While many have lamented the death of blogging, I’m not one of them. In fact, I still am not convinced of a better way to personalize your web experience. As an educator, I view them as learning spaces where metacognition is king. That’s not the thrust of this post but I wanted to make that clear.
My pre-service teachers are required to blog. I take great pleasure as they take ownership of those spaces and begin to share their passions, question things and connect ideas with others. One of my students has recently purchased his own domain name and hosting space. I don’t expect everyone to do that but applaud his efforts. The other day he posted a pretty compelling argument that questioned the practice at the school his brother attends. He did not identify the school. I’m sure a little investigation could have revealed the school but this was not the point of the post. His post was meant to illuminate a larger discussion of equity and student recognition. He got several comments and generated some good discussion.
A few days later the principal of the school called him upset with the posting but stated the staff was discussing changing the policy. The principal was upset that Kyle did not come to him privately to discuss the matter. I discussed it with Kyle and we agreed that by posting it online it likely garnered enough attention to warrant a staff discussion. A private conversation may not have.
So the question remains, should he have posted it? Did he break any ethical code? My instinct is to say no to both but I want to throw it out there. I don’t want us to hide behind our blog or use it as a place to rant but a place to converse.
These are the types of conversations and issues that should be discussed. I don’t want my students to shy away from controversy but tackle it. A blog is a great place to get feedback and insights that you may never get in your local context. I’d love all my students to post something that caused schools to consider to change.
I think any conversation of ‘A’ code of blogging is unhelpful. What may be acceptable to one group, culture, age group etc… might not work for another. I think its very important to have the conversation of what things might be appropriate culturally regardless of whether its on a blog or not. If your student would feel comfortable saying what they said in their blog in a public space where the brother, an educator from that school or someone else would hear it… then its fine. If your student would not feel comfortable with that.. then its not fine.
I always think of that student from athabasca who called me a wingnut last year. I don’t mind being called a wingnut. But i tracked the student down and asked him whether he felt comfortable with me knowing that he called me that and whether he would have written it knowing that i would hear it. He was not. Our role as educators is to confront our students with that question… and let them decide.
Dave,
I know Kyle would be fine saying this publicly as in to the person’s face. The issue is should this have been a public conversation or a private one?
re: ethics, it depends. In this case, I don’t see an issue. However, it becomes complicated once the student becomes a teacher (thus bound by the province’s Code of Ethics) and if the critique is directed at a professional colleague and/or the school/board where one is employed.
His criticism is indirectly (he doesn’t specify anything) towards a school policy and not at any individual as far as I could tell. I also looked at the STF codeand don’t think he crossed this line. I’m just as concerned with etiquette as with ethics.
“No” to both. (in my opinion)
The buzz around blogging seems to have abated even since my nascent blog has taken root. I don’t see it as much of a threat. There are just so many good ways to interact with ideas now. I think you’re absolutely right about blogs as spaces where metacognition is king. I couldn’t have said it better… though I have said it many times in statements requiring several more words.
This reminds me of a day in 2008 (before noon the day after I posted this one: http://nashworld.edublogs.org/2008/11/13/increasing-our-level-of-vitamin-a/ at around 10:00pm) when I was visited in my building by our Chief Operations Officer in an impromptu meeting in my principal’s office for a meeting to inform me that the “message was heard… and we are on board.” That was rather surreal. In fact, I introduced you to this man outside the Blogger’s Cafe at ISTE ’09 in Washington.
We can chatter on in many venues… share video, share images, etc. However, to do any of those in a way that is embedded within deep, rich thought… a blog is still king.
I read the post and the STF Code of Ethics. I don’t think Kyle violated any of the articles in the code. As a matter of fact his post points to an important issue in education that goes far beyond the walls of his brother’s school or the Province of Saskatchewan. Similarly the discussion should stretch beyond those walls.
In Article 18 of the STF Code of ethics it says:
“Teachers have a professional responsibility to be informed about educational issues and to enter into discussions about them with students, colleagues and community members.”
I think Kyle lived up to the code.
I’m confident that someone who sees this from the opposite point of view can quote lines from the code, like I did above, to support their perspective. Regardless, I think Kyle’s actions were ethical. He didn’t criticize any person. He spoke pointedly about an issue. That it effects him personally gives it an emotional punch it might not have otherwise.
