I am going to look at an ethical dilemma that a teacher faced some time ago that I was involved in as the Dean of the student. I will use Rolfe et al.'s Reflective Model to outline the incident.
What
A student completes her Art Board with pieces of Artwork
that she says she completed at home. Which they are allowed to do. The teacher
asks the student when if it was her work as the standard of work does not match
the student’s previous work completed in the class over the past 3 terms. The
student states that it is her work and when quizzed about the improved quality
she claimed to be working very hard at home. The teacher found herself in a moral and ethical dilemma because
she did not believe the student and therefore refused to sign an authenticity
document which is required by the markers.
So What
Parents contacted the school and claimed that their daughter
was being victimised by the teacher who did not like their daughter. They were
threatening to take the school to court and to expose the school in the newspapers
for victimising Asian students with our illegal practices and rules.
Using Ehrich et al. (2011)
“model of ethical decision-making”
We Identified the Critical
Incident in the “What”.
The teacher’s
professional ethics were being called up by the parents and the teacher was bound by “the Code of Professional Responsibilities and Standards for the
Teaching Profession as outlined in by the Education council of New Zealand”
(Educational Council, 2017)
The School policy and Legal issues regarding student work and
authenticity was outlined in the school assessment document which the teacher
had adhered to.
The parents and student got a prominent member
of Korean community to lobby the school on their behalf and a meeting was
arranged with the Principal and all parties.
Now What
The
teacher was not budging from her stance and the parents were saying the school
had no proof that the girl had not done the work. The Principal looked at how
this could affect the schools relationship with the Korean Community. The
Principal also saw that the student was becoming anxious that she was going to
fail her final year because the Art board was a large chunk of her marks in
that subject. The Principal pulled a Solomon and asked that the girl complete 2
pieces of Artwork under supervision in school over 2 weekends and then submit
it and she would sign the Authenticity document. What also came out of using Ehrich et al. (2011) “model of ethical
decision-making” was that in future students could only take work that
they had started in class and their teacher had seen to complete at home.
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,
Pakuranga College Board of
Trustees (2011) Assessment Teachers Handbook.
