Analysis of Ethical Dilemmas

Analysis of Ethical Dilemmas (FEAP 6a, 6b, 6c, 6e)

Description: Problem solving is one of the most important skills that a teacher can develop. As a teacher you will be presented with many situations that require a quick decision. You will need to consider how you can avoid potential ethical violations while still supporting the needs of your students. You will analyze case study scenarios and apply the Principles of Professional Conduct of the Education Profession of Florida and the Code of Ethics in written reflection format.

Directions: You will be presented with a set of 20 scenarios that represent potential ethical conflicts. You need to describe what you would do in each situation by answering three general questions. The product is a report that answers the questions for each scenario and describes how you would react if you were faced with the decision to be made.

1. For each of the scenarios provided, answer the following questions:

· Briefly discuss the purpose of Florida’s Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Conduct as it relates to your major/discipline/program of study.

· Determine if there is a potential violation of the Principles of Professional Conduct, and, if so, which principle(s) are at risk in this scenario and why?

· Identify statutory grounds/procedures for disciplinary action, the penalties that can be imposed by the Educational Practices Commission against a certificate holder, and the appeals process available to the individual if applicable.

· What would you actually say to the parties involved that shows that you are responsible, dependable, and concerned about your students? Or what precautions would you take to protect yourself and your students? (Write a scripted response or a procedure/strategy.)

· In a scenario that requires you to respond verbally, assume that your first response is not “accepted” by the party involved’ and he/she tries to convince you to do what he/she wants you to do. What would you say next? (State what you think the person would say to convince you to do what he/she wants, and write your second scripted response.)

2. You are responsible for analyzing and writing about the odd numbered scenarios #1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19. We will discuss the even numbered scenarios in class.

3. Remember that this task will be scored. Although there are some activities in which it is acceptable for you to share work with other pre-service teachers; this one must be completed alone.

4. Use the following web pages to complete this assignment:

http://www.fldoe.org/edstandards/code_of_ethics.asp

The Code of Ethics and the Principles of Professional Conduct of the Education Profession in Florida

SCENARIOS

1 Money: As the band pre-service teacher, you are in charge of collecting monies from student sales of chocolate bars. The students are counting on this sale to go on a field trip. You are being asked to be responsible for about $ 1,000. What do you do?

1. Advice: One of your students shows up alone at your home and wants to discuss a situation from school. He claims that a gang is bullying him and he can’t tell at school or he’ll be attacked. He has several bruises. That’s why he came to your house. What do you do?

2. Alcohol: During an over-night field trip with students, one of the chaperones brings a cooler of alcoholic beverages to share after the students go to bed. You check the field manual, which does not mention alcohol, but you are not sure if you are responsible for the students after they go to sleep. You would sure like one glass of wine or bottle of beer. What do you do?

3. Rights: One of your students tells you that he/she is LGBTQ. The student confession conflicts with your own personal and religious beliefs, and makes you uncomfortable. The student wants to talk to you for guidance, because the student is having trouble “fitting in.” The student is crying. What do you do?

4. The Press: Your principal is running for superintendent and a local reporter asks your opinion about the principal. (Assume two different scenarios here. In the first you think the principal is excellent; in the second you think the principal is incompetent.) What do you say to the public?

5. Videos: Your students have worked hard preparing for an examination, and they are asking that you reward them by showing the movie Bad Teacher during class time. One of them has rented it for you and shows up in class with it. What do you do?

6. Internet Pornography: Another pre-service teacher sends you e-mail containing funny but pornographic cartoons on the school e-mail server. What do you do?

7. Collegiality: You become aware of a possible moral/ethical problem involving a colleague, but you have no proof and you are not directly a witness. What do you do?

8. Public Role: You are a member of a civic group, club, church, or organization, and you are asked to speak representing that group on a controversial matter as a teacher. In your role as a teacher what do you do?

9. Classroom Policies: You have a new student who is diabetic. You have a rule posted at the front of the class that says, “No food in class.” Another student catches the new student eating candy in class and tells you. What do you do? What do you say to the student who told you?

