Savana Gill

Lesson 1 Discussion

 

The Georgia Ethics Test Questions

• What was your score on this 20 question test?

  • I got all of the questions but 2 right.

 

• Describe what you discovered by taking this test. For example, did anything surprise you? Write at least one full paragraph.

  • By taking this test i discovered some things that i didn't know.  

 

General Ethics Questions

• Who was your favorite teacher? Why? Identify the ethical dimensions inherent in the reasons you cite.

  • My favorite teacher throughout my school experience was my 9th grade math teacher. She was the one that inspired me to be a teacher. She had great teacher ethics. I think that she followed all of them correctly. She may not have been perfect but she was pretty close to it. She went above and beyond in the classroom. She made sure that each of her students were doing his/her work to pass her class.

 

• Think about your philosophy of teaching – How does this communicate your personal ethical code?

  • My personal ethical code is that i will make sure that i do not break any of the code of ethics. I want to make sure that i do my best at my teaching as well.

 

• Why are teachers held to a higher standard of conduct than other professions?

  • I think that teachers are held to a higher standard because we are going to be teaching the future of America. We as teachers have to make sure that our students are being taught what they are needed to be taught in order for them to succeed. I think that teachers have the hardest job because our students look up to us to make sure that we are giving them the right information.

 

• Why do these conduct expectations apply to a teacher’s personal life as well as his or her private life?

  • These apply to both a teacher's private and personal because a teacher has to make sure that he/she is setting a good example to his/her students. If a teacher's goes out somewhere and they see one of their students, they need to make sure that they are not acting like a fool in front of them. Whether teachers know it or not, their students do look up to them. If a student saw a teacher doing the wrong thing, they are not going to look at that teacher the same way again.

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• Does the teaching profession need a code of conduct? Why?

  • I think that the teaching profession does need a code of conduct. I think this because without it, teachers would just do whatever they felt like they wanted to do. Although some teachers do not always follow this code, i think that it need to still be put out there for the teachers.

 

• Which of the areas of the Code might be the most challenging for a new teacher? Why?

  • I think that the areas  that might be the most difficult to new teachers would have to be Standard 3(Alcohol and drugs). I think this because if a young new teacher comes in, and they was a partier and drinker, they are going to have to make a big adjustment to change the way that they were drinking.

 

 

Case Study Video 1 Questions (The Ethical Teacher)

• What could Daphne have done differently?  If you were in Daphne's situation, what would you have done?

  • What she should have done differently was to tell her boyfriend that she could not leave her job. She should have explained to him that she could not break her contract. If i was in her situation i probably would just had to tell him that i am not leaving my job or my students that he can wait until the contract is up for me to come there.

 

• Although the video mainly focuses on the professional repercussions to Daphne's actions, her decisions also had an effect on her personal life.  Identify all of the areas of Daphne Hartford's life that were affected.

  • The areas that were affected was her love life, and her mindset for future teaching jobs and also the trust she had with her students.

 

• Immanuel Kant proposed the concept of "universality" as a test when considering whether an action is ethical or not.  In Kant's view of universality, people should act only in a way that would be acceptable if it was the moral standard for all to follow.  Would it be acceptable for everyone to act the way Daphne Hartford acted?  How would that affect schools and students' learning?

  • No it would not be acceptable for everyone to act the way that she acted. If everyone acted the way that she acted, the schools would not have the appropriate teachers to make sure that their students are learning what they need to know. The students learning would be affected because they would not have a good teacher for them to be able to learn what they need to know in order to pass. Not every teacher teaches the same.

 

• Do you feel that Daphne Hartford's actions were unethical or unprofessional? Why or why not?

  • I think that they were both unethical and unprofessional. I think this because she ended up breaking her contract which was unethical and then she left her students hanging which was unprofessional.

 

Case Study Video 2 Questions (Relationships with Students)

• According to the Georgia Code of Ethics, what are the professional expectations of teachers with regard to their relationships with students?

  • That they should maintain a professional relationship with their student in and out of the classroom.

 

• How can a teacher foster positive, professional relationships with students?

  • A teacher can have positive , professional relationships with their students by just telling them how great they are doing in the classroom.

 

• How is the appropriate teacher-student boundary defined?

  • The boundary is defined by how close a teacher gets to a student without getting the wrong signals.

 

• In many situations where teachers have inappropriate relationships with students, traditional teaching boundaries are crossed and the teacher-student relationship becomes blurred.  What events led to the boundaries becoming crossed?  How did the teacher-student relationship become blurred? What was the impact of the relationship on the student?

  • The events that led to the boundaries becoming crossed is where a teacher started to make her feel uncomfortable. When it started to become blurred was when he asked her to come and meet him at the park. The impact of the relationship on the student was that she will probably never trust him again, and probably never wants to see him again.

 

• Do you agree with the action that Kim's mother took to protect her child?

  • I do agree with the actions that her mother took. If that were me and my kid, i probably would have done the same thing.

 

• If you suspected a colleague of committing this type of behavior, what would you do? Do you feel that you have a duty to report the misconduct of colleagues?  What factors inform your conclusion?

  • If a colleague of mine were committing something like this, i would report it. I do feel i have a duty to make sure that my colleagues are making right decisions even if that means to report them when they do the wrong things.

 

 

Case Study Video 3 Questions (Fostering and Ethical School Climate)

• Teachers have a fiduciary responsibility to act in their students’ best interest and protect them from harm (physically, emotionally and psychological). Is the discipline policy implemented by this teacher consistent with this expectation? Explain.

  • No it is not consistent with those expectations. After the student faced the beating, he was probably physically and emotionally hurt not only by the other students but also by the teacher, one who is supposed to protect their students from violence.

 

• The teacher could argue that doing situps and pushups is acceptable considering these are activities that students would be asked to do in their physical education classes.  Do you agree with this argument?

  • I somewhat agree with this argument. I only agree because it's something they do in their physical education class but then you can take it too far. Like i believe that he could have just said do 5 of each and have the student sit down afterwards. It was not right for the teacher to let this other students beat the student for not doing the situps or pushups. Or instead of making letting the students beat him he could have just sent him to the office for them to take care of for being tardy.

 

• How is this case different from school corporal punishment?

  • This case is different because the teacher let the other students beat up on the student instead of letting the principal handle it.

 

• What type of classroom culture does this discipline policy create?

  • This classroom culture is showing the students that it is ok to beat up on someone if they do not listen to you.

Summary:

This lesson has opened my eyes about the different kinds of things that i will have to face when i become a teacher at a school. It has made me really think about my future to becoming a teacher and to make sure that i will not make the same mistakes that the teachers have made. The videos were also very informative as well as the little test at the beginning of the lesson.