As a registered teacher for the past 15 years I am attested yearly to ensure that I am upholding the expectations and guidelines in the Code of Ethics for certified teachers. Beyond this documentation I strive to meet all of these regulations not because we are expected to but more so because it is the right thing to do.
I pride myself on being a 'nurturer' to the students in my class and believe that by looking after the well being of my students that they will have more success with their learning and achievement. I believe without hesitation that teachers are hugely influential people in our students lives therefore it is imperative that we always act with their best interest at heart.
Times have changed swiftly over the last few decades and young people are dealing with new pressures that did not exist in their parents time. One of the major concerns these days is the accessibility that most young people have to devices. Whilst these devices have many positive attributes, issues such as cyberbullying, stalking, exclusion and suicide are more prevalent and on too many occasions
Cyberbullying is to blame.
In today's day and age people's interest in applied
ethics (where we ponder our own moral compass
and behaviour) has increased. Collste (2012) mentions the following three reasons for this increase.
1: The rise of secularisation - Numbers attending church regularly have decreased over the last few decades. Where people once sought advice regarding moral issues from the church they are now having to be a lot more self reflective.
2: New Technology. The personal experience I will be discussing for this blog entry pertains to new technological apps such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and the impact that these apps had on some of the students in my class this year.
Collste (2012) refers to our inability to know how to handle new situations as 'Policy Vacuums'. Dealing with these issues in 2015 has definitely been a new experience as technology continues to advance at swift rates. I had to rely on my own moral compass to deal with this issue.
3: With more people in the world actively seeking ways to bring about social justice the need for applied ethics is more prevalent. One only needs to read the paper to see people around the world campaigning for change. Some of the topical issues around this for 2015 are the Syrian refugee crisis, global warming and dealing with ISIS.
Last term I discovered that two of my students were involved with sending inappropriate messages and pictures to each other and regarding other classmates via Snapchat. Our school made the move to 1-1 devices this year and we modified our BYOD agreement document to ensure everyone knew the expectations of this move to ensure everyone acted ethically and was safe. This document went home with all students on day 1 and they were not allowed to access any devices until it had been returned to school. This document alone is a godsend as teachers are able to refer to it when teaching our students about being effective digital citizens.
One lunchtime one of my boys came to me distressed because one of the perpetrators had told him that the other had been saying very nasty things about him on social media. This resulted in him getting his sister in the next year level to deal to the other student. Unfortunately after more investigation it emerged that the tittle tattler had actually been writing inappropriate messages and was stirring the pot amongst these kids. One dilemma I had was that I was not familiar with how to use Snapchat and Instagram so fortunately I was able to get my teacher aides to assist. Being able to refer to the BYOD agreement doc and the children knowing that this was black and white ensured that I was able to get screenshots of all of the messages between these students. I was horrified to see the content of these messages that was being exchanged after school hours but was having a flow on effect during school time. I was torn with how to alert the whanau of the students involved as I knew they would be gobsmacked at seeing the content of the messages. I was able to put on my parent hat and use this moral compass to guide me by podering 'if that was my child, how would I want this to be dealt with. As a teacher and parent I would have to say this moral compass is extremely reliable and genuinely right. The emails and phone calls I had to make to the children's families were not comfortable but by leading in with "As a parent I would want to know' ensured that the whanau knew I was coming from a good place. I was also able to open up the discussion with the whole class as I believe in being totally upfront with the kids regarding my expectations and consequences. Once again putting on my parent that enabled me to send a clear message to my class that I always have their best interests at heart and that if my children were dealing with problems of this nature that I would hope others would step in and support them.
Ask any teacher and they will say teaching is definitely not a 9-3pm job and long after the 3pm bell goes we are still thinking about the well being of our students. I believe all good teachers are reflective practitioners and our job expects us to always act ethically as outlined in the Code of Ethics.
The key Code of Ethics that I focused on during this situation were...
- Commitment to my learners
- Commitment to my whanau
- Commitemnt to society
References
Cinelearning (2014, June 7). Teacher Ethics Video - Social Media Dilemma HD.[video file] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGQbLSEPN5w
Cinelearning (2014, June 7).Teacher Ethics Video - Ride Dilemma HD. [video file].Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0UEFSmxkbg
Collste, G.(2012) Applied and professional ethics. Kemanusiaan,.19(1), 17–33.
Education Council (nd). The Education Council Code of Ethics for Certficated Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0
New Zealand Teachers Council. (2015). Teachers & Social Media . Retrieved from http://www.teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz
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