Week 28 Influence of Law and Ethics in Practice
I will use Rolfe’s reflective cycle for this blog.
What……
My ethical dilemma is one
which I think some teachers may well face at some point in their careers as we
now live in such an interconnected world. It is one which is on the lower level
of digital use in that I am talking about giving out a personal cell phone
number. We are now not just teachers we are quasi social workers and
counsellors and the load is one we carry as we have become more relational with
our ways of teaching in this modern learning environment. We may walk the fine
line of being a confidante and having to making the call to the authorities to
provide the urgent help needed to take care of a student’s mental health.
The nature of my role as
a technology teacher, and in essence the old fashioned sewing teacher, allows
me to be in the midst of my students, working with them as they create their
projects. It also gives the time to foster good relationships with my students,
and they trust me.
I guess I have a motherly demeanour and this
attracts some students to talk with me in more depth about their lives.
So what do I do when a
student tells me they are so unhappy they are thinking of ending their young
life?
I have been party to a few
young women who manifest symptoms or tell me something that may trigger alarm
bells. In these cases I instantly flag the counsellor and make senior
management aware of the issues, as is the protocol of the school’s management
system of handling these instances.
The student had chosen me
of all her teachers to tell me she was feeling on the edge. In this case she
had my cell number from a day trip where all students were in contact with me
to relocate to the bus in the various places we visited, so it was in her phone
anyway. I had used this method to keep a track on students, and I thought it
was a good health and safety tool for keeping students safe on a school trip
and I believed I was acting within the guidelines of “Our Code Our Standards”
(2017) which states in the standards section 2 that “promoting the wellbeing of
learners and keeping them from harm”. (p10).
So what about using my
number if she was thinking of ending her life? Is that in the Code too, in keeping
her from harm?
I would conclude that it
would be my decision to “ACT” as no-one could ignore a help plea and this was
my commitment to her and in my learning from Choice Theory, (Glasser, 1999), I
would never give up on a student.
Following this scary text I did, as the
protocol dictates and alerted the appropriate team of higher authorities and
immediately put into motion school actions which could relieve her angst at
school. This was done and we wrapped around her to assist. The counsellors and outside help got involved
and her cry for help was listened to, she received help.
So what……
In this incident I was
cautioned by the SLT that I had compromised my role, as they believed that the
student having my cell phone number was not appropriate, and in that grey zone
of guidelines where I am too close for comfort and I wasn’t the person to help
her professionally. I acted as I should but I am positive if she needed help I
would never ignore it. But I often wonder what she would have if she hadn’t
texted me?
This is a dramatic
incident and often the texting is far more everyday but Tim Walker in his
article about student and teacher texting (2016) talks about the “obvious need to tread carefully and
establish parameters around any policies permitting texting between educators
and their students. But many experts believe schools that ban the practice – by
preventing teachers from taking advantage of a potentially valuable tool
of communication – are actually ill-serving students”.
He cites Liz Kolb “a professor of educational technologies at the University of Michigan,
believes much can be lost by dismissing texting. Kolb says the “fear
factor” around teacher-student texting is real but shouldn’t dictate the
parameters around online communication. “Common sense and personal judgment
should,” Kolb says.”
This grey area can
easily be covered by school policy for teachers to
follow as this sets the rules to abide by. I have found with some reading
around this subject that many teachers mainly in the USA would not entertain
the privacy breach of letting their students into their out of school life.
Now What….
The student still has my
cell phone. I would much rather she has it than not. That grey area of the
students having my cell phone sits uneasily with me but in this particular
situation I would like to think she could reach out if she was so desperate and
I would never forgive myself if I could
have helped her and didn’t. I wouldn’t want her death to be on my
conscience forever, if I could have helped her.
I think, as Kolb says,
common sense needs to be applied here.
In the same article Walker also cites Mica Pollock, a Professor of
Education at University of California who believes for some at risk students “their academic success depends
in part on strong bonds of communication with their teachers. A low-cost
technology like texting is a ‘rapid, personalized tool for youth support’ that
can help create and sustain those ties.”
This statement considers
academic success yet in New Zealand with such high suicide rates, it’s not just
academic success we are mindful of and as teachers we are all aware of this.
I have reflected on this very emotive
situation that maybe we have a dedicated cell phone in the future for school
trips and my own number is kept for my personal use. I have thought that maybe
I have a department cell phone or use another general communication method for
the day to day communication with students. I’m still not sure how I would work
with another student who was suicidal though. I know if they needed help I
would listen and as in the Ethical Model of Decision Making (Ehrich et al, 2011), I would ACT.
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
Education Council.
(2017). Our Code Our Standards.Retrieved from: https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Our%20Code%20Our%20Standards%20web%20booklet%20FINAL.pdf
Glasser, W. (1999). Choice
theory: A new psychology of personal freedom. New York, NY, US:
HarperPerennial.
School News (2018) Retrieved from: https://www.schoolnews.co.nz/2018/10/more-than-half-of-mental-disorders-begin-in-teenage-years/
Walker. T. (2016) Keeping the fear factor out
of student teacher texting
Kia ora,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this dilemma. This is very real for a lot of teachers...that fine line is always tricky and because we care so much for our students and their wellbeing we find ourselves in dilemma's just like this. You make the statement that this student chose you of all their teachers, therefore it sounds like a sense of duty you feel to make sure you are there for this student if ever they need you. Although I understand your good intention, it does however leave you open where you could potentially end up in a tricky situation. It would be difficult to withdraw support via text but I wonder whether the student feels almost dependent on you being there whenever they may need you. Legally as educators we are required to respond and ethically as educators we are required to ACT. This blog reflection seems a good opportunity to think about other alternative ways of supporting this student while still feeling like you have not deserted them.