Activity 4 - Week 28: Influence of Law & Ethics in Practice
Welcome back to part two of our Applied Practice in Context (CISC 8100). This week I will be discussing legal and ethical contexts in my digital practice. Jay and Johnson’s (2000) Reflective Model allows us to look at what is really happening. Unpacking this we identify the issues of law, regulations and policy through ethical teaching practices.
I feel ethical judgment cannot be left to one teacher unpacking all these values, especially when dealing with curly incidences that could lead to legal outcomes. Alternately, the ethical guidelines do work for most situations. The more serious instances do require at least a team of teachers to assist for judgment (see video below).
What I do not understand is the inequities in ethics and how they are bent to suit the needs as Campbell (1997; in Ehrich, Kimber, Millwater & Cranston, 2011) revealed: “... teachers have felt that administrators [management] required them to undertake actions that breached their professional ethics. This feeling contributed to ethical dilemmas for them as their professional ethics were in conflict with the expectation that they follow the orders of their supervisors.”
Willis (2013) highlights in the Daniel case study video below that not all decisions can be made single-handedly by one teacher. Especially when good relationships are damaged due when balancing a morally just decision based on legalities, integrity and care.
DESCRIPTIVE
Ehrich, Kimber, Millwater and Cranston (2011) believe that teacher workload is excessively value-laden making them more vulnerable to ethical dilemmas with a real grey area with boundaries, and perceptions. The Queensland College of Teachers [n.d.] utilises a formal framework categorising ethical teacher values as integrity, dignity, responsibility, respect, justice, and care. New Zealand registered teachers are governed by Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession with four values Whakamana, Manaakitanga, Pono, and Whanaungatanga that are very well defined.I feel ethical judgment cannot be left to one teacher unpacking all these values, especially when dealing with curly incidences that could lead to legal outcomes. Alternately, the ethical guidelines do work for most situations. The more serious instances do require at least a team of teachers to assist for judgment (see video below).
What I do not understand is the inequities in ethics and how they are bent to suit the needs as Campbell (1997; in Ehrich, Kimber, Millwater & Cranston, 2011) revealed: “... teachers have felt that administrators [management] required them to undertake actions that breached their professional ethics. This feeling contributed to ethical dilemmas for them as their professional ethics were in conflict with the expectation that they follow the orders of their supervisors.”
COMPARISON
The most controversial values, ‘care/manaakitanga,’ whether its grading of assessments, report comments, relationships or discipline, - must be dealt with great sensitivity and moral judgement.Willis (2013) highlights in the Daniel case study video below that not all decisions can be made single-handedly by one teacher. Especially when good relationships are damaged due when balancing a morally just decision based on legalities, integrity and care.
Click on image to play
As Dempster and Berry (2003; in Ehrich, Kimber, Millwater & Cranston, 2011) argued, the misuse of ICT in schools blurs the boundaries between discipline, relationships and care. For instance, I had one student repeatedly warned for playing online games during class. This is a touchy area for my students in Digital Technology, because a computer ban means they won’t be able to complete work. The computer contract clearly stipulates that an immediate ban will and must be given by teachers to students for off task behaviour. In addition, student computers are monitored by the IT technicians who instantly apply the computer ban for students. The first ban is two days, and the second ban is a six month ban.
REFLECTION
A few controversies prevailed banning students from the internet/computer. It affected trust, and relationships, but also academic success obstructing task completion. Students who ended up with the six month ban ended up failing subjects. Through consultation with our IT team last year, I was able to remove the computer ban and change it to an internet connectivity ban instead, so students could finish assessments. Every year students enter a computer contract which is not only presented in written format, but communicated by Deans, IT technicians, and Digital Technology teacher - myself. Finally, experience and perception is organic to the persons involved, and one person's view of moral and just is indifferent to the next man's standing. This is why I believe when it comes to making ethical decisions in practice, teachers must have a buddy or another professional to consult with.
ReplyDeleteWell said Carlene,
Over the last few years, I have found that teachers need to be more aware of the issues of law, regulations and policy and that they are met through ethical teaching practices. We are now finding that many of our students are coming to school with complex needs and are using social media or private emails to reach out to teachers to express themselves.
Having a safety net at school (whether SLT or colleagues) whom you could ask for advice, would be better, as legal ramifications could arise at any time if not dealt with correctly.
We had a similar situation where a student was given a final warning over a “poop” emoji. He was also told that a loss of privileges might occur if this was to ever happen again. What he could not understand was how an emoji meant a final warning, yet other students were given strategies to cope with their online behavior (nasty exchanging of words with other students outside of school hours). This student is aware of what it means to be a digital citizen and the responsibility that comes with learning in a Google chrome class. However, he could not understand was how an emoji far outweighed online bullying and how their behavior was measured differently from his.
I agree with the statement that teachers should consult with a peer when making an ethical decision in practice but I also believe you could exercise a bit of common sense too. Students trust teachers for the decisions they make however when they see how there could be inequality in the way dilemmas are handled there is a loss of trust in the learning relationship between teacher and student.
Hi Rose, thanks so much for your feedback. Its interesting to see how perception and guidelines differ. I have to agree with that student not understanding how a poo emoji has a stricter disciplinary action to something more serious such as online bullying. Its simple things like that where consultation from the team who created the digital citizenship contract should have picked up on something like that - where a simple teacher consultation (like the Daniel video) could have resolved that. For very, very straight forward decisions we would not want to be having meetings, however, I think we are wise enough to know when the red flags are appearing, and when to seek backup.
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