Someone is always watching and willing to post on social media, so the College of Education seeks to develop the Wyoming Ethical Initiative Preparation Program to teach students the importance of making sound decisions in difficult situations.
The Trustees Education Initiative governing board and the board of trustees has approved the program.
“People in other professions such as Law have an ethics board they can call for advice, but teachers have to answer the problem in the moment,” TEI Executive Director Rebecca Watts said.
Through this program, graduates from the College of Education will have the required knowledge to handle any ethical dilemma. Watts shared the following example.
“You are the advisor for the debate club and you’ve just returned from an away competition,” Watts said. “It is now 7:30 at night, and there is only one student that hasn’t been picked up. Their parents work at the hospital and cannot come get them. Do you drive them home?”
The answer may seem obvious, but a professional educator is not ethically supposed to drive a student home alone.
Associate Dean of the college of education Leslie Rush said that contacting other sources, such as community agencies, police or the parents’ workplace, could be necessary.
“The idea is to show that these dilemmas are not entirely black and white,” Rush said. “Even with the best intentions, things can easily go awry.”
Most ethical issues within scholastic settings have the teacher’s word against those of the students, placing professional educators in a precarious position, especially with social media and perceived instances that can be posted and shared, jeopardizing a teacher’s integrity.
“This program includes a real understanding of social media and the role that can play in the perceptions of behaviors as well as the actuality of behaviors,” Rush said. “It’s our responsibility to provide this opportunity for our students so they can be ethically prepared.”
The ethics education program will be delivered in online modules from ProEthica, which adheres to the Model Code of Education Ethics. The modules will act as the foundation for the case studies, created by the faculty for students to review in class.
“People want to support the health and well-being of their students, but the challenge of that is the risk the educator then puts themselves at,” Watts said. “This preparation will be intentional, and when you look at the challenges of the 21st century and the complexities facing us, professional ethics preparation needs to be utilized in pre-service training.”
Elementary education major Tabi Stewart sees the value in having specific training for the complex ethical issues within her field.
“It will help teachers, in general, to know the differences in ethical decisions to help them know how to make professional choices,” Stewart said. “Sometimes it’s hard to know where the line is, so I think this program will be extremely useful and help prevent a lot of future problems.”
Faculty members of the college of education will assess the program’s implementation during the coming academic year.
