APC. 5 Personal Ethics

APC. 5  Legal and ethical contexts in my digital practice

In my working world as a Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour ( RTLB) these are just some of the ethical dilemma’s I have been faced with:

·      - Demands from parents to see in class observations that will prove the teacher is picking on their child

·      - Requests from schools for copies of in class observations to be used in competency hearings

·      - A teacher hitting a child

A range of ethical dilemmas were part of the work of the RTLB Association and these situations were part of the work done by the Ethics Committee on the National Executive of the Association. Our role was to guide and support the RTLB through an ethical decision making process. We were fortunate to access a workshop by Alan Hall in 2004 in Rotorua and the fundamental principles of ethical decision making have guided me through the years. I was also privileged to attend the early Ethics workshops developed by the NZ Teachers Council. Some of the take away gems for me were:

1.    An ethical decision is called for when an ethical dilemma is identified.

2.    An ethical dilemma will most often be a question of two competing rights or principles. A classic  example is the dilemma around a child’s right to attend school and a child’s right to be safe at school. A child hurting other children has a right to attend school but the other children have a right to be free from harm at school.

3.    Once you are aware of an ethical dilemma it is not possible to do nothing.

4.    Recording each of your steps to understand and work through the dilemma will provide a record of a considered decision making process. Diary and record any conversations that you have in consultation with others. This record provides legal confirmation of your considerations.

5.    People will disagree with your decision however your evidence of this being a considered decision protects you in the event of any legal action.

6.    Once something is said it cannot be unsaid. Once something is seen it cannot be unseen. Once something is heard it cannot be unheard.

In our digital world I would add that once something has been downloaded the trace of it is there forever. I once borrowed a teachers laptop when mine had crashed.  I went to google something and pornographic pictures came up of children. I closed the lid of the laptop in a panic and forced myself to go very slowly as this was an ethical dilemma with potential major consequences. I sought guidance from another professional person outside of our work situation. He outlined the legal issues and the possible steps that I could take. This was a personal laptop and not a work one. However the images of young children exposed a potential risk for the children in the teacher’s school. I had an obligation to first see to the safety of the most vulnerable – in this instance the children, while also protecting the career of a teacher who had kindly lent a laptop to a colleague. I decided to return the laptop in the presence of a non education third party.  The teacher immediately phoned a probation officer and asked me to stay while their boarder, the probation officer and his wife went through the laptop and the located the photo’s. The boarder confessed to downloading the photos and the probation officer went up and helped the boarder to pack his gear as he had broken his probation conditions and would be returning to prison. The teacher and his wife were part of a programme hosting prisoners on probation returning to society.

In hindsight, I was so very glad that I had stepped cautiously. I could have gone to the principal of the school and placed the teacher’s career in jeopardy.  In the last few years I have found the Tikanga Maori Model by Hirini Moko Mead (2003) to be very helpful in guiding me through some digital ethical dilemmas.  One instance is in placing a video of a special needs student having a dysregulated event of emotional distress. The film was taken without permission of the family and placed on a teachers professional portfolio website. The teacher was unaware that her portfolio was public. The parent googled her child’s name and located the film and was devastated at the invasion of privacy by a teacher. I was contacted by the parent.  The video was taken down and apologies made. The student has since left the school as the trust relationship between the school and the parent had broken down.

Analysing this incident through the Tikanga Māori Model in test one there was a breach of Tapu. There was no gain or positive outcome for the child in this breach. In test two the Mauri or essence of the child and the family was compromised.  The next test was to consider Take – utu – ea  that is the issue, the cost and the resolution that needs to be undertaken in order to restore relationships. Test 4 involves consideration of any precedents to help determine appropriate action. The final test five includes the consideration of Principles such as manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, mana and noa. 

These tests have links to the Beauchamp and Childress (2001)principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justice. Principlism is founded on fundamental moral principles and DeMarco (2005) suggests a further principle of mutuality be considered. This principle places an obligation on people to consider the possibility of future ethical dilemma’s and act now towards removing the basis of potential conflict. In the case of digital practice this could mean training of teachers in privacy settings on social websites and the use of professional blogs.

The NZ Teachers Council is working within this mutuality principle with the establishment in early 2012 of the Social Media Project.  Ethical dilemmas have arisen for teachers and there was an evident need to develop guidance “so that teachers can embrace social media with confidence. “ (Education Council, 2016).

I recall words from a teacher in her 70^th year when I was a  beginning teacher who told me to imagine there was a camera in my classroom and any part of my day could end up on National TV, change that to the internet and I believe that advice is just as relevant today.

DeMarco, J. P. (2005). Principlism and moral dilemmas : a new principle. 31. Retrieved June 22, 2016, from BMJ: http://jme.bmj.com/content/31/2/101.full.pdf+html

Education Council. (2016, June 18). Education Council and Social Media. Retrieved from Education Council Aotearoa: http://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/about-teachers-council-and-social-media-project

Mead, H. (2016, June 22). Tikanaga Maori Model. Retrieved from Rangahau: http://www.rangahau.co.nz/ethics/167/

Tom L. Beauchamp, J. F.Childress (2001). Principles of Biomedical Ethics Fifth Edition. London: Oxford University Press.