Activity 5: Legal and ethical contexts in my digital practice
The NZ Code of ethics for registered teachers makes clear in its opening statement that the 'primary professional obligation
of certificated teachers is to those
they teach'. Moreover, under that heading the first ethic is to: 'develop and maintain professional relationships with learners based upon
the best interests of those learners.' Hall (2001) also points out that 'Teaching in schools has long been considered a moral activity (Wilson, 1967; Tom, 1984; Goodlad, Soder and Sirotnik, 1990) largely because it is recognized that how teachers fulfil their public duties influences the lives of vulnerable young people.'
As teachers we have a duty of care and responsibility to our students. Our relationships with them, must have their best interests at heart, must not endanger them physically, mentally or emotionally. We must also keep ourselves safe from any possibility that our actions in relation to our students might be seen in a less-than-professional light. Given that teaching is a relationship-centred profession we sometimes walk a tight rope between maintaining professional distance and building good teacher-student relationships. The ubiquitous use of digital communications and social media now make that tight rope even narrower.
The rise of social media, in particular, Facebook, has the potential to raise some ethical issues. Over the seven years that I have been teaching, I have often had senior students say 'Miss, we should be Facebook friends!', or 'You should follow me on Snapchat / Instagram.' My response is always 'Absolutely not!' Social media is a place to engage with friends; students are not friends. Students should not be a part of your personal life and should not be privy to your personal communications with adult friends. Depending on what you post, there is the possibility that students will see you behaving in an unprofessional manner. Even if you don't behave that way, being friends with your students on social media takes away that professional distance that must be maintained between teacher and student.
I remember an incident when I was in my first year of teaching, which was also the first year that I had a Facebook page. A teacher friend of mine, H, had a friend, K, at another school. K's daughter, M, though, attended our school and was in my class. I was Facebook friends with H, and H was Facebook friends. M managed to access my page by going through her mum's page, to H's page and then to mine. Now, I don't post anything that my own mum couldn't see, but I was still horrified that a student had managed to access my personal information that way. I immediately tightened my privacy settings and have kept them that way ever since.
Texting is another potential minefield. I give my cell phone number to students when we go on school trips or when we are arranging to meet at school for tutorial sessions or rehearsals and the like. There is a real danger here that students could try to text me as if I was one of their mates, and try to engage in social chitchat. If I were to respond to those types of messages I could put myself in a compromising situation, where my texts could be seen as unprofessional, crossing a line between teacher and student. Again, a student did try that in my first year of teaching. I made the mistake of responding a couple of times, but realised that was giving the wrong impression. I stopped responding and eventually the student stopped messaging me. In recent years, students with my number have used it only to contact me with regard to assessment work - when is it due, am I in my classroom now, they'll be late to the tutorial, that sort of thing.
The rise of social media, in particular, Facebook, has the potential to raise some ethical issues. Over the seven years that I have been teaching, I have often had senior students say 'Miss, we should be Facebook friends!', or 'You should follow me on Snapchat / Instagram.' My response is always 'Absolutely not!' Social media is a place to engage with friends; students are not friends. Students should not be a part of your personal life and should not be privy to your personal communications with adult friends. Depending on what you post, there is the possibility that students will see you behaving in an unprofessional manner. Even if you don't behave that way, being friends with your students on social media takes away that professional distance that must be maintained between teacher and student.
I remember an incident when I was in my first year of teaching, which was also the first year that I had a Facebook page. A teacher friend of mine, H, had a friend, K, at another school. K's daughter, M, though, attended our school and was in my class. I was Facebook friends with H, and H was Facebook friends. M managed to access my page by going through her mum's page, to H's page and then to mine. Now, I don't post anything that my own mum couldn't see, but I was still horrified that a student had managed to access my personal information that way. I immediately tightened my privacy settings and have kept them that way ever since.
Texting is another potential minefield. I give my cell phone number to students when we go on school trips or when we are arranging to meet at school for tutorial sessions or rehearsals and the like. There is a real danger here that students could try to text me as if I was one of their mates, and try to engage in social chitchat. If I were to respond to those types of messages I could put myself in a compromising situation, where my texts could be seen as unprofessional, crossing a line between teacher and student. Again, a student did try that in my first year of teaching. I made the mistake of responding a couple of times, but realised that was giving the wrong impression. I stopped responding and eventually the student stopped messaging me. In recent years, students with my number have used it only to contact me with regard to assessment work - when is it due, am I in my classroom now, they'll be late to the tutorial, that sort of thing.
I think one of the first things we should ask ourselves when communicating with our students is, what would we, as parents, think if a teacher communicated with our child in this way? Would our communications stand up to our own test for ethical behaviour?
References:
Connecticut’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Program.(2012) Ethical and Professional Dilemmas for Educator: Facilitator’s Guide. Retrieved from http://www.ctteam.org/df/resources/Module5_Manual.pdf
Education Council. (n.d). The Education Council Code of Ethics for Certificated Teachers. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-et...
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