Licensed Autonomous

Enlightened Educators
ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF THE MODERN EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL

Christina Galvan &

Kathryn Royer
Teaching as a profession

 Teachers provide intellectual learning tools needed for students to be

productive members of society
 Various groups and organizations outline ethical expectations
 Student freedoms in the classroom
 Teacher/Student relationships
 Accountability/higher standards of teachers
 Community activism/Social change
The Ethical • TEACHER/STUDENT
RELATIONSHIPS
Battlefield: • USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS
Potential moral • MANDATED REPORTER
dilemmas in the field • PUSHING PERSONAL
IDEALS ONTO STUDENTS
of education
Teacher/Student
Relationships
• Leniency/Harshness in Grading
• Disciplinary Imbalance
• Friendships
• Or of course a student falling
deeply in love with their
teacher....we're married
now...it's all good
Use of Social Mandated
Networks Reporter
• Teachers with public profiles • Teacher must report suspected
abuse even when the student
• Teacher accepting "friend"
requests their confidence be
and "follow" requests
kept
• Teachers "friending" and
"following" students
THE CASE

Mr. Y is a new teacher in his first 90 days of employment in his district. He has
made friends with many staff members and invited them to visit his social
network page. On his website, Mr. Y has listed quite a bit of personal
information. One of his colleagues visited the site and became very
concerned because the site included a statement that Mr. Y was attracted
to young girls, stating “the younger the better.”

Should the colleague notify the principal of this information?

 Identification

What is at Stake
The Issues Stakeholders and for Whom?

• Protection of Students • The person making the ethical • The Colleague:

choice:
• Relationship with Mr. Y
• Reputation of the Colleague
• The Colleague
and School • Reputation
• Anyone effected by the
• Reputations of youth • Mr. Y:
ethical dilemma:
educators in general • Career
• Mr. Y
• Mr. Y may be a total perv • Reputation
• The School
• The School District • The School/School District:

• Student Body • Student & Community Trust

• The Colleague • Student Body:

• Safety & Trust
Arguments for Reporting Mr. Y
Deontology
(Kant/Ross)
Duty Based Approach
-The colleague must inform the
principle as it is his duty to ensure
student safety as a mandated
reporter.
-The colleague would need to
follow the duty of fidelity based
on his relationship with Mr. Y and
the school where he teaches.
Since Mr. Y is a new teacher it is
likely that the colleague has a
duty of loyalty to the school at a
higher degree than that of Mr. Y.
Thus, the colleague should
report Mr. Y.
Analysis
Virtue Ethics
Utilitarianism (Aristotle)
Happiness Approach "Goodness" Approach
-This is more difficult as we don't -The colleagues virtues of honesty
know if Mr. Y has done anything and non-malevolence drive them
morally wrong with a student. to alert the principle of Mr. Y's
comment.
-However, the colleague should
still turn in Mr. Y as this action
would make Mr. Y unhappy, but
the student body, school district,
and community would have the
potential for more "happiness"
without the risk of Mr. Y's
appetites......
Counterarguments
Deontology
Mandated Reporter duty may not
apply
-The colleague doesn't know
definitively that students are in
danger of Mr. Y. The colleague
may have been taking Mr. Y's
words out of context?......Maybe
Mr. Y was talking about being
attracted to young girls as
potential friends for his dog since
his dog loves kids.
Utilitarianism
More unhappiness for Mr. Y
-Since nothing has actually
occurred (as far as we know) and
may never occur, the colleague's
telling the principle may harm Mr.
Y more than provide happiness to
the community. Mr. Y may no
longer have a job at the school or
school district and if word got out
that the school fired Mr. Y for this
action the community may
become weary of the school's
choices in teachers.
Virtue Ethics
Mr. Y probably wouldn't do anything...
-The colleague may be optimistic that
Mr. Y would never act inappropriately
with a student. Additionally, the
colleague may see Mr. Y as a
talented educator. So perhaps the
colleague shouldn't alert the
principle.
-Note: Optimism and talent are not a
virtues, so they are not morally
relevant.
 Justification
Potential Consequences

- Students may be harmed

-Mr. Y could lose his position
- Mr. Y could damage his reputation
- The colleague could loose a friend
-The colleague could damage their reputation with the school and even their
position
 Decision
Decision: Report Mr. Y

What Can the School do? Possible Actions to take:

-The school will not likely be able to fire Mr. Y on the spot without concrete
evidence of his doing something wrong...other than being totally disgusting.
-They could however decide not to renew his contract and would not have
to give cause.
-The school will most likely keep an eye on Mr. Y for non-social media
evidence that he may harm students.
-If asked for a recommendation from another school for Mr. Y in the future,
they would not be able to alert the new school to situation at hand.