”A professional
teacher is a member of an historical community of practice with a telos, or
general purpose, to which one must be committed to in order to be professional,
and that membership of that community constrains the freedom of the individual
practitioner by committing him or her to ethical principles and standards and
the telos” (Soltis, 1986. P.3. As cited
in Hall, 2001).
As a teacher I feel you must conduct yourself as if your
Grandmother was watching you. I use this
as the litmus test. “Would you want your
Grandmother to see a photo of that?” If not, don’t post it.
Teachers must always be circumspect in their use of Social
Media. It is difficult to narrow down exact
guidelines on things like images that you should not post. The Education Council’s Code of Ethics for all
Certified Teachers in New Zealand says nothing specifically about a teacher’s
online presence. Under the section
about ‘Commitment to Society’ the Code of Ethics says "teach and model those positive values which are widely accepted in society and encourage learners to apply them and critically appreciate their significance". As ethics are essentially unwritten rules
based on an individual’s own culture, religion, and beliefs this leaves the
interpretation wide open.
Hall (2001) states that “until the 1960’s the codes of
conduct of schools, forms of discipline and the examples of (what) teachers
conformed to … was commonly referred to as “the New Zealand way of life”, a set
of personal and public attitudes that were essentially middle -class Pakeha”(p.1). As our Society has changed over the last
50-60 years remarkably, so too have these public attitudes about what is
acceptable. I would still suggest that
what is acceptable for a female to do is less acceptable than what a male can
do and post on line.
I have a colleague who is into body building and has lots of
pictures on Facebook of herself in a skimpy outfit posing… should this be
allowed? It is a sport that’s not
illegal or banned. Pictures of teachers
having a drink while on holiday have ended in dismissal (Daily Mail, 8th
February 2011). A picture on a seemingly
private Facebook account, if shared with another person who does not have
privacy settings on their account is then open for all of the second person’s
friends to see and read the comments about.
Teachers need to make sure that they understand privacy settings and how
they work. The teacher who lost her job
in the above article was on holiday and had pictures taken at a bar. To me, this surmounts to being out at a
restaurant with friends and having a drink when the parent of a student walks
in, but the school board saw it as promoting use of alcohol.
What if I am at an event and photos are taken of me without
my knowing and they are posted by someone else?
Can we ever really relax? What
about events that are traditionally a bit risky like stag dos and hen’s nights –
as a teacher should we not go?
It points out how times have changed. There really is little privacy now with
social media invading our lives.
The question of what is ethical when using social media
varies. One needs to clarify this at
their own school. At my school we have a
Code of Conduct, a policy put out by the Board that each staff member must read
and sign each year. It states that you
must not do anything that would ‘bring the school into disrepute’. In our school it is acceptable to go out to
bars and have a few drinks. It would be
unacceptable, however, if staff posted photos or videos of themselves drunk or
doing foolish things.
I guess it comes back to the litmus test. Would you want your Grandma to see it? If not, don’t do it, or if you do, certainly don’t
post photos of it!
References
Daily Mail. (8th
February 2011). Teacher sacked for posting picture of hersef holding glass of wine and mug of beer on Facebook. .Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1354515/Teacher-sacked-posting-picture-holding-glass-wine-mug-beer-Facebook.html#ixzz4Muvf8aQl
Education Council.
(n.d.) Code of ethics for certified
teachers. Retrieved from: https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0
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
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