10. Equal Opportunity: There is a state drama contest and you are the advisor for the drama team. You have a population of mostly Hispanic and Black students in your school and club. This year’s selection for the contest is a scene from Shakespeare. You need six parts and have eight majority White Non-Hispanic students in the club. You are sure that pronunciation is one of the major criteria for judging. How do you pick the parts?

11. Academic Dishonesty: Your students are talking with each other about an FSA administration given the previous day, and you hear them mention that your colleague who was proctoring the examination gave several students “clues” that assisted them in answering some questions. What do you do?

12. Self‑Competing and Personal Crisis: You have always had a normal life, but after the death of your brother in a car accident, you can’t help dwelling on how short life can be. You have no energy for teaching and go home and sleep all afternoon. You don’t grade papers or make lesson plans. A psychologist tells you that you are depressed. Your annual review is coming up, and you’re afraid of a bad report. What do you do?

13. Due Process: You attend a football game at your school, and sit beside some students in your science class who have a bad reputation. When you start to leave, you notice your wallet is missing and you’re sure you had it when you sat down. You’re sure the students took your wallet, but they left early. What do you do?

14. Free Speech and Equity in the Classroom: Your eighth grade class is studying earth science. You assign the class a science fair project with grading criteria. They are supposed to set up a poster display on a project related to the course content. One student comes in on display day and sets up a religious scene of God creating the world in seven days. You explain to the student that the display isn’t consistent with the criteria ‑ it’s not from a topic in the book. The student insists that his parents approved the topic after reading the science book and encouraged the project. Another student doesn’t have a project. He is from a very low SES family. How do you grade the two students?

15. Zero Tolerance: After a shooting, your district passes a strict regulation: weapons of any kind at school will result in expulsion for the rest of the year ‑ no exceptions. Several letters are sent home and the students are given assemblies where examples of knives, guns, and other weapons are displayed. You have a third grader, normally a good student, who shows you a bullet and asks you what it is … he doesn’t seem to know. He says he found it. You’re afraid that turning him in will result in expulsion. What do you do?

16. Supervisor Interactions: Your school has an assistant principal who constantly makes “adult comments”, dresses provocatively and, occasionally, winks or waves at you. This makes you uncomfortable but nobody else seems to mind. You report to this AP for an annual review and for permission for several educational requests. Do you say something to her, “go over her head” to the principal, ignore her, or file a complaint?

17. Student Rights: A student is absent from school every Monday for several weeks. You ask about it, because the student will soon be in violation of the district attendance policy. The policy states that students are to receive a failing grade if they miss more than ten days a semester. The student typically completes all work despite the absences. You ask the student why he is absent so often. He explains that his parents are divorced and Monday is the only day the court allows visitation with his father. His father helps him with schoolwork, but he lives too far away for the student to come to school. The parent and child ask for a waiver of the school attendance policy. What can you do?

18. Confidentiality: You are in the pre-service teachers’ lounge and cannot help but overhear several other pre-service teachers discussing student performance on examinations, including student names and scores. The pre-service teachers’ lounge is not very private; office personnel wander in to get coffee, and the door often stands open even though students pass by regularly and can overhear anything said. Should you say anything to the talkative pre-service teachers?

19. Academic Freedom: You teach high school social studies. The School Improvement Team decides your class would be perfect for the new sex education program. You don’t think it’s part of social studies, don’t agree with the sex education curriculum, and have no training in the topic. The principal says that training will be provided, “everything fits in social studies”, and social studies is not on the FSA, so you’re the one to teach it. What do you do?

For your School of Education Portfolio Reflection, use the following to guide you in writing your reflection for this assignment:

· For whom did you develop and/or implement the artifact (# students/ grade/age/ subject/classroom setting/LEP/ESE)?

· What theory/concepts/best practices did you use to develop and/ or implement

the artifact?

· What did your students learn, or what will they learn as result of the artifact being implemented / utilized by you?

· What did you learn as a result of creating/implementing the artifact?

· What would you do to improve the artifact and student learning?

· How did the assignment address the FEAP?