Activity 4 – An ethical dilemma
I will be using the reflective model of Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D and Jasper, M (2001). To critique and guide my ethical dilema I will use the framework by Ehrich, L. C., Kimber M., Millwater, J & Cranston, N (2011).
Step 1: What
The students in my class now have email addresses. Some of the students have shared their email addresses with each other and one person had been sent emails which were mean spirited and nasty, this upset the student concerned. She was being bullied online and through these nasty interactions and she was understandably upset and wasn’t enjoying school. As the teacher I had an ethical and moral responsibility to ensure that the bullying or more specifically ‘cyberbullying’ would not reoccur as this leads to low self esteem and the student feeling ‘unsafe’. The Code of Ethics documented by the Minstry of Education (2017) state that the behaviour of young people tend to blend the offline on online bullying experiences. It was a time for me to reflect on my practice as this affected the students involved, the parents, the syndicate teachers and senior leadership team as well.
Step 2:
The conflicting nature of this situation can really harm the dynamics of the classroom and I have a duty of care to ensure that this type of behaviour does not happened again. As stated by Ehrich et al. (2011) “Simply put then, an ethical dilemma, arises from a situation that necessitates a choice among competing sets of principles, values, beliefs, perspectives (p. 1).
Professional ethics:
The students had been properly informed of how to use technology in a responsible nature however this did not prevent cyberbullying incident from occuring. It was extremely important to mediate the situation and ensure that the children are able to restore their friendships and work relationships, and make sure that this did not occur again.
Society and community: When an incident of cyberbullying occurs the issue was addressed. First and foremost the Team Leader and senior leadership team need to be informed. It is important to ensure that syndicate teachers are aware of what has taken place as this maybe happening in other classrooms around the school. Whanau members would need to be informed to monitor any activity at home. The Code of Ethics documented by the Minstry of Education (2017) have outlined that whanau and the wider community have an understanding that teachers will keep their children safe.
Legal issues and policies
It is important to realise that we as teachers are not able to access any of the students digital acounts or ask for passwords. If a student does experience cyber-bullying the students must fell safe enough to inform their teacher. According to the Minstry of Education (2015), Only New Zealand Police are able to search for search for digital information.
Step 3: Now What?
A. The children involved in the incident were not be able to use the digital devices for a period of time as that was an established classroom norm.
B. Report the incident to senior management to seek advice and then proceed with the correct consequences. Also inform the whanau about the cyber-bullying incident.
C. A class discussion about cyberbullying. Discussion around perventing this and knowing what to do if cyberbullying happens to them or someone that they know. Rebuilding group norms, the students know the consequences of their actions.
It was important that all the children are able to learn from the incident and restored their friendships with one another. The classroom discussion around cyberbullying will reinforced the guidelines of a zero tolerance policy that we have around ‘cyberbullying’ at the school. As stated in the The Code of Ethics documented by the Minstry of Education (2017). “We as teachers are promoting the wellbeing of learners and protecting them from harm”.
References
Education Council. (2017). Our Code Our Standards.Retrieved from: https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Our%20Code%20Our%20Standards%20web%20booklet%20FINAL.pdf
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. (2015).DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Safe and responsible use in schools. Wellington: New Zealand: Author. Retrieved from https://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/School/Managing-and-supporting-students/DigitalTechnologySafeAndResponsibleUseInSchs.pdf
Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D. and Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a users guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmilian.
