RUTH GOES BACK TO SCHOOL

Week 29 - Influence of Law and Ethics

When I think back to my school days, my memories inevitably take me to some of the teachers I had - favourites - Mr Ings, who taught me to look more deeply than the surface, and about the angst of Vincent Van Gogh, and Mr May who could make his ukelele speak (we’d do anything that that ukelele asked of us!) and Mr Hessell who really taught us how to write, not what to write - and not so favourites - Mrs Thingummy who managed to make me hate school for a time, or Miss Whatsername who told me I’d never be any good at English, and to stop making up words like ‘feisty’. They all helped to shape who I am today. I may not remember what we did in those classes, but I can sure remember how those teachers made me feel. Teachers can have an enormous impact on the lives of their students so we’ve got to get it right. I didn’t do English at university as I’d intended, thanks to Miss Whatsername, who clearly didn’t like me, and who constantly berated me for copying out of books (I didn’t - she just didn’t believe that I could write like that on my own) or making up words (with the benefit of hindsight and adulthood, perhaps my vocab was a little richer than hers!).

Now, looking back I know that Miss Whatsername didn’t act ethically in the classroom. As outlined in the Code of Ethics for Certificated Teachers, she didn’t honour my rights; she abused her power; she didn’t do good and minimise harm, and she wasn’t truthful with me or with herself.

Ethics can be defined as “learned behaviours shaped by a range of societal influences such as school, work, community, family, church, the arts, culture and sports. Our individual interpretation of ethics helps shape our ideas about justice, morality and virtue.” (Mindlab, 2016).

Bullying is a perennial problem for schools, and with the rise in social media use and kids’ ubiquitous online presence, the problem of cyberbullying requires our teachers to deal with this issue often and with a clear strategy of what ought to be done. It’s vital that we, as parents and teachers, teach our children what acceptable internet practice looks like.

As the mother of tween and teen daughters, I have seen the damage that aggressive (OK, downright mean) facebook posts can do, even when it's 9.00pm and the teenager is at home lying in bed about to go to sleep. (Yep, there are reasons for the the ‘no devices in bed’ rule!) There is no safe zone now. And it brings up lots of ethical dilemmas. As a mother, do I go against my daughter’s wishes and speak to the school? Is that just to placate my own sense of anger and powerlessness? What damage would this do to my relationship with my daughter? What digital and social media limitations do I place on my daughter, even though she was not the protagonist? Do I continue to smile at the parents of the bully, or do I let them know that their little sweetie is anything but? What do I want from the teachers and counsellors at school? Or indeed from school management?

I’m not a teacher (yet!) so have not dealt with this issue in that capacity. But I do know that there are several things that would help. According to a NZ Herald article (2014), one in four teachers say students have come to them about cyber-bullying but two-thirds say they don't have the training to deal with it. Teachers need to feel safe in dealing with cyberbullying and part of that safety is knowing where they stand in terms of the law, the Code of Ethics, and their own school procedures and policies. Professional Development in this area would be useful. So would activities like Circle Time, and embedding the lessons of good digital citizenship.

Once again, as with each of these areas of practice that we are looking at, it all comes back to relationships with our children, their whanau and the community, and being values driven. I absolutely love the tactic used by Special Education teacher, Chris Ulmer who spends ten minutes each day individually complimenting his students, telling them how terrific they are and building them up. He has found that they are more likely to participate in activities, are more confident, help each other, actively praise one another, and celebrate each other's’ accomplishments as if they were their own. It is creating a culture of kindness at an early age which may just make a difference in the future. Just imagine!

OK so maybe I'm a little bit Pollyanna, but the Code of Ethics hints at the very same thing when talking of teachers’ obligations to society, when it says that teachers will strive to teach and model those positive values which are widely accepted in society and encourage learners to apply them and critically appreciate their significance.