When considering medical ethics, the students we teach and families we work with come from all walks of life. With this comes a broad range of medical diagnoses that require varying degrees of privacy and care, but all are in need of an ethical code for a school and the classroom teacher to abide by. These diagnoses range from behavioural and developmental disorders to varying degrees of physical conditions. As a teacher we must be considerate of all who are affected and the impact that this has on their well-being and schooling. Of equal importance is the environmental ethics we must instill in our students. In today's world, where we are in very real danger of diminishing our non-renewable resources such as oil, it has never been more important that environmental ethics become an active part of my professional practice. We must teach to the importance of considering the impact we are having on the environment and encourage proactive effort to make a change.
Probably the most relevant ethical application in my practice to date has been the use of digital resources, especially in relation to students. Collste states that in recent years, the development of some applied ethics relates directly to new moral problems that have arisen due to the new technologies that have been introduced. Education is going through a major overhaul at the moment as our students have access to an extensive range of digital devices and online tools. When it comes to the ethics involved in this development, I believe it is imperative that we as educators are educating our students to the best of our ability so they can become active, digital citizens who use this enormous resource to make a difference in the world, rather than just consuming applications, games and social media.
When discussing professional ethics, Göran Collste attributes these three common, moral norms in society:
1. Relations to people dependent on professional work and service
These relations include, for example, relations between teacher and pupil, doctor and patient, salesmen and customer. Such relations generate professional moral norms, like honesty, fidelity, care and safety.
2. Relations to workmates
Almost all employees have workmates and colleagues. The relation between workmates generates professional moral norms of loyalty and solidarity.
3. Relations to employers
Much professional work is performed as employment regulated by a contract. A professional stands in relation to an employer. Even these relations generate moral norms, for example, loyalty and confidentiality.My practice is based around building relationships with students, whānau, school staff and community, which means the professional ethics I must adhere to are vast. The school has a code of compliance that each teacher must follow that illustrates the importance of privacy, confidence and professional conduct. Along with this, there are social, digital, cultural and economic ethics I must consider when applying my practice. As addressed in my previous blog post, the context of my practice is that of a inner city school with a high percentage of non-english speakers, meaning I must proactively pursue relationships with these students and their families to ensure they feel their child is being cared for and is safe in our school environment.
I believe that as a teacher, my profession, alongside whānau, holds the responsibility to prepare each new generation for society. This goes beyond ensuring the student has extensive knowledge of core curriculum areas such as reading, writing and maths. It extends to us providing them with a sound understanding of how the world works and giving them the resources and moral and ethical understanding to become well rounded citizens who actively contribute to our society.
Resources used:
Collste, G. (2012) Applied Professional Ethics. KEMANUSIAANVol. 19, No. 1,(2012), 17–33. Retrieved from: http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol19_1_2012/KAJH19_1_2012_2.pdf
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