Week 28: (Activity 4) Legal and Ethical Contexts in my Digital Practice

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Ethical Decision Making Model Factors (Ehrich, Kimber, Millwater & Cranston, 2011) in alignment with the Reflection Model of Rolfe, Freshwater & Jasper (2001) with reference to the Daniel Case Study (2018).





  1. The critical incident, which triggered the ethical dilemma - WHAT?
Two female students were on the brink of having a physical fight in the playground at morning break, surrounded by their peers. I was on duty and came across the incident. One of my older students had taken it upon herself to encourage the physical interaction and film the fight on her phone, while narrating the action (for the intention of sharing it on social media).

I dispersed the fight and the crowd and another teacher came to deal with the two students involved. I entered into communication with the older student (filming) and seized her phone. I now needed to unpack the situation, focusing on her part in the incident and misappropriate use of a digital device. 
  1. Various sometimes competing forces, each of which impacts on decision-making from its own particular bias - SO WHAT?
As a teacher at the school I had a duty of care to the students to protect their privacy and identities from being exposed on social media, in public or to the wider community with such involvement in a negative incident taking place within school time and on school property.

I also had a duty as an employee and educator to uphold the professional standards and values of the school in regard to their standing and reputation in the community as a place which does not tolerate violence or the encouragement of bullying. 
  1. The individual’s values, beliefs, and ethical orientations in relation to the dilemma
Older Student: Excitement to witness the physical incident during break time...spurring into an opportunity to gain popularity and notoriety within her peer group for filming and posting the incident. Overlooking the school's policy for appropriate use of a digital device on the premise that the phone was personally hers and she would do as she pleased with it and owned all content there upon.

Myself: I based my actions on protecting the identities of the student's involved, including the student who made a choice to film. I believed there would potentially be far-reaching and long term repercussions for their actions, had they been viewed on social media... with impact from the community including tarnishing the reputation of the school, damage to the reputations of the girls and perhaps even a knock on effect with further bullying/fighting being arranged outside of school, taking into account the socio-economic area and strained relationships of families in the community.
  1. The choice, which could be no action or the action taken formally or informally, internally or externally - NOW WHAT?
As the filming student's actions breached our school policy on appropriate use of a digital device - the choice was clear to take action, formally and at first internally with a debrief with myself, the deputy head and Principal.

The decision was then made to inform and consult with the student's parents and pass on an exclusion to the student to condemn the severity of their actions, after working through the potential impact of what could have occurred had their video content been streamed live on Facebook or posted to social media. 
  1. The action (or non-action) can create particular types of implications for the individual, organisation and the community, and from which new incidents or dilemmas can arise
The action detailed above reinforced the school's policies and procedures in regards to dealing with such a serious breach of digital device use, by a student. The implications were that the student became better aware of the potential far-reaching implications of her actions and future impact this could have posed for herself, her peers and the school community.

Having this experience, built my confidence in reinforcing appropriate use of digital devices with my students across the board (both inside and outside of class). The school also became extra-vigilant in noting how students were using their phones during break times and promoting appropriate use.

 Ehrich, L. C. , Kimber M., Millwater, J. & Cranston, N. (2011). Ethical dilemmas: a model to understand teacher practice, Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 17:2, 173-185, DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2011.539794

Ethical dilemmas - Daniel case study. (2018). TED-Ed. Retrieved 7 November 2018, from https://ed.ted.com/on/D36kZ4fa


 Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., & Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection for nursing and the helping professions: A user's guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

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