 The football coach comes to you and asks you to raise the grade of one of their players that has become ineligible.  You smell alcohol on the breath of a fellow teacher. Which one is an ethical issue? Which one is a legal issue?

 The difference between Ethics & Law  Learn the characteristics & the sources of ethical teaching  Three ways teachers influence students ethically  Teacher and the law  Teacher’s Liability & Precautions  Consequences of our actions

 We need to act and respond as a professional, as a teacher  Parents want their children to be taught by ethical people  We as Teachers need to aware of what we are liable for, and...  The potential consequences of our actions

Ethics  Refers to a system or a code of morality embraced by a particular person or group  May be invisible obligations that we perceive  Ideas that are less tangible and observable Laws  A written rule that a member of a given community must follow  Created by legitimate authority of a particular community, state or nation  Can be judged, and often penalize the actual behavior of individuals  Concrete, made by people written down for the public to see

 Appreciation for Moral Deliberation  The complex moral dimension of the problem and be aware that care must be taken to protect the rights of all parties  Empathy  The ability to mentally “get inside the skin” of another person. We need to feel what the other in an ethically troublesome situation are feeling  Knowledge  Must remember the facts that will enable us to put Issue into context  Reasoning  Move through an issue step by step and draw conclusions or compare to a particular event or action with some mortal principle and come to a conclusion  Courage  To feel, to know and to reason are not enough. To be ethically correct often requires the willpower to act in what we perceive to be the right way rather in the comfortable way  Interpersonal Skills  Requires sensitivity and courage. Requires communication skills to deal sensitively with issues that demand delicacy. Have to have the ability to use the right words, with the right feeling and tone, and address the issue at hand openly and honestly

 Human Example  What should I do?  We learn from the example of others  Spiritual and Religious Code  Bible, Koran  Secular Guides  Everyday life  Reason  What are the consequences?  Moral Compass  Mental Magnet

 Personal example  The way you treat your students & do your work demonstrates your ethical value  Classroom climate  Creating an environment of safety and trust lets students learn  Ethical dialogue  Discussing core ethical values, helps students build their own ethics

 In Loco Parentis  In the place of parents  Teachers are required to be much more deliberate and cautious to prevent an infringement of student’s rights  Attitude has changed past few decades over the authority of adults and teachers  Many students are more fixated on their rights than on their responsibilities

 Liability  means blame  It implies that a teacher behaved negligently or intentionally in a way in which injuries occurred because of their actions or negligence  Teachers are responsible for safety & well being of students in classroom, work space and activities they oversee

 Courts have not found teachers liable for student injuries when they can demonstrate they have taken reasonable precautions  They made a reasonable attempt to anticipate dangerous situations  They provide proper supervision  They took precautions  They established rules  They gave a warning to minimize the chances of students getting hurt

 If you suspect that a child is being abused any form, are you legally bound to report it?  YES! To protect a teacher from reaction of a incorrect report or from angering an offending parent, the reports are kept confidential.  You break/stop a fight and a one of the students suffer a injury. Could you be held liable?  Typically the courts would find the teacher not liable  If you see a fight happening and do nothing to stop it and a student receives an injury. Could you be held liable?  Yes, you could be held liable  Level of potential harm to teacher considered

 You leave your emotional/behavioral disordered (EBD) class in the gymnasium for a game of basketball. You leave to go take a phone call and in your absence a fight broke out and a student is bleeding. Could you be held liable?  A lawsuit and liability would be a definite possibility in this scenario. Whether liability would be found by a court, however, would depend on variables such as the length of time the class was left unattended, the history of the students, and what a "reasonable" person would have done in a similar situation

 Due Process must be followed  Fairness should be rendered and teacher’s right as individuals should not be violated  Two Types of Due Process  Substantive Due Process Has to do with the issue itself Is this matter substantive enough to deny a teacher employment?  Procedural Due Process Concerns the fairness of the process followed Exists so individual teachers are protected from random acts against them

 Teachers need to know what their ethical beliefs are and how they are going to incorporate that into their teaching.  They also need to know what they are liable for and the consequences they could face for their actions.

Ryan, K., & Cooper, J. (2013). Those who can, teach, pp Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Yell, M. L. (March, 1999). Teacher Liability for Student Injury and Misconduct. Retrieved March 19, 2013, from Beyond Behavior: e/february99/1.htm