BLOG POST 5
WEEK 29
ETHICAL DILEMMA’S IN MY PRACTICE
The Oxford dictionary
defines ethics as moral principles
that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity. The Ethics Centre states that “Ethical
beliefs shape the way we live – what we do, what we make and the world we
create through our choices”. They also
state that “Ethics isn’t just an exercise for philosophers or
intellectuals. It is at the core of
everyday life.” We are given the ability
to think and to make choices of how to act in various situations, so in theory,
we constantly should be asking ourselves whether or not we are making ethical
choices. As professionals, this is paramount.
Ethics is about relationships and being true to ourselves and all that
we stand for. It is also about having
the courage to deal with difficult situations in such a way that we are
consistently checking that we are doing what we believe to be the right thing.
Social media is a part of my
everyday life these days. I am an avid
Facebook user and having travelled for a number of years, it is a very easy,
instant and free way to maintain contact with many of my friends and colleagues
from times gone by. It is also a very
good way of me keeping up with fresh teaching ideas and to be alerted to professional
readings and initiatives that might help me in my practice.
I can see the benefits of
using social media in the classroom. It
can immediately create an authentic audience for students and students can gain
feedback instantly from ‘friends’ all over the globe. It is also a very effective way of connecting
with parents and the wider community.
Our school currently has a Facebook page and it is used to celebrate
success and to give information. It
receives comments and occasionally questions from parents.
The ethical dilemma I see
that could easily happen is teachers becoming Facebook friends with students we
teach or their parents. When teachers,
or any professional for that matter, become connected with students or parents
on social media there could become a crossover between personal and
professional lives.
Some of the problems I see
that could arise becoming friends with our students/parents include blurring
the line of professionalism between the teacher and the learner and the
relationships between them, perception of
as favouritism, personal photos and information getting into the wrong
hands
Through sharing information
on Facebook, the circle of influence becomes wider so we need to become extra
careful of what posts we are liking and commenting in order to protect other
teachers as well as ourselves.
According to The Education Council Code of Ethics for Certified
Teachers (Education Council, n.d) Teachers have a
set of guidelines we must adhere to in order to maintain professional
integrity. If teachers were to become
friends on Facebook with their students I believe that they run the risk of
breaching the areas outlined including Commitment to learners (develop and
maintain relationships based upon the best interests of the learners),
Commitment to Parents/Guardians and
Family/Whanau: respect their privacy,
respect their rights to information about their children establish honest and
respectful relationships, Commitment to
society: teach and model those positive values which are widely accepted
in society, Commitment to the profession
advance the interests of the teaching profession through responsible ethical
practice.
I
believe that we as teachers need to have an understanding
of our digital footprint and in so doing, realise that we need to maintain our
professional responsibility to our schools as well as the wider
profession. We need to model
appropriate etiquette around social media and keep forever mindful of who we
are connecting with and what we are posting.
REFERENCES
Education Council. (n.d). The Education Council Code of
Ethics for Certificated
Teachers. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers
Oxford English living Dictionaries, definition
of ethics (2017), retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ethics
The Ethics Centre
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