Activity 8 Legal contexts and digital identities

Identify an ethical dilemma in your own practice linked to digital or online access or activity.

How would you address the potential issue if it occurred in your own practice?

As teachers, we are guided in our practice by our code of ethics.  The overarching principle of the code of ethics is ‘teachers certificated to practice in New Zealand are committed to the attainment of the highest standards of professional service in the promotion of learning by those they teach, mindful of the learner's ability, cultural background, ‘gender, age or stage of development….’  

Although the code of ethics is governed by four fundamental principles, the one I am drawn to is ‘responsible care to do good and minimise harm to others’ (Education Council, nd).

When looking deeper at this document I was drawn in by section one, titled 'Commitment to Learners'.  In this section it outlines how important it is that, as teachers, we nurture learners to ‘think and act with developing independence’ (Teachers Council, nd), and to ‘promote the physical, emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual wellbeing of learners’ (Teachers Council, nd).

These points lend themselves to a perennial dilemma for schools; how to keep your students safe when they have digital online access.  As we are aware, the face of education is changing and students have access to digital devices everywhere, anywhere and at any time.

The rate new technologies are being adopted is accelerating, and these changes mean that the concept of internet safety has changed in a short time.  Internet safety has moved from protecting people and organisations to giving people the skills, knowledge and confidence to be cybersafe.  Cybersafety policies have moved from listing forbidden behaviours to outlining a person’s responsibility and accountability.

To address this dilemma, it is important that we develop a cybersafe learning environment by having robust policies in place to address cyberbullying.

 One problem we face when trying to address cyberbullying is that students often don't tell adults they are being cyberbullied for two reasons. Firstly, they are concerned about the reaction of their peers when they find out they have spoken to an adult.  Secondly, they may be concerned that their family may overreact and make the situation worse.

Therefore, we will need to make sure that all students know how to be a responsible online digital citizen, how to be safe online and manage issues when they arise (Social Media for Kids, 2014).  The values and key competencies students need so they can be digital citizens draws from those described in the New Zealand curriculum document.

We also need to inform students that cyberbullying is a covert form of bullying because it works in secret.  The person who is cyberbullying them is doing it to harm them in some way, and trying to undermine their social standing with their peers.

From here we need to identify with students what cyberbullying can be, but not restricted to, for:

•  writing mean things about a person
•  spreading rumours about a person
•  ignoring a person online
• ostracising a person online
• inviting others to social events online
• developing a secret code/language and using this to talk to others online

(Australian Government, n.d., NetSafe, n.d.).

Once students have identified what cyberbullying is, it then becomes very important to teach them about how to stay safe online. This can be achieved through a mix of formal teaching programmes, teachable moments and modelling the correct behaviours.

Finally, students need to sign a digitrust agreement, outlining their responsibilities as a digital citizen and what the consequences will be when they contravene the agreement.  Parents also need to sign the agreement to show they understand what we are trying to achieve as a school, and to support us if an issue arises which involves their child.

Australian Government (n.d.). Cybersafety for teachers.  Retrieved from https://esafety.gov.au/esafety-information/esafety-issues/cyberbullying/cyberbullying-information-for-teachers

Education Council. (n.d.). The Education Council code of ethics for certificated teachers.  Retrieved from http://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0

Netsafe (n.d.).  The netsafe kit for schools.  Retrieved from https://www.netsafe.org.nz/the-netsafe-kit-for-schools/

Social Media for Kids, (2014, Aug 15). Social media for kids®.  [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2rOekhi20E

 Images

https://esafety.gov.au/esafety-information/esafety-issues/cyberbullying

http://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0