Educator Ethics

“Post Unto Others …”

Frederick S. Lane
NASDTEC
Kansas City, MO
10 June 2014
 “In civilized life,
law floats
on a sea of ethics.”
-- Chief Justice Earl Warren
 Lecture Overview
• A Hierarchy of Human Conduct
• Law, Morality & Ethics
• Digital Disruption
• Ethical Cybertraps
• Teaching Ethics, Pre- and Post-
Certification
Hierarchy of Human Conduct

Law

Ethics
Morality
Law, Morality, and Ethics
• Law: Objective Standards
• Statutes, Regulations, Codes of
Conduct, Policies, Procedures
• Admonitions or Prohibitions
• Generally Inflexible
• Slow to Adapt
• Laws May Be Immoral
Law, Morality, and Ethics
• Morality: Subjective Values
• Multiple Sources: Religion,
Society, Family, Peers, Media
• General Agreement but Highly
Individualized
• May Be Inconsistently Applied
(Moral Relativism)
• It May Be Moral to Break Laws
Law, Morality, and Ethics
• Ethics: Balancing Law and
Morality
• Frameworks for the Application
of Personal and Social Values
• Virtue (Aristotle)
• Duty (Kant)
• Utility/Consequence
(Bentham/Mill)
• More Flexible than Law, Less
Subjective than Morality
 Digital Disruption
• Technology Outpaces Law
• Technology Overwhelms
Morality
• Socrates opposed the use of writing,
believing it to be immoral
• Pace of change increases risk we will
lose our moral bearings
• Ethics Assist Us in Acting Justly and
Rightly in New Situations
 Warp Speed, Mr. Sulu
• 2400 BCE – Invention of abacus (Babylonia)
• 1977 – Apple II
• 1981 – IBM PC
• 1993 – Netscape
• 1998 – Google
• 2004 – Thefacebook / Razr / Sexting
• 2005 – YouTube
• 2007 – iPhone
• 2008 – iTunes App Store
• 2010 – iPad
• 2011 – Snapchat
 The Ethics of Texting
• Student Texts Teacher at 10pm, Asking for
Homework
• Teacher Replies with Book and Page Numbers
• Illegal?: Probably Not
• Immoral?: No
• Unethical?: Yes
• 1-to-1 Unmoderated Interaction
• Late Night Interaction
• Probable Intrusion to Student’s Bedroom
• Potential Gateway to Inappropriate Chats
• Why Does Student Have Teacher’s Cell Number?
 Christine Rubino
• “After today, I’m thinking the
beach sounds like a wonderful idea
for my 5th graders. I HATE THEIR
GUTS! They are all the devils
spawn!” – Christine Rubino,
Facebook, 6/23/2010
• Friend comment: “oh you would let
little Kwame float away!”
• Rubino reply: “Yes, I wld not throw a
life jacket in for a million!!”
 Christine Rubino
• Exchange occurred one day after
12-year-old girl drowned on
school trip to beach
• Colleague and FB ‘friend’ printed
out exchange for administrators
• Rubino terminated but ultimately
reinstated with 2 year suspension
without pay
 Christine Rubino
• Illegal?: No (in fact, protected speech)
• Immoral? Arguably:
• Unkind thoughts
• Public expression of unkind thoughts
• But no malicious action
• Unethical? Probably:
• Not virtuous
• Not professional or consistent with her duty as
an educator
• Not likely to lead to a beneficial outcome or
good consequence for herself or students
 An Ethical Cybertrap
• Ting-Yi Oei, Assistant Principal at
Freedom HS in So. Riding, VA (Loudoun
County)
• Asked to investigate rumors of sexting at
Freedom HS
• “Inappropriate” image was forwarded to
Oei’s cellphone, then to computer
• Charged with “failure to report,” then
“contributing to delinquency of a minor”
• Charges ultimately dismissed
 An Ethical Cybertrap
• Illegal?: Possibly
• Distribution of child pornography
• Possession of child pornography
• Immoral?: Depends – are you an absolutist
or relativist?
• Unethical?: No (with caveat)
• Demonstrated compassion for student
• Acted under instructions from superior
• Behavior consistent with norms at the
time
• Caveat: Should have informed parent?
Cyberethics for Educators
• Pre- and Post-Certification Training
• Frameworks for Cyberethical
Behavior
• Promotion of Sound Decision-
Making Online and Off
• Modeling Cyberethical Behavior
for Students
• Educating Cyber Citizens for 21st
Century
 Contact Information
• E-Mail:
• FSLane3@gmail.com
• Telephone:
• 802-318-4604
• Twitter
• @Cybertraps, @FSL3
• LinkedIn:
• www.linkedin.com/in/fredericklane/
• SlideShare.net
• www.slideshare.net/FSL3
www.FrederickLane.com Cybertraps.wordpress.com
Educator Ethics
“Post Unto Others …”

Frederick S. Lane
NASDTEC
Kansas City, MO
10 June 2014