I think Kyle found something that we all really need to talk about and he started a conversation in a very professional way. (Good on ya Kyle!) That the principal didn’t want it discussed outside the school walls (and I’m reading that into the subtext of your post) is concerning too … and a completely different issue. Like you, I think the public nature of this discussion was likely a factor in the school staff revisiting their honour roll policy and that’s a good thing.
Even looked at through the lens of well established ethical principles Kyle did good.
Utilitarianism: Act in such a way as to create the greatest good for the greatest number.
Check.
Kant’s Moral Imperative: Act in such a way that your action should be a universal law.
Check.
The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. OR Do not do to others what you would not want done to you.
Check.
Kyle’s on real solid ground here.
Personnel issues should always be private…always. Policy issues should always be transparent and open for public discussion. When they are not, they can become stagnant, or worse, abused. This should be the case whether the discussion is being held by an employee or the public at large.
Pingback: uberVU - social comments
I read it a bit differently. The principal may just want a heads-up on the issue. No principal likes to be blindsided.
Brandt,
I guess the argument could be made that the since the school nor principal was identified, it may not be a blindside.
I’m not sure how anonymous it was. I think leaders want to a chance to solve the problem–which I think they ended up doing anyway.
Pingback: Publishing » Blog Archive » Make Money Online With Blogging
A major responsibility of leadership is to create an environment where people feel welcome sharing this kind of feedback before it affects years of students and turns into blog posts.
@dean I think you may have misunderstood what i meant. I mean PUBLIC. public discussion of issues is necessary. That’s how other people learn from our challenges. I said “if he was comfortable with the conversation being overheard in public (say at a town hall) then he should be comfortable with it on his blog”.
There’s a technical ethics issue… which Darren addressed. But personal ethics are just that… they are personal. I meant to say that – It’s Kyle’s responsibility to decide whether opening a public discussion on the issue is ethical and your responsibility to make it clear to him that he is making that decision.
I think Kyle was within ethical boundaries, but just barely. I don’t think his ethical conduct was exemplary by any means. He should have brought the matter to the school privately first, if getting results (rather than having a lively blog post) was his main goal. Clearly,he did not apply the Golden Rule; I don’t see how the poster above can argue that he did. Wouldn’t we always want to be given the chance to respond to a complaint before it was made public? The ethical blogger should not use personal friends, acquaintances and organizations for blog-fodder without consent, unless the posts are sufficiently disguised that nobody other that the subject would know about the connection—and even they shouldn’t be blind-sided. I think Kyle’s post was not sufficiently vague that the school couldn’t be identified, and that was unfair.
I think he edges into ethical territory because he was defending his brother in a dispute against an institution; he has an argument that it was a utilitarian act.
By the way, etiquette IS ethics.
Jack,
Would it be different if this was a district policy? A state or national policy? Is it close to unethical because we’re more easily able to identify the policy to specific people?
The world is full of spaces, be it coffee shops or blogs where discussions of policy and ideas exist. I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. As for using personal friends, I’m sure Kyle showed this to his brother so I doubt whether it was done without consent of some sort.
Jack, on second thought, I agree with you, Brandt, and Lorna: the principal should have been given the chance to respond to Kyle’s concerns directly rather than stumbling upon them in a blog post. As far as the Golden Rule applies to that aspect of Kyle’s post I’m in complete agreement with you.
Where I differ is where you say Kyle was unprofessional in identifying the school involved. He didn’t. From reading what Dean has shared here and what Kyle wrote on his blog post he had his brother’s permission to discuss the issue on his blog. No one else involved is identified. You say that Kyle’s blog post “was not sufficiently vague that the school couldn’t be identified”. Can you point out where/how he identifies the school? I don’t read that anywhere.
Also, while I think the principal should have been extended the courtesy of hearing about Kyle’s concerns personally I don’t think that precludes Kyle blogging about it afterward in the way he did.
As I noted above, Kyle has raised an issue that effects students far beyond his brother or his brother’s school. It’s important to have these conversations in the open where many points of view can be brought to bear on figuring out how best to address this issue in schools. In this respect he acted accordance with the principles I mentioned above.
