Duke UP, 2018.

3. What action(s) are you planning to take, and are they realistic in the time you have (Sept–Dec)?

The project will focus on a single, structured archive visit day with students, supported by guided reflection and analysis.
Planned actions include:

• Conducting a focused literature review on counter-archives and decolonial design pedagogy.
• Coordinating one field visit to a selected archive (the Living Refugee Archive and Asymmetry Art Foundation).
• Facilitating reflective exercises immediately following the visit, where students record their thoughts and responses to the materials encountered.
• Collecting anonymised student reflections and researcher field notes as the primary data set.
• Analysing this data to identify how the experience shaped students’ understanding of knowledge systems in design.

This narrower scope is achievable within the given timeframe (September–December 2025) while allowing depth of engagement and ethical clarity.

4. Who will be involved, and in what way?

(Note: if any participants are under 18, seek further advice from your tutor.)

• Graduate Diploma and MA Design Students (18+) – Primary participants who will take part in the archive visit and submit anonymised written or verbal reflections about their learning experience.
• Course Leader and Colleagues – Provide pedagogical guidance, support ethics procedures, and contribute to reflective discussions.
• Archivist or Community Partner – Offers contextual insight into the archive and its history; their contributions will be acknowledged respectfully and with consent.

All participants will be adults. The research will be participatory and non-extractive, ensuring that community partners’ intellectual and cultural labour is properly recognised.

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

Potential risks:

• Travel and navigation during the off-site visit.
• Accessibility barriers (physical access, environmental conditions).
• Emotional discomfort when engaging with sensitive or traumatic archival material (e.g. relating to migration, displacement, or colonial histories).

Preparation and mitigation:

• A risk assessment will be completed in line with UAL’s Health and Safety guidance before the visit.
• Accessibility needs will be reviewed in advance, following the UAL Disability Inclusion Toolkit (Planning Academic Visits) to ensure equitable participation.
• Students will receive a pre-visit briefing about site conditions, content sensitivity, and support resources.
• Debrief and group reflection sessions will follow the visit to support emotional wellbeing.

6. How will you manage and protect any physical and/or digital data you collect, including the data of people involved

BERA Guidelines 2024: Consent
BERA Guidelines 2024: Privacy & Data Storage

Data collected:

• Anonymised student reflections (written or audio).
• Researcher field notes from the archive visit.

Data protection measures:

• Informed consent obtained from all participants before data collection.
• All data anonymised at the point of transcription; pseudonyms used if needed.
• Digital data stored on password-protected UAL OneDrive folders accessible only to the researcher.
• Physical notes stored securely and destroyed after digitisation.
• Data retained for the duration of the PgCert and deleted within 12 months of project completion.
• Sensitive or personal information will not be shared outside the project without explicit permission.

7. How will you take ethics into account in your project for participants and/or yourself

BERA Guidelines 2024: Responsibilities to Participants
BERA Guidelines 2024: Responsibilities to Sponsors
BERA Guidelines 2024: Responsibilities for Wellbeing
(See also: “Emotionally Demanding Research” PDF on Moodle.)

Ethical practice will be embedded throughout the project, guided by decolonial, participatory, and feminist ethics frameworks:

• Informed Consent and Autonomy – Participants will receive clear information about the project aims and their right to withdraw at any time without consequence.
• Anonymity and Respect – Reflections will be anonymised; archivists and community contributors will be credited appropriately and only with consent.
• Wellbeing and Emotional Safety – The researcher will remain alert to the emotional demands of engaging with sensitive materials. Debriefing sessions, group reflections, and signposting to UAL wellbeing services will be provided as needed.
• Power Dynamics – As the researcher is also a lecturer, attention will be given to minimising power imbalance. Reflection activities will be framed as collaborative learning rather than assessment.
• Cultural Sensitivity and Reflexivity – Decolonial research requires self-awareness and care in handling cultural materials. The researcher will maintain a reflexive journal documenting positionality, ethical decisions, and emergent issues.

The project prioritises non-extractive and reciprocal research, ensuring that both students and community partners benefit from the shared learning process and that all engagements are grounded in respect and accountability.

The following Participant Information Sheet outlines the context, purpose, and ethical framework of the study, providing potential participants with a clear understanding of their involvement in the research.

The accompanying Participant Consent Form formalises voluntary participation, ensuring that contributors provide informed consent and understand how their data will be used, stored, and protected.