The NZ Code of Ethics states that:
“In relation to parents/guardians, and the family/whānau of learners, teachers will strive to: involve them in decision-making about the care and education of their children establish open, honest and respectful relationships respect their privacy respect their rights to information about their children, unless that is judged to be not in the best interests of the children.”
Since I was a parent before I became a teacher, I’ve always tried to put my ‘parent hat’ on when considering an issue where perhaps the parent’s requests (such as a non-consent for photos) may seem unreasonable. I’ve tried to treat parent’s beliefs (as I would hope my children’s teachers would respect mine) when it comes to their beliefs about their children’s education. My rationale is that there has to be a true partnership between school and whānau to help students be successful.
There have only been certain instances when I have not communicate with parents, and as mentioned by Hall (2001), it was when I knew that those children’s welfare would have been compromised because of strict parental discipline styles or because it would have meant creating hostility in an already unsafe home environment. I communicated with senior management my decision to not contact whānau and alert them to an incident because the children were terrified of being physically punished.
The introduction of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) in our school meant that I had to manage the introduction of individual student blogs and communicate with parents (most completely unaware of what a blog was) about the different access options to the blog. Many parents began making the blogs private and limiting access, and I wholeheartedly supported that,since even I was still uncomfortable about how to manage the enormous digital footprint being created.
Over the course of the year, we implemented and learned about sharing information online safely to follow the school’s digital guidelines. This included videos and photos that showed children’s faces in children’ public blogs. This year I do publish children’s faces in class blogs as there is really little point sharing whole class activities if we can’t show the children and parents love seeing their children as part of the activities. Our whānau state their preference for use of images during enrolment (although this is not revisited which perhaps we should do) and we have children who are not allowed to be photographed.
Times when I have struggled, with how to share images or videos of children, have been during workshop presentations or when sharing outside of our school community through educational media like Twitter. Now that teachers love taking photos during workshops, or when I can share activities on digital media, I try to ensure children are not easily identifiable, going so far as asking teachers to not record photos or videos of children (I'm not always successfully, mind you). In the back of my mind, I have to remember to respect their right to privacy.
References:
Education Council. (n.d). The Education Council Code of Ethics for Certficated Teachers. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0
Hall, A. (2001). What ought I to do, all things considered? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers. Paper presented at the IIPE Conference, Brisbane. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Developing-leaders/What-Ought-I-to-Do-All-Things-Considered-An-Approach-to-the-Exploration-of-Ethical-Problems-by-Teachers
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