The ethics of blogging? Granted, there may be SOME who would want to “control” what is said. But, given that this a dynamic and emerging medium, it’s hard to side either with or against anyone. We need to work together to improve the overall structure of communication, we need to preserve and defend this medium for communication. Given the age of the blogger (and I am merely surmising), the need for an AUP may be overboard. Is the blog being used to develop and refine communication skills? Is the blog used to promote engagement? Is the blog a vehicle for social change? Given that group of questions, it is problematic to SQUASH a blogger. Power to the digital word!
The people need a voice and for some, the blog may be their voice!
I believe strongly that loyalty and respect can coincide with public criticism and dissent, particularly of a public entity or person.
Blogging, twitter, etc. is the new journalism. Journalism is a crucial part of keeping citizens informed.
While I suppose I can understand if the feelings of someone involved got hurt, I think the blog post (knowingly) raised issues that were specific, but illustrative of a widespread problem. I did not read anything as a targeted attack. I live in North Carolina and have no idea what school was referenced by the post, nor do I care to find out. However, I was personally made aware of issues I had not before considered about practices that I had taken for granted (long ago) in my own education. Now I know better. I twitter to know better!
Politically speaking, perhaps the author can assuage/prevent embarrassment in the future by speaking first with with the people involved, letting them remedy the situation, and then blogging about the process. But I mention that only as a politically/professionally safe alternative/courtesy (and a decision made exclusively by the speaker/blogger), not as a preference.
What makes his post ethically murky is that he chose to use personal details instead of a generic situation. He was upset about the policy BECAUSE it effected his brother negatively. Because the problem was brought to his attention in a personal way, he had a personal ethical obligation to try to fix it before discussing publicly. He could have made the argument public without using his brother. If he wanted to discuss policy in general, he needed to leave out the personal.
Would a private discussion with the administration of school resulted in discussion for policy change? We can’t assume that it wouldn’t have. I feel that we have to assume that people are doing the best that they can with the information that they have in the situations they are in (maybe naive but it lets me sleep at night). If we never directly speak to people/organizations and let them know how their policies, decisions, and actions affect ‘real live’ people then we can’t affect or expect change.
I think that if he really wanted change to occur he owed the school the chance to be made aware of the issue (privately, with all the personal details he wanted) before discussing specifics with the world. I know that I would wish to have that courtesy extended to me.
Lona,
I think that’s getting closer to the correct approach. It’s interesting that those who live far away, like Ingrid, of course have no connection to the geography and don’t have a problem with the personalization. I’m thinking in hindsight, Kyle may have posed it as a generic problem, then contacted the school asking them to consider the change.
The issue is, I’m sure Kyle never even considered the possibility of affecting change. That was an unintended outcome. I’m guessing he simply wanted to raise the larger issues of inequity and used a personal experience to relay that message. I doubt if it even crossed his mind that the principal would have read it. I guess he should have but part of the power of blogging is to play with ideas on a global scale. In this case to get some broader perspectives and ideas.
I’m struggling with how he could have done that without some level of personal storytelling? Any ideas?
Great discussion so thanks Dean and Kyle. I think the original post was ethical because knowingly or unknowingly the author was addressing a systemic problem (at least in Ontario terms), not a personal decision. In Ontario we use two terms: modified, where the material is not at grade level, and accommodation, where various tactics are used to make grade level material accessible to all students. The idea is that with modifications you are trying to scaffold the student to the point where they can work at grade level, so depending on the student and subject, it can be a “fluid” category. Now for marks: if a program is modified, the mark is to be between 60 and 79; if the student is achieving over 79 your modifications are deemed to be incorrect and you should be challenging them further until they are working successfully at grade level. It is maybe also a high school thing – I teach at a middle school. I know we take a major role in transitional IEP meetings to stress to the high school which students should be in advanced courses – with accommodations. This is sometimes hard for them to understand and was the root of my battles over my son. I have to say the number of times we have complained about and debated this matter at our school seems silly now, because at least it is a bit clearer than what seems to be affecting Kyle’s brother.
Once you print the name of a student who attends the school, any pretense of not naming the school is gone. Everyone who knows the student knows the school, which means that anyone who cares about the school’s involvement can find out if he or she wants to. In professions like the law, this would be regarded as breaching confidence about the identity of the school.
Kyle can indeed blog about it after informing the principal, though I would say that it’s an unfair thing to do if the principal is making any effort to address the issue. Posts like this get officials in trouble, and I fairness dictates that the blogger consider that.
