WIGGENHORN - ETHICS

ETHICS IN EDUCATION Andrew D. Wiggenhorn Concordia University Chicago EDUC 1070 15 April 2014

WIGGENHORN - ETHICS Ethics in Education When it comes to the topic of ethics, there is only one thing that can be universally agreed upon: no one will ever agree on everything. Many people unfortunately see ethics as subjective; that is, they believe that each person can decide for him- or herself what is or is not ethically sound. This mindset, however, cannot apply to everything in life. Many aspects of ethics are governed by laws and/or regulations that can result in serious consequences if not followed. One such area is that of teaching and education. There are many issues in education that require great ethical consideration for teachers and students everywhere, especially with the rise of technology. Teachers have moral responsibilities as those who are charged with raising up a new generation. Therefore, teachers have a duty when using technology to ethically manage social issues, educational issues, cultural/equity issues, and legal issues when teaching their students.

The first area in which teachers should be morally conscious is the realm of social issues. In a society of mobile technology, this is becoming increasingly important. Teachers have a responsibility to teach safe and proper use of technology to students who have every opportunity to misuse technology in ways that could potentially be harmful to others. Cyberbullying is one way that technology use can seriously impact a persons life in a negative way. According to a study done by the Cyberbullying Research Center (2010), twenty percent of students polled have been a victim of cyberbullying at some time, and twenty percent of students polled admit to cyberbullying others. This is a very real problem, and educators must teach their students to use the internet and other technology in only positive ways. Another aspect of social issues with technology is the possible overuse of technology. This is a possible issue not just for students but for teachers, as well. Robert Gagne, an educational theorist who taught cognitive-behavioral

WIGGENHORN - ETHICS

theory, believed that learning is achieved only in appropriate educational environments (Roblyer & Doering, 2013). A teacher who overuses technology runs the risk of losing that ideal environment of teaching. Educational issues revolve less around the students and more around the teacher. Accountability is a big factor in the ethics of educational issues, and students should certainly be taught to give credit where credit is due in their research. However, teacher accountability is just as important, especially when it involves the confidentiality of their pupils. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) states that parents only have the right to freely access their childs educational records until they are either eighteen or in an educational institution higher than secondary level (U.S. Department of Education). Teachers have a legal and moral responsibility to adhere to these privacy rules, and they must comply with the rights given to eligible students or pre-eligibility students parents. The third issue to be addressed in educational ethics is that of culture and equity. This, unfortunately, can be a difficult area of ethics for many people. In this area of ethics, or any other for that matter, a teacher dealing with diverse students or kids with special needs may find themselves in situations where a decision must be made to choose the lesser of two evils. Christopher Martin points out that an overly specified conception of teacher practice can promote a particular understanding of this moral commitment in a way inappropriate to specific contexts (2013, p. 5). A teachers specific beliefs about certain topics may conflict in a situation where he/she must make a difficult decision regarding ethics. This type of situation can often arise regarding copyrighted material and fair use policies, which will be briefly discussed in the following paragraph. This can also be a problem regarding the problem of the digital divide, which is the comparative amount of technology available to various social classes which

WIGGENHORN - ETHICS affects the learning of those with less access to technology (Roblyer & Doering, 2013). A teacher has a responsibility to make sure that all students get an equal education regardless of technological availability based on economic status. Educating with equity also involves

teaching to all learning styles. Teachers should make an effort to teach to every student, not just the select few. To this end, a teacher should diversify teaching methods in order to teach to all learning styles. Howard Gardner developed a theory of multiple intelligences, saying that every child learns in a different way, and teachers should strive to accommodate all learning styles (Roblyer & Doering, 2013). Finally, teachers have a responsibility to adhere to legal issues. The biggest problem among educators in the swamp of legal restrictions is that of copyrighting. There are tons of copyright laws in place to protect the creators of various works, and teachers constantly violate these laws, thereby setting a poor example for students. While teachers do have fair license in certain situations specified in Section 107 of the Copyright Act, they do not have a right to steal work from anyone protected under copyright law (Starr, 2010). Teachers must be aware of how they can legally use materials in their classroom that do not belong to them, and they must also be diligent in teaching their students how to properly use sources they reference in assignments. The question of morality is not one that can always be answered in life. However, it is clear that ethics plays a large role in technology as it pertains to education. Educators must be conscious of social, educational, cultural/equity, and legal issues both in using technology and in teaching proper use of it to students. Because of this, I hereby pledge as a future educator to adhere to all ethical/legal principles described in this paper and ordained both by the government of the United States of America and by God Himself. As an educator, I pledge to set a positive ethical example to my students in all that I do. May God help me to do all of this as I have said.

WIGGENHORN - ETHICS References Martin, Christopher. (2013). On the Educational Value of Philosophical Ethics for Teacher Education: The Practice of Ethical Inquiry as Liberal Education. Curriculum Inquiry, 43(2), 189-209. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=6a7da660-b7b4-41fd-a7ee700906054a4a%40sessionmgr4001&vid=8&hid=4107 Patchin, Justin W. (2013). Cyberbullying Research Center. (2010). Retrieved from http://cyberbullying.us/2010-data/

Roblyer, M.D. & Doering, Aaron H. (2013). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Starr, Linda. (2010). Is Fair Use a License to Steal? Part 2 of a Series on Copyright and Fair Use. Education World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280b.shtml U.S. Department of Education. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html