Educator Ethics“Post Unto Others …”

Frederick S. Lane

NASDTECKansas City, MO

10 June 2014

“In civilized life, law floats on a sea of

ethics.”-- Chief Justice Earl Warren

Lecture Overview• A Hierarchy of Human

Conduct• Law, Morality & Ethics• Digital Disruption• Ethical Cybertraps• Teaching Ethics, Pre- and

Post-Certification

Hierarchy of Human Conduct

Law

Ethics

Morality

Law, Morality, and Ethics

• Law: Objective Standards• Statutes, Regulations, Codes of

Conduct, Policies, Procedures• Admonitions or Prohibitions• Generally Inflexible• Slow to Adapt• Laws May Be Immoral

Law, Morality, and Ethics

• Morality: Subjective Values• Multiple Sources: Religion,

Society, Family, Peers, Media• General Agreement but Highly

Individualized• May Be Inconsistently Applied

(Moral Relativism)• It May Be Moral to Break Laws

Law, Morality, and Ethics

• Ethics: Balancing Law and Morality

• Frameworks for the Application of Personal and Social Values• Virtue (Aristotle)• Duty (Kant)• Utility/Consequence (Bentham/Mill)

• More Flexible than Law, Less Subjective than Morality

Digital Disruption• Technology Outpaces Law• Technology Overwhelms

Morality• Socrates opposed the use of writing,

believing it to be immoral• Pace of change increases risk we

will lose our moral bearings

• Ethics Assist Us in Acting Justly and Rightly in New Situations

Warp Speed, Mr. Sulu

• 2400 BCE – Invention of abacus (Babylonia)• 1977 – Apple II• 1981 – IBM PC• 1993 – Netscape• 1998 – Google• 2004 – Thefacebook / Razr / Sexting• 2005 – YouTube• 2007 – iPhone• 2008 – iTunes App Store• 2010 – iPad• 2011 – Snapchat

The Ethics of Texting

• Student Texts Teacher at 10pm, Asking for Homework

• Teacher Replies with Book and Page Numbers• Illegal?: Probably Not• Immoral?: No• Unethical?: Yes

• 1-to-1 Unmoderated Interaction• Late Night Interaction• Probable Intrusion to Student’s Bedroom• Potential Gateway to Inappropriate Chats• Why Does Student Have Teacher’s Cell Number?

Christine Rubino• “After today, I’m thinking the

beach sounds like a wonderful idea for my 5th graders. I HATE THEIR GUTS! They are all the devils spawn!” – Christine Rubino, Facebook, 6/23/2010

• Friend comment: “oh you would let little Kwame float away!”

• Rubino reply: “Yes, I wld not throw a life jacket in for a million!!”

Christine Rubino• Exchange occurred one day

after 12-year-old girl drowned on school trip to beach

• Colleague and FB ‘friend’ printed out exchange for administrators

• Rubino terminated but ultimately reinstated with 2 year suspension without pay

Christine Rubino• Illegal?: No (in fact, protected speech)• Immoral? Arguably:• Unkind thoughts• Public expression of unkind thoughts• But no malicious action

• Unethical? Probably:• Not virtuous• Not professional or consistent with her duty

as an educator• Not likely to lead to a beneficial outcome or

good consequence for herself or students

An Ethical Cybertrap• Ting-Yi Oei, Assistant Principal at

Freedom HS in So. Riding, VA (Loudoun County)

• Asked to investigate rumors of sexting at Freedom HS

• “Inappropriate” image was forwarded to Oei’s cellphone, then to computer

• Charged with “failure to report,” then “contributing to delinquency of a minor”

• Charges ultimately dismissed

An Ethical Cybertrap• Illegal?: Possibly• Distribution of child pornography• Possession of child pornography

• Immoral?: Depends – are you an absolutist or relativist?

• Unethical?: No (with caveat)• Demonstrated compassion for student• Acted under instructions from superior• Behavior consistent with norms at the

time• Caveat: Should have informed parent?

Cyberethics for Educators

• Pre- and Post-Certification Training• Frameworks for Cyberethical

Behavior• Promotion of Sound Decision-

Making Online and Off• Modeling Cyberethical Behavior for

Students• Educating Cyber Citizens for 21st

Century

Contact Information

• E-Mail:• FSLane3@gmail.com

• Telephone:• 802-318-4604

• Twitter• @Cybertraps, @FSL3

• LinkedIn:• www.linkedin.com/in/fredericklane/

• SlideShare.net• www.slideshare.net/FSL3www.FrederickLane.co

mCybertraps.wordpress.com

Educator Ethics“Post Unto Others …”

Frederick S. Lane

NASDTECKansas City, MO

10 June 2014