Week 28 - Ethics, Regulations and Law

Although ethics are straightforward to define:

        “the moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour” (Shefali Roy 2017)

they may not always be applied, even overlooked. The media reports unethical banking and business dealings, but what are the implications in schools?

The Code of Standards for New Zealand Teachers ‘Our Code, Our Standards’ (2017) makes 7 references to the word ethics but offers no definition to inform teachers. Ethics are fundamentally a question of personal beliefs.

The ubiquitous world of social media is something that should be entered into with caution. Facebook pages can be a useful way to communicate with the wider school community. Parents who are less inclined to enter their children’s school building may be comfortable viewing posts online. Teachers may form relationships via e-mail or blogs informing parents about school projects and events. My school policy states:
“Staff may use social media as part of their role at school e.g. In classroom blogs, the school website and/or Facebook page and to communicate with members of the school community. The enthusiastic and appropriate use of social media at school encourages students to confidently use the technology and understands the issues involved.”

When is it possible to cross the line between a professional relationship and one of over familiarity? A recent newspaper article from the Siberian Times (June 2018) reported how a Ukrainian teacher has been sacked for posting what her school regarded as ‘inappropriate photographs’ of her modelling 1950s swimwear and was accused of ‘bringing her school and profession into disrepute’.

A school where I taught in the UK shut down its Facebook page following inflammatory comments towards a class teacher sparked by two ‘feuding’ parents. It is too easy to become embroiled in conversations which can damage a school’s and teacher's reputation. When should a school draw the line?

Ethics, however are not taught in schools. Research involving 5 year olds, clearly indicated these children had a sense of right and wrong and how their behaviour towards others could make them feel (PEEch research into early childhood: Michael D Burroughs) but often teachers choose to avoid or ignore such issues. When interviewing students aged 13-23 Kristen Smith (2011) found that in dealing with ethical matters, teachers tended to avoid controversy. 60% of the teachers, relied upon their own ethics or values to inform their interaction.
Models exist to help towards finding an acceptable solution to a problem involving ethics. The following model created by Ehrich et al (2011) is based upon past models and has been simplified to 5 basic considerations, guiding teachers towards dealing with ethical dilemmas.

• The critical incident, which triggers the ethical dilemma.
• Significant competing forces, each of which influences the decision making in its own right
• The individual’s own values, beliefs, and ethics relating to the dilemma.
• The possible choices to be made 1) action 2) action taken formally/ informally: internally/ externally or 3) ignore
• The possible implications for the individual, organisation and the community which could in turn create additional dilemmas

If I had make an ethical decision regarding the school Facebook page, I would also decide to take the page down by way of public interest but also hold an information meeting to explain why. The implications of publishing potentially libelous  comments would be reinforced by a Community Police Officer, thus addressing legal issues. We would eventually reinstate another social media site with all posts carefully moderated by a designated team. Thus the value of a social media site is retained, where appropriateness of material is key to supporting the ethics of all parties involved.


References:

Burroughs M. D.(4 April 2016) The Significance of Ethics & Ethics Education in Daily Life TEDx PSU Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8juebyo_Z4

Ehrich L.C., Kimber M., Millwater J. & Cranston N.(2011) Ethical Dilemmas: A Model to Understand Teacher Practice, Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice: Vol 17(2); pp 173-185
DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2011.539794

Ministry of Education. (2015). Digital Technology - Safe and responsible use in schools. Retrieved from http://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/School/Managing-and-supporting-students/DigitalTechnologySafeAndResponsibleUseInSchs.pdf

Ministry of Education (2017) Our Code, Our Standards: Code of professional responsibilities & standards for the teaching profession: Wellington:The Education Council

Roy S. (23 June 2017) Do Ethics Matter? TEDxOxbridge. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yesE4mcv4CM

Teacher fired in Omsk after posing in swimsuit as plus size model
By The Siberian Times Reporter (10 June 2018) Retrieved from: https://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/teacher-fired-in-omsk-after-posing-in-swimsuit-as-plus-size-model