Week 28 - Ethical Dilemmas

Step 1 (What):
The main ethical dilemma I have come across during my action plan is the use of students
to gather data regarding their teachers performance. Students are asked to rate teachers
on a sliding scale based on the skills and framework we devised for Project Based Learning
to assess the effects of using the framework on delivering what students need to scaffold them.
Prior to the action it was noted that Students may feel like they cannot rate their teachers poorly or
some students may deliberately rate their teachers poorly dependent on their relationship with the teacher.
This was planned to be mitigated with the onus put on them to provide evidence of their learning in these
circumstances. Bourke (2013) suggests giving students multiple opportunities for informed dissent to
withdraw from participation in order to maintain ethical principles and it is important that this data is
kept anonymous from the teachers.
The ethical dilemma I came across was when gathering data regarding a teacher, the student felt
that the teacher spent a lot of time on their computer and noted that they were using social media.
This was the critical incident.


Step 2 (So What):
Ehrich’s (2011) model suggested that the forces at play in this dilema are that I have a duty of care
for the student and have concern for the rest of the students and for the well being of the teacher.
Professional ethics refer to the idea that professional teachers need to operate under the code of
conduct. Therefore professional ethics must lead the decision making. Legal issues and policies
have to come into account as well as the teachers sign a cybersafety agreement regarding the use
of ICT within the school. The ? factor needs to be accounted for as this student or other students
may share this with parents and the impact of this is unknown, therefore the class or school
community is a factor to be accounted for.
Step 3 (Now What):
The culture of the organisation and the institutional context are important here and due to the fact
that there are no clear procedures for dealing with such an issue decisions will need to be made.
Options would be to
  • ignore the claim made by the student
  • Gain further evidence about the teacher before proceeding to action
  • Talk directly to the teacher
  • Talk with the team leader and gain their advice or ask them to talk with the teacher
Under the guide of  Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession
we can see this dilemma comes under all the key principles of the code - Whakamana,
empowering all learners, manaakitanga - creating a learning environment, Pono - acting in ethical
ways and Whanaungatanga - engaging in positive and collaborative with learners.

Given the context of how the information was obtained to gain insight into the effectiveness of the
PBL framework and teacher efficacy in it’s use, the best option at this stage would be to not
complete any action at this stage. We have no evidence for confrontation and the teacher will
probably get defensive and trust will be compromised. Instead, findings of the research will be
shared and a lack of teacher engagement with students and conferencing highlighted. Teachers
will work alongside an expert to model and facilitate how to engage with students. The team leader
will be informed of the ethical dilemma and the action taken and it would be important to monitor
progress and change of behaviour with this teacher and decide with team leader if further action
needs to be taken.

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