Week 28:Legal and ethical contexts in my digital practice

CISC 8100

Week 28 – Activity 4: Legal and ethical contexts in my digital practice

Task: Create a reflective entry where you first identify an ethical dilemma that you either have faced or might face in the future, in your own practice that is linked to digital or online access or activity.

Rolfe et al.’s (2001) model

My ethical dilemma relates directly to Halls (2001) paper which refers to the blurring of the socialization roles of families and schools.

Step 1 (What): 

The dilemma I have been faced with and will no doubt continue to face in the future is friend requests from students, parents and some colleagues whose use of this platform blur the personal and professions boundaries in electronic communication.

Step 2. (So What?)                 

The background to my ethical dilemma is being Facebook friends with people whose use of the platform in my opinion breeches Our Code, Our Standards | Education Council (2018).

After reading comments by parents and colleagues about students, parents or principals they were having issues with, the dilemma I faced was that others may think I agree by association.

With students old enough to be on Facebook I believe a teacher can leave themselves open to a variety of accusations or being in breach of our code by unwillingly be party to cyber bullying causing mental health issues.

Our Code Our Standards | Education Council (2018) clarified my thoughts through three areas of code PONO: showing integrity by acting in ways that are fair, honest, ethical and just. MANAAKITANGA: creating a welcoming, caring and creative learning environment that treats everyone with respect and dignity and WHANAUNGATANGA: engaging in positive and collaborative relationships with our learners, their families and whanau, our colleagues and the wider community.p2.

I felt anything denigrating the work of educators or students should not be aired on any social media platform. There are always times where issues arise and are not always to the liking of everyone involved. Our first teaching standard is commitment to the teaching profession and the first aspect of how this is defined talks about maintaining public trust and confidence. P10.

When anyone is discussed in a derogatory way on a platform such as Facebook, trust in them to maintain respect and integrity lessens. When others add their opinion and the thread continues it can get out of hand. When this continues I believe it breeches 1-6 of our teacher’s standards. This led me to believe if I kept an association with people acting in this way it would not be ethical in my position. I chose the following courses of action.

Students: All requests from students I work with are ignored as they are legally too young to be on the platform and above anything else I believe accepting such a request says I agree with this illegal activity which for me is an ethical no. Morally it could put me in a moral and ethical dilemma by association to any comments they make.

Parents: Parents friend requesting are usually of children I have taught and developed a positive relationship with. Sometimes their older children have been in sports teams with my own daughter, now Year 9.

Colleagues: Colleagues who are loose with their personal comments about work, the profession or students past or present are deleted if already friends. The thread is deleted if it has come to my attention through someone else’s newsfeed onto mine. While I respect it is difficult to have collegial discussions when we are so time poor we cannot have them on social media.

Step 3: Now What?

While my solutions may appear severe I believe they are a safe option to maintaining my integrity and integrity of those on my Facebook and abiding by the code and principles and upholding the integrity of any school I work in. As a collective teachers do need to think about their digital footprint and possible repercussions of their actions. The broader issues or possible escalations of my dilemmas touched on include; cyber bullying, defamation and the mental health and wellbeing of educators, parents and children. Our code and standards can be interpreted to mean we have to protect all involved and maintain our professional and I believe personal integrity.

References:

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D. and Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Hall, A. (2001).What ought I to do, all things considered? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers. Paper presented at the IIPE Conference, Brisbane. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Developing-leaders/What-Ought-I-to-Do-All-Things-Considered-An-Approach-to-the-Exploration-of-Ethical-Problems-by-Teachers

Our Code, Our Standards | Education Council. (2018). Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/our-code-our-standards