I’m seeing your point Jack except that I could argue the debate is about policy not people. Certainly it’s people that create the policy but it’s not tied to an individual. My other question continues to be about scale. Would he be okay to blog about the policy of a country or is he still obliged to go through proper channels? The reality of that is that bureaucracy would likely make that futile. People blog in good conscience about government policy everyday.
Is it because this is a small institution where individuals are more clearly identified?
Sure—scale matters. A community blog about a community matter is like a Times editorial about national policy. The community blog has no visibility on the national issue—a pea shooter against an elephant. There’s no fairness issue, because there’s no impact. But the Times has to be fair to its targets, just as the local blog has to be fair to those it criticizes. Fairness is measured differently in each case.
Does it matter that he is attacking policy rather than people?
BTW, I really value your insights and perspectives. Thanks for the comments.
Dean,
This is my favorite type of blog post, one where the writer is passionately involved due to a direct personal connection with the topic. I think that Kyle did a marvelous job of making his post about the topic and not a personal attack towards the school. This is surely not the only school in Canada that has this type of contradiction between its mission statement and its written policy. I would venture to say that all of the high schools on the continent should look at their missions and/or core values and see if they really live them in their policy decisions or the way they treat all students on a daily basis.
I believe that the Principal should have called Kyle and told him how proud he was of his post and in addition he should have thanked Kyle for citing this injustice. Lisa put it well in her comment in talking about the importance of policy decisions being transparent.
We need a tidal wave of educators with Kyle’s combination of passion and respect to move the agenda in our schools!
Thanks Patrick,
I appreciate that coming from a principal.
If only all of our teachers had the means to raise such a debate.
Oh yeah, they do: blogs.
– Shelly
I agree that perhaps the principal would not have responded with consideration of a policy change without the public blog. However, I think we should always conduct ourselves according to the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It would have been more appropriate and courteous to have spoken first with the principal to express his opinion. This is always the first step – raise the concern with the person/agency first. Give them an opportunity to respond. It is always a good idea to reverse the situation and imagine how that would play out. If a parent of a child in a class this young man was student teaching in posted a blog about something he did, before speaking to him or the supervising teacher about the matter, how would he react? What is the ethical way to behave?
I think those perspectives are valid Julie, but again this is not an attack an individual but a question of policy and the larger question of equity and recognition of students in general. I’m not suggesting he shouldn’t have taken the approach you suggest but I think it’s important to distinguish that he was not critiquing an individual.
I think that Kyle was definetly within boundries to express his point of view. From what I can gather the website belong to him and had no affiliation with the school. Students should be able to express their concerns about practices that happen at school in order to get feedback. How can we express our students to express themselves freely if they are not able to question. As an educator your first instinct is to question.
Lets be honest how many of us tried to discuss things with the administrators and the only thing we have gotten was a number of rotten assignments as punishments.
I have yet to read an educational blogger’s blog that didn’t dream of a better system, of better policies, of a better education for students today.
I’ve seen Acceptable Use Policies attacked, (and I’ve attacked them), I’ve seen sweeping calls for change, (and I’ve made them), and I’ve seen rants about how we need to radically shift our whole view of assessment, technology use, and teaching strategies, (and I’m ‘guilty’ of these as well). I think I might even have crossed a line or two in some, perhaps many people’s eyes.
People laughed at me & thought it was tasteless and unprofessional of me, when they found out I was moving to China via someone that read my blog… thinking it was an inappropriate way to be informed. (Meanwhile, my district/bosses and close family/friends were told first, and to be frank, many who were displeased were not as close to me as my blog readers). Why do I mention this? Because I chose to express myself in a different way than most and my choice to do so ‘crossed a line’ in their view.
Kyle expressed his thoughts in a professional way, seeking a change in what seems like an injustice. I congratulate Kyle for asking a question that matters, and not just making a statement but seeking the perspective of others.
I can count many that said more disparaging statements about standardized testing, the No Child Left Behind policy and for that matter the people themselves that support(ed) these things.
If we can’t talk about policies we don’t like, if we can’t put things under the microscope and reflect, then why even bother being an educational blogger?
.-= David Truss´s last blog ..Product You =-.
