Week 29: Law and Ethics

There have been a few incidents in my career as a teacher that have I have been concerned about. One of the most serious incidents was when a colleague had set up a Facebook page under her own name, that was used for classroom interaction and she allowed her students to become friends. Unfortunately, the page become a forum for counseling students out of school hours, parents become involved and the teacher's personal information was well known to her students and parent environment.  Students personal information was shared as well. This is a very brief synopsis of the situation.

“What possible issues/concerns might this scenario raise?
The teacher's personal information was well known by her students and this was discussed amongst the students. Students information was on a public platform. 
How could this situation become a violation of the law, the “Code” or other school /district policies?
Our school has a policy in place that makes recommendations that teachers will not engage with students via a social media platform that is not educational based.  This was a very negative situation. 
The teacher's code of conduct is very explicit and I am glad the new draft code has revamped information bringing this into a more relevant document. There are 2 areas of the teacher's code of conduct that remind us of our responsibilities in relation to social media......the draft document is more in depth and relevant to current practices.

In this situation, what are some potential negative consequences for the teacher, for the students and the school community?
Her personal information was shared with students and also students information was shared on a social media platform that was very public. The information was widely known in the school community.
What responses/actions will result in a more positive outcome and/or what proactive measures might be considered?“ (p.7)
Support and guidance were given to the teacher and the Facebook page shut down. Professional development and guidance were put in place. Students were also supported through this process as well. An education programme was put in place for the students and parents around the potential impact of what could have happened and what was happening. 


Because of this situation, we have done much around protecting teachers and students. We do not support Facebook as a forum, even though it is a successful way of engaging with the outside school community. Classroom pages can easily be set up in Facebook and these can be made private only to that community.
Connecticuts Teacher Education and Mentoring programme mention "public school educators are held to high standards of behavior because they are entrusted with the well-being of their students. The public expects that their behavior exemplifies ethical and moral integrity. Teachers serve as role models who should recognize that their conduct, both on and off the job, can profoundly impact their professional image. Lapses in judgment can adversely impact students, damage teachers’ credibility and erode public trust in schools and the profession"  This is so true, we are the role models, the ethical police, and moral judge. But we are also human and can make mistakes. 

Part of the protection we have put into place, is we have provided each teacher with their own ipad. We have encouraged them to have a class itunes account and link the ipad to their computer through cloud sharing. The teacher ipad is for recording student progress and the taking of photos to upload to class blogs. The ipads were also given to teachers so they could play with apps etc.  We have discouraged teachers using their own smart phones and having any school information on their private phones.  Home is home, personal equipment is for personal use, school equipment for school.

Collste, G.(2012). Applied and professional ethics. Kemanusiaan,19(1), 17–33.

Connecticut’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Program. (2012). Ethical and Professional Dilemmas for Educators: Facilitator’s Guide. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ctteam.org/df/resources/Module5_Manual....

Education Council. (n.d). The Education Council Code of Ethics for Certificated Teachers. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-et...

Hall, A. (2001). What ought I to do, all things considered? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers. Paper presented at the IIPE Conference, Brisbane. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Developing-leaders/What-Ought-I-to-Do-All-Things-Considered-An-Approach-to-the-Exploration-of-Ethical-Problems-by-Teachers

Week 28 Indigenous knowledge and cultural perspective

When I think about the student achievement levels at my school and the discussions we have as a school and at the BOT level, Maori achievement is always an area to analyse and put plans in to actions. Maori achievement against National Standards in Reading Writing and Mathematics has been an area of discussion and cause for concern.  In the last 5 years our data has shown Maori achievement in these areas are improving. There are more students achieving at and above the National Standards now in comparison to 5 years ago when many Maori students had high representations in the well below and below areas. Our 2016 data identified 65% of our Maori students were at or above in Reading,  nationally last year this data 68 %.  In mathematics our school had 44%,  achieving at or above, Nationally this was 65%. In Writing 48%,  and nationally 61%. So there is still much work to do to try and raise these levels.

Our school has a population of 30% Maori students and I have only one student in my class who is identified as being Maori. Our school has done much work around culture and developing our mission statement.  Savage,C, Hindleb, R., Meyerc,L., Hyndsa,A., Penetitob, W. & Sleeterd, C.(2011), share that. " a lack of connection between the culture of the school and student has been associated with low engagement in the absence  of culturally responsive practice"  

A poster I have in my classroom at the moment is, what are you doing to reach the summit of Mauao? 

Over the last 3-4 years our school has developed our school mission and vision through consultation and engagement our school community and iwi. We have done this through surveys, questionnaires, interviews with stake holders such as students, our student councillors and the wider community. We have developed our school mission and core values. Respect Pride Learner is our school Motto. 

Our school wide vision statement: "Developing Confident, Connected, Actively Involved Lifelong learners, Whakawhanake ake te matauranga mutanga kore! Okea ururoatia!" has come directly from our school community and iwi. 

Our mission statement, which has also come directly from the community engagement: 

"We provide quality education that inspires students to succeed, Ko ta matou he whangai i te tino kounga o te matauranga kei nga tihi o te taumata, kia taea ai nga tauira te eke ki te ara angitu" 

We as a staff, community ad BOT go to great lengths to make sure our school is inclusive and everyone follows our school wide mission and vision,  everyone is on board. 

Professor Russell Bishop ed talk is a reminder of that teachers need to take stock of their own cultural values before they can foster a culturally responsive programme in their classrooms. Some points I have reflected on while listening to his ed talk are:

There is power in goal setting, and Maori are educable people. The key to making a difference are teachers who have agency and they understand themselves and where they come from. Maori can bring themselves to the learning conversation and engagement, improvement outcomes of achievement and also attendance. 

