AMANDA BARON ANABEL GONZALEZ SCHOOL LAW AND ETHICS

CLASSROOM LAW  Defensive Teaching – teachers’ educational decisions are motivated by a desire to avoid legal challenges  Fewer laws would reduce their legal concerns and improve the quality of education  Many teachers are unaware of their legal rights and responsibilities  Can lead to a costly professional blind spot  Today, teachers and students can institute legal action if they believe that their constitutional right has been threatened

TEACHERS’ RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES  Applying for a position  Sexual harassment  Personal lifestyle  Teachers’ academic freedom  Legal liability (negligence)  Teachers’ freedom of speech  Copying published material

TEACHER LIABILITY  Misfeasance – Failure to conduct in an appropriate manner an act that might otherwise have been lawfully performed  Using too much force to break up a fight  Nonfeasance – Failure to perform an act that one has a duty to perform  Not supervising assigned area such as playground or detention  Malfeasance – An act that cannot be done lawfully regardless of how it was performed  Bringing marijuana to school

STUDENTS’ RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES  Student records  Suspension and discipline  Freedom of speech  School prayer  Search and seizure  Freedom of the press  HIV-infected students  Sexual harassment

TEACHING AND ETHICS  Cheating: the dishonor role  Social networking in school  Protecting your students  Moral education  Ethical issues in the classroom

CHEATING: THE DISHONOR ROLE

 90% of teens admit to cheating  Students blame external factors  Students are immersed in a less-than-honest culture  Students lack honesty when plagiarizing  Students have discovered high tech forms of cheating  Teachers can be proactive and work with students to promote honesty over deceit  Programs such as Turnitin.com offer schools plagiarism detection services

CHEATING HAS LED TO…  A lack in academic and critical thinking skills  Ex. Synthesizing and summarizing information  By developing these skills, plagiarism will decrease  Teachers can:  Work with students to promote honesty  Teach students to use citations properly  Develop their own insights  Apply a consistent no-cheating policy

SOCIAL NETWORKING IN SCHOOL  Some teachers connect with students through social media  When doing so teachers should:  Create separate accounts  Inform parents and give the option to opt. out  Establish clear rules and only talk about classroom or school matters  Have parent approval before posting pictures of students  Maintain confidentiality

PROTECTING  Child abuse occurs in all socioeconomic levels, religions, and levels of education  If something is off about a student, monitor them and check with other teachers if they have noticed the same thing  Report all cases of suspected child abuse  Not considered an accusation

APPROACHES TO MORAL EDUCATION  Character Education – Assume there are core attributes to moral education that should be taught directly in school  Values Clarification – Designed to help students develop and eventually act on their values  Moral Stages of Development – Involves levels. At the highest level individuals act on principles that may violate conventional laws  Comprehensive Values Education – A hybrid of all approaches to moral education

CLASSROOMS THAT EXPLORE ETHICAL ISSUES  Ethical issues are faced daily  Moral guidelines are different for each teacher

THE SETTING  Climate – environment of respect that encourages diverse points of view  School and class rules – explain reasoning behind rules  Parents and community – allow involvement in developing mission statements and ethical codes

THE TEACHER  Model – demonstrate ethical lessons taught  Interpersonal skills – encourage students to share their concerns  Commitment – confront ethical dilemmas  Reflection skills – analyze a dilemma objectively and evaluate its essential components  Personal opinions – do not promote personal points of view

REFERENCES  Sadker, D. M., Zittleman, K.R, (2013). Teachers, Schools, and Society Florida Edition: Philosophy of Education. New York, NY: Mc Graw-Hill