Influences of Law and Ethics in Practice.

what is ethics? It is the rules of conduct recognized in respect toa particular class of human actions
or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics. It is the moral principles, as of an individual: http://www.dictionary.com/

 It is here that the conundrum starts. Our code and standards clearly state" We have agreed to uphold high standards of ethical behaviour.... If one of us breaches the code, it can affect us all, changing how others see us and how the profession is valued. (2005)








I am going to use Elrich, Kimber, Millwater & Cranston model(211, p.178) To analyze my ethical dilemma. 






The critical incident:
One morning it was brought to my attention that one of the girls in my class was being bullied by another classmate through Musically.
Here was my first dilemma do I ignore because it is out of school time and let the parents sort it out? Or should I act? 

I chose to act and I followed our school procedure which was to inform the principal straight away.

He then called each student into his office separately, to get the full story. Both parents were contacted and were very supportive of the school. We found that one of the girls had used a pseudonym but that this popped up when she logged on. She argued that her account must have been hacked. She then deleted comments, there and then.
Both parents were contacted again and the child with the hacked account closed her account at the parent's request. Both students were then brought into the principal's office for a meeting and a reinforcement around being a digital citizen and also around our school values and rules.

 The Education Act 1989 states that teachers have certain powers if digital technology endangers the emotional or physical safety of other students, or is detrimentally affecting the learning environment. This is why we chose to act so quickly and not let the situation intensify.

All parties left with their mana intact. With relation to the code of professional responsibility. 2. Commitment to the learner by 1. promoting the well-being of the learners and protecting them from harm, Mana Wairua. As both students were both victims it was important not to cast blame but support both. 

Our code also states 4. Commitment to society by fostering learners to be active participants in community life and engaging in issues important to the well-being of society. This whole issue was a very important lesson as it highlights the fact that sometimes the attacker can be faceless. With permission from the students, as a class, we discussed the situation and the students talked about possible outcomes. We also followed up the incident with sessions on cybersafety with Life education trust and Harold.


References:
Ehrich, L. C., Kimber M., Millwater, J. & Cranston, N. (2011). Ethical dilemmas: a model to understand teacher practice, Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 17:2, 173-185, DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2011.539794

Ministry of Education (2010) Tū Rangatira, Māori medium educational leadership. 

Ministry of Education (2014) The Vulnerable Children’s Act : A practical guide for Early Childhood Services, Nga Kohanga Reo, Playgroups, Schools and Kura. Retrieved from: http://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/VCAPracticalGuide.pdf

Netsafe (2016) Harmful digital communications in schools Retrieved from:
https://www.netsafe.org.nz/tag/harmful-digital-communications/

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001) Critical Reflection Model. Retrieved from: https://my.cumbria.ac.uk/media/MyCumbria/Documents/ReflectiveModelRolfe.pdf




Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 10, 2018 at 10:09 PM

    Thanks for sharing your ideas Colleen. Yes I too believe that you did the right thing by acting swiftly. There are so many apps these days that allow our students to interact without being face-to-face and therefore many say things that they would not say directly to the person. By sharing this with the class your students all have learnt a valuable lesson about cyber bullying and also about protecting their security settings.

    On the issue of protecting our security and how the identity of others on the internet can be faceless there was a very good youtube clip that helped students understand about privacy within social media. Although it has been around for a while now it might be something that you could use with your students.

    It is called jigsaw for 8-10 year olds
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o8auwnJtqE

    ReplyDelete

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