There are some key points Professor Russell Bishop has for a culturally responsive classroom. 

1. Care for Maori students as Maori, embed high expectations

2. Manage the classroom in such a way that is conducive to learning for all involved.

3. Interactions with Maori are important and give quality feedback and feedforward

4. Teachers need to use a range of strategies, working with groups and individuals, roving, fostering collaboration

5.Use evidence of students performance to guide their teaching and student need to know their outcomes. 

6. Learners among leaners. 

7. Teachers creating context in the classroom, relationship being paramount. 

8. Caring for people and caring about relationships. 

The way I see all the above, it is important that these things happen in every classroom despite what cultures are represented.  Are they happening in every classroom at my school? I am going to say probably not and yes, there is much work tstill to do. 

Milne, B.A. (2013). Colouring in the White Spaces: Reclaiming Cultural Identity in Whitestream Schools. (Doctoral Thesis, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10289/7868

Source:Cowie, B., Otrel-Cass, K., Glynn, T., & Kara, H., et al.(2011).Culturally responsive pedagogy and assessment in primary science classrooms: Whakamana tamariki. Wellington: Teaching Learning Research Initiative. Retrieved from http://www.tlri.org.nz/sites/default/files/projects/9268_cowie-summaryreport.pdf

Source: Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994

Week 27: The Broader Professional Context

Family Matters is an area of interest for me.  

One of the many hats I wear is I am the BOT staff representative. I attend any suspensions or stand downs. I am also a teacher of an accelerated class, year 8 gifted and talented.  The reason why I chose this area, in my lifetime being an adult and during the years I have been a teacher the family as a unit and ideas around marriage has changed dramatically. From my observations, the parents of my students are now much older. Young people are now choosing to wait much later to get married. Often they flat together, save what they need to purchase their first home and then marry later. Or they just wait until they are financially secure to marry. An example of this theory is highlighted in the article, “ Trends in Education” where Hungarian men are marrying in their early 30s, as opposed to in the 1990s they were getting married in the early 20s. Same-sex marriages are now legal in New Zealand and many OECD countries are legalizing same-sex marriages.  

The article points out that ‘effective education at the school level relies on good home-school relationships’. In my experience, this is so true. Many of my parents are available to engage in discussions about the learning, I have a reflective class blog, which parents have access to and I have an open door policy. When my class goes on a school trip, I must admit, my parents are only too happy to help out anytime and often I have to choose a selection from 10-12 parents who have offered their support. They are also eager to support their children if there is an area they need help with.  Many of my parents are older mums and dads. It is not uncommon for some of my dads to be in their 60s and retired.  However I have also witnessed parents of my students who have very high expectations, because they perceive their child as being gifted parents do not engage, or because they have a professional position there is another person in the child's life that is the child's advocate because of the unavailability of being the parent. 

Money spent by government agencies on children 0-5 years is in my opinion money well spent. Access to quality childcare and childhood education is associated with higher school achievement outcomes and this is evident in the article. New Zealand’s early childcare curriculum is an outstanding document. What children learn in childcare about themselves and they have feelings of security, can socialise and are confident, this has an impact on their learning receptors. The first 1000 days in a child’s life, from conception to about 2 and half years, children are data gathering, they need to have in their lives a caregiver they connect with, creating the wiring of connections to all facets of the brain. 

What does it matter if children are raised in same-sex marriages or parents who are now waiting to have children much later? What matters is that the caregiver is in front of the baby, talking to them with rich language and stimulating the baby through active play.

If you have the opportunity to listen to Nathan Mikarere Wallis, I thoroughly recommend him. He shares his knowledge of brain development, human development and is an advisor and university lecturer.

On the other side of the coin, many of our children are living at home with one parent or live with a caregiver other than family. Children who live in extreme poverty, come to school hungry and have no lunch.  The article mentions that household debts across countries in the OECD are increasing and young people are now vulnerable to income poverty.  

Our school funds a welfare fund and pays for students participation in extracurricular activities such as sports or camps so making opportunities equitable and available to everyone. However, as a BOT member, I have seen this need become more and more needed as families struggle to pay for activities at school. We provide breakfast to students who come to school hungry.  As a BOT member, we make decisions on children’s outcomes when they do not adhere to school rules and many of these children come from unstable environments, broken and dysfunctional family homes. The decisions we make are taken into account considering resources we have and don’t have to help the child or consider the safety of the wider population of students and staff. Often we become frustrated by bureaucratic red tape or a lack of funding that restricts our options to make a decision that is conducive to everyone.

It is important in the future that our Government seriously considers a cash injection in early childcare and provide a robust maternity leave system. There is much discussion about paying parents to stay at home. I am aware we have this in place which is great. Government parties are currently debating and discussing what we do and the possibility of making changes. Those countries who have been paying mothers to stay at home and have been doing so for a long period of time, currently are closing prisons. 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11778433

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/mothers-should-be-paid-to-stay-home-with-their-children-923484.html

https://education.govt.nz/early-childhood/teaching-and-learning/ece-curriculum/te-whariki/

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2595176/what-3-to-7-year-olds-need-to-learn-nathan-mikaere-wallis

Source: National Intelligence Council. (2017). Global trends: The Paradox of Progress. National Intelligence Council: US. Retrieved 

from https://www.dni.gov/files/images/globalTrends/documents/GT-Main-Report.pdf