Identifying your
personal ethics
I want to start my discussion around ethics with a video of one of the most ethical young men I've seen. Jake was head boy at Christchurch Boys' High School in 2015 and was diagnosed with cancer a week before he was to give final speech. Remarkably he was allowed out for the event and delivered his speech from his wheel chair. He admonished his fellow students to live life to the full and to stand strong with the same sense of morality that had been endorsed at Boys' High. For me this is a wonderful example of what can happen when education works and the values that we want to see passed on through the generations come to the fore. Whilst obviously school can't take all the glory for this remarkable young man, what is evident in his speech was that he was surrounded by educators and mentors who gave damn ... so please watch Jake's inspirational speech and see what he says about approaching life ethically
Ethics are the foundation upon which we live and practice. Everything we think say or do has ethics at its core as the driving motivation. Identifying our personal ethics allows us to understand what drives and motivates us to respond to situations in certain ways.In our professional our ethics provide guidance in each situation of what we can and can't do. Often ethics are not black and white, they are shades of grey. Laws or a Code will not always provide the specific answer but can be a legal ground upon which you can move towards a possible solution.
Understanding Professional Ethics
Identifying and understanding your professional ethics is part of the journey of your professional development and at times prescribes exactly what you can and cannot do.
Ethical dilemma
“Teacher Ethics- Social Media Dilemma”
I watched this and thought it the dilemma was somewhat obvious. I am very careful about what I out on my own personal social media
All of the above I have seen other friends post on social media, some I have un-followed for this very reason ... but as "the adults" in the situation I do find it interesting what some people deem as appropriate - do they seriously not realise the internet's accessibility?
I watched this and thought it the dilemma was somewhat obvious. I am very careful about what I out on my own personal social media
- Never putting grumpy reactions to a work situation - best dealt with the person in question (somewhat obviously again!)
- Never putting things that could be misconstrued - political reactions etc etc
- Never putting up things that could be embarrassing if a future boss ( or child of mine ) were to view it
- Never putting up "stuff" that might call into question my sense of judgement for whatever reason - and although I realise we all have different standards for this one, I do think somethings really go without saying
All of the above I have seen other friends post on social media, some I have un-followed for this very reason ... but as "the adults" in the situation I do find it interesting what some people deem as appropriate - do they seriously not realise the internet's accessibility?
A Code of Ethics is one way an organisation can set the limits for minimum behaviours in their profession or organisation.
A dilemma I encountered recently was when I was I was talking to a colleague who told me she had sworn back at a student in response to that student's initial cuss. I raised concerns especially with reference to the recent Vulnerable Children's Act about the ethics surrounding this incident which she said was to gain mana with the student. For myself, again I would ask "Who is the adult in the situation?" And what do we, as professionals, hold as adequate standards to be role models for our tamariki. There must be other ways with teens in our care to gain respect as opposed to swearing at them. As a new RTLB I don't feel I have any authority to say anything more into this situation and as another much more highly experienced colleague was there I left the conversation without saying anything further!
The ethical issues I see most commonly arising in our group of RTLB teachers are those of informed consent and privacy. The key stakeholders in these areas are the children we are working with and their whanau. With many children being referred to our service when a need outside the realms of the normal classroom management occurs, the whanau are always concerned that the privacy of their children is respected - as they should be. For many children they have already been labelled as "the naughty child" anyway, their whanau do not want this further highlighted by everyone knowing a specialist teacher is working with them. Small details add to the confidence the whanau can have in us such as
Making sure that all i-s are dotted and t-s crossed can, at times, be arduous and there are very specific procedures and processes we as RTLBs need to work through, but we need to remember that these are all in place to keep both ourselves and our clientele safe ... you can't do much to help the next generation if you have lost your position through some foolhardy errors of judgement.
Reference
A dilemma I encountered recently was when I was I was talking to a colleague who told me she had sworn back at a student in response to that student's initial cuss. I raised concerns especially with reference to the recent Vulnerable Children's Act about the ethics surrounding this incident which she said was to gain mana with the student. For myself, again I would ask "Who is the adult in the situation?" And what do we, as professionals, hold as adequate standards to be role models for our tamariki. There must be other ways with teens in our care to gain respect as opposed to swearing at them. As a new RTLB I don't feel I have any authority to say anything more into this situation and as another much more highly experienced colleague was there I left the conversation without saying anything further!
The ethical issues I see most commonly arising in our group of RTLB teachers are those of informed consent and privacy. The key stakeholders in these areas are the children we are working with and their whanau. With many children being referred to our service when a need outside the realms of the normal classroom management occurs, the whanau are always concerned that the privacy of their children is respected - as they should be. For many children they have already been labelled as "the naughty child" anyway, their whanau do not want this further highlighted by everyone knowing a specialist teacher is working with them. Small details add to the confidence the whanau can have in us such as
- Not leaving named files where they can be seen in a car when parked
- Marking a child as xxxxx when sharing information with other RTLBs to discuss points of an intervention
- Using discretion when talking with teachers other than the child's teacher in the school they are in
- Never discussing cases outside of the sphere of service as the aspects of the child may name them even if they themselves are not named
Making sure that all i-s are dotted and t-s crossed can, at times, be arduous and there are very specific procedures and processes we as RTLBs need to work through, but we need to remember that these are all in place to keep both ourselves and our clientele safe ... you can't do much to help the next generation if you have lost your position through some foolhardy errors of judgement.
Collste, G.(2012). Applied and professional ethics. Kemanusiaan,19(1), 17–33
Education Council. (nd). Code of Ethics for Certificated Teachers. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0
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
- Ministry of Education. (2015). Digital technology- Safe and responsible use in school. Retrieved fromhttp://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/School/Managing-and-supporting-students/DigitalTechnologySafeAndResponsibleUseInSchs.pdf: This is a guideline from Ministry of Education to help school understand and ensure safe and responsible use of digital technology.
So what do you see as some of the biggest ethical dilemma's for RTLB?
ReplyDeleteConfidentiality? Informed consent? Managing situations where you see students badly treated by teachers? Erika Locke
One of the issues I had to learn to deal with early on in my work as an RTLB was the 'corridor conversation'. These conversations have no minutes, no records, are easily overheard and will always come back to sting like a scorpions tail. I usually cover this now in my entry meetings so that people I work with understand that in the corridor we can have social conversations but not professional conversations about casework.
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