I think that Kyle did a great job in expressing his point of view. If not then there wouldn’t be this much discussion generated. As far as Kyle crossing ethical lines, I don’t think that he did. Sometimes toes need to be stepped on to generate change. People are not going to change the way things have been done for decades if they are not awoken to the issues. I don’t think that Kyle did this in a disrespectful way at all. If I were to put myself into those principal’s shoes I would applaud Kyle for taking some initiative and thank him for opening my eyes. If I were to ever do something knowing or unknowingly that would hurt a child from realizing their fullest potential I would want to be told about it. If it’s done through a blog post where other people can read it, then so be it. Maybe the post would prompt other educators to make some changes as well. Kyle did this in a respectful manner. He did not mention names and he brought up policy that obviously needs to be revisited. A child needs to protected above a school’s reputation, with that being said I don’t think that Kyle’s blog hurts the school’s reputation in the first place, it just raises questions for necessary change.
If I had been the administrator the first question I would have asked would have been to myself “what is it about the way we do things that going public first seemed like the best way of doing things? Do people feel that talking to us privately is a waste of time and if so why?”
.-= Alfred Thompson´s last blog ..Thoughts On AP CS Principles =-.
Great post on ethical blogging. However, I think that many bloggers out there are too focused on making money or putting information out than they are about their own credibility as a resource or reputable author…
Pingback: A Lesson Learned : Webb of Thoughts
I faced a similar situation last spring. I posted on my personal blog about a situation at the elementary school where I was doing my student teaching. I hadn’t meant any harm. I was writing about my personal emotions and not really about the events at all. However, I suddenly had much more website traffic than usual. I hadn’t meant to bring any attention to the situation but rather communicate to my friends and family the stress I was experiencing as a student teacher.
Barely 20 hours later, I received a phone call from one of my professors at college informing me that she had received phone calls from the office of the superintendent of schools regarding my blog post. She explained that she hadn’t personally read it but was concerned with the response it was receiving. I told her that I would pull it down immediately.
I panicked. I was worried that despite all my hard work, sacrifice, and dedication in my years of college that I may have single-handedly destroyed my career before it even started in the mere minutes it took to write that post.
After the shock wore off, I realized I was very upset that I had been censored. The details that I shared about the situation were factual and didn’t misrepresent anyone. I emailed a copy of the post to my best friend who was also in the education program along with my outrage at the situation. Fortunately, she was able to provide me with the necessary feedback to resolve my internal conflict.
I was flattered and much relieved when a district employee of high authority sought me out at our graduation banquet to tell me that he thought my post was well-written and exactly what the district needed to know about the situation. He asked me if I had applied for the district, because he wanted someone as brilliant as me working for his district. I explained that I had already accepted employment elsewhere, but appreciated his compliments.
Even though this situation had a happy ending, it still affected my future blogging. I started a blog to document my first year of teaching. I also hoped to use it to get outside insight into what I was experiencing. However, each time I wanted to post something and seek advice, I remembered this experience. I didn’t want to face another embarrassing or potentially damaging situation, yet it limited the number of opportunities I had to learn and grow from the advice of others.
I don’t know where the line should be drawn in regards to blogging ethics. One of the tricky parts of blogging is that you can’t control your audience. If you do, you limit the possibility of your post being discovered by the one person who could best help or those individuals who can share the best insight. It reduces the potential success of the blog (not meaning the number of readers but rather the good that comes from the discussion/comments/shared insight).
.-= Katie´s last blog ..Where does the accountability lie? =-.
I was recently involved in a similar situation. My administration was not happy that I had criticized an aspect of the school in a blog post. At their request removed the post in question. I have been wrestling with my professional duty in this matter (should I have posted in the first place?). I found the comments very helpful, although I still haven’t come to a final conclusion!
Tough one John,
Personally, I wouldn’t directly criticize my employer. However, if there is a policy in place that I don’t agree with, I may blog about it from a more global perspective without singling out any person or organization. That way I can still get feedback but aren’t singling out folks. That said, I work for an organization that is very transparent but offers many opportunities inside for frank discussions and disagreements.
I also think that depending on what you criticize and how, it can be done in public. Certainly it’s tricky but if the purpose is to illicit feedback from a larger, different audience, it has its merits.
The issue might be fairness, not ethics.
While I think no ethical rules were broken, I do think that it might be considered unfair. Before one post a comment that criticize a person or a institution with which one has personal relation or interest, it would be appropriate to discuss it privately first, to see how they would react, or not, to the issue raised. After that, posting, in my opinion, would be fair game.