Week 28 - Influence of Law and Ethics in Practice

In my Week 28 post, I am going to use Rolfe, Freshwater, and Jasper’s (2001)
reflective model to address Influence of Law and Ethics in Practice. This takes the form of
three simple questions, “what”, “so what” and “now what”.

What?

As the use of technology in the classroom increases, we must become conscious of ethical
issues that arise. It is important to gain an understanding of the ethical issues affecting our
classrooms so that this will help us understand how to address them. I found myself in such
a situation this year when I introduced my intermediate class to our google site. This was
new and exciting for both students and parents. Students were to post a blurb each day of
what had transpired during the school week. Parents were encouraged to write comments
alongside their child’s work. Little did I realise that students could type over and change each
other’s publications. Then a student in my class (X) brought to my attention that her work
had been tampered with and was ruined as a result of another student (Y)  having typed over
her work and had written inappropriate comments alongside the work.

So What?

I realised that it was possible for it to occur again and also that other students had seen these
inappropriate comments. Processes be put into place to prevent this from reoccurring. Using
Ehrichs’ (2011) model for ethical decision making, I deciphered that the critical incidents that
apply to this scenario are public interest and global context.  The incident involved the student
that tampered with the other student’s work, other students and their parents. The regulations
in Our code Our Standards (Education council, 2017) support this with “promoting the wellbeing
of learners and protecting them from harm”. To this end I made the decision to put the
well-being of my tamariki first. I informed all the people that needed to be in the know and put
into place relevant teachings. I consulted the digital fluencies leader and  together we worked
out consequences outlined in the school’s policy documents and student contracts signed at
the beginning of the year. This links with the New Zealand teachers code of conduct (2017) where
teachers commit to “promoting the wellbeing of learners and protecting them from harm” and
“design learning that is informed by national policies and priorities”.

Now What?

I will now need to consider the ethical and legal implications when using digital technology for
student publications. I needed to better inform students on how to use the google site effectively.
To make certain that this does not happen again, I  need to check the class google site as and
when students are publishing. I hope that students will refrain from tampering with others’ work
when they come to the realisation that they are being monitored by the teacher as they work on
collaboratively. Regular cyber safety lessons are being revisited and if this situation reoccurs,
it could mean that the class google site be removed.

References

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

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

Maraetai Beach School Board of Trustees, (2018). Responding to digital incidents.  
School Docs retrieved from http://maraetaibeach.schooldocs.co.nz/

Maraetai Beach School Board of Trustees, (2016). Digital Technology and Cybersafety.  School Docs retrieved from http://maraetaibeach.schooldocs.co.nz/