Mind Lab Post Grad: Week 28: Legal & ethical contexts in my digital practice

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Step 1 (What): Recently I created a digital technology document for parents to give written consent for images of their child.  This week I reviewed the document and discovered that it does not clearly state that the school has permission to display images of children on blogs or the school website.  It also does not include video footage.  Does all this need to be included in the consent form? Teachers can see if students have permission for Facebook or not and are expected to check before sharing any images.  I believe this is a common ethical dilemma that I may have to face in the future.  A teacher has taken photos and videos of the students actively learning and has shared them on a public blog and the school website.  A parent is not comfortable with this even though the form was signed at enrolment.
Step 2 (So What): I will use Ehrich, Kimber, Millwater & Cranston’s (2011) ethical decision-making framework to critique and my ethical dilemma. 

With professional ethics we have the Our Code Our Standards (2017) to live up to.  This dilemma reflects whanaungatanga, where we nurture positive relationships with learners, their families and the wider community.  Sharing students learning online in these different ways can include families and the wider community in an informal way as they see what is happening in the children’s class and school from wherever they are in the world.  However, if a parent is unaware their child is on show in this way it could be seen negatively.  Therefore, our organisational culture needs to be modified because of this dilemma.  This also links to the society and community aspect of the framework.
The digital technologies document with parent consent needs to be reviewed and updated annually to include new platforms.  The booklet for families about our school needs to include this information and it needs to be explained when new students enrol, especially when there is a language barrier.  A reminder could go home at the beginning of each year and teachers need to be reminded that it is their responsibility to check all students in their class have permission for photos to be shared online.  The school newsletter could remind parents about the document signed on enrolment along with the benefits of sharing the learning in this way and suggest contacting the school if they want to change this.  I consider these choices to be formal and internal.  Formal because we are changing our processes to ensure this does not happen again.  Regarding the parents that are upset about their child’s photos being online, the photos can be removed, and a meeting can be held with the parents to explain the form and changes that will happen with our processes from now on. 
I could ignore the dilemma; however, I do believe that our school processes could improve from it.  The teacher could deal with it alone and delete the images and apologise and make a note not to upload images of that child again.  This would be an informal action, but other teachers could also learn from this dilemma and be reminded to check that all children have permission before posting.
Step 3 (Now What): The Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession identify that a commitment to families is to engage families in their children’s learning (Education Council, 2017).  Sharing learning a range of platforms online is giving families a different insight into learning.  However, it is unprofessional and disrespectful to parents and whanau to not be aware of photos of their child online.
References
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
Education Council. (2017). Our Code Our Standards. Retrieved from: https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/file...


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