Influence of Law and Ethics

According to Rest (1994) the four components of ethical decision-making are:

Moral sensitivity refers to an awareness that actions have the potential to harm and/or benefit other people and that a moral perspective is valid.

Moral Judgement refers to the component in the process that requires reasoning where potential choice and consequences are determined to be ethical.

Moral Motivation refers to making ethical decisions during the process that are not influenced by individual’s intention. “…values that underlie any educational activity are themselves socially created in particular contexts by particular people, reflecting the values of those people themselves” (Menter, 2011, p. 48).

Moral Courage refers to ethical behaviour. This component involves being ethically responsible in the situation that arises.

Although these components are sequenced they are in no particular order and “failure at any step can result in failure to make an ethical decision” (Rest, 1994).

The importance of understanding this is vitally important in regards to the use or misuse of social media. As principal I view social media accounts of applicants and their digital footprint provides information that can often contribute to success or failure. 

This was highlighted on television show How I met your mother when character Marshall Ericksen was applying for a law job. His employer saw footage of him on Youtube intoxicated with two large beer bottles taped to his hands claiming he was Beercules (A play on Hercules). Although this is a light-hearted  example it provides the reality in today's society in the search to find the best person to fill a role. 

My Digital Footprint
Like most teachers I am a regular social media user with Facebook and Twitter being my go to. These two accounts are on me at all times whether I am working, studying, hanging with mates, drinking... Although all these activities are completed with different people, at different times and sometimes in different parts of NZ or the world I am a principal in all of these situations. And although that seems quite intense,  behaviour published to social media could lead to the termination of employment at it's most serious. 
This is not just selective to education with celebrities and sports stars regular apologising for 'posts' they put on their social media platforms. 

Professionalism 
The 2017 Draft Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession has clear examples of standards that include both professional and personal behaviour;
These include
- Modelling a high standard of behaviour, both inside and outside the classroom.
- Behaving professionally and being respectful.
- Using social media appropriately.

They also list inappropriate behaviours;
These include
- Sharing inappropriate information on social media.
- Sharing personal information without permission.
- Communicating about colleagues in a disrespectful way (including social media).

I am encouraged by the introduction of this document as a way to maintain integrity of the profession and bring to the forefront the importance of being professional both inside and outside the classroom. 

By creating a document, I believe it is now the responsibility of schools to educate staff. This will not be the opinion of all principals but unfortunately to assume all will have the same expectations is naive and leaving the school open to having to make decisions.


Reference List

Menter, I. (2011). A guide to practitioner research in education. London: Sage Publications Ltd.