Running head: HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIO 1

Education 525 L01

Learning Task #2

Hypothetical Scenario

Jenn Lin, Jessica Melville, John Pexman, Jenn Robinson, Aaron Rodenburg

Prepared for Dr. Donlevy

November 9th, 2018

For the purpose of this assignment, we have created a hypothetical scenario involving an ethical

dilemma that takes place in an elementary school. The hypothetical scenario poses the dilemma

of whether a teacher and student teacher taking or not taking action by reporting the scenario, as

outlined below, is ethical. A timeline of the misconduct, an analysis using schools of ethical

thought, and a suggested resolution is provided below.

Hypothetical Scenario

A phys-ed teacher, education assistant, and student-teacher are leading a gym class activity that

has students sitting in a large circle in the center of the gymnasium. One student, who has

cerebral palsy, is not listening to the instruction to sit and is running around the outside of the

circle. The education assistant calmly begins to repeatedly ask the student to take his place and

sit down. The student acknowledges these requests by looking at the education assistant and

laughing. The education assistant responds by grabbing the student’s hand, which the student

forces himself free from and runs to the other side of the circle. The education assistant then

grabs the student by the chin, and holding him by it, moves him to his spot and pushes down on

his head in order to make him sit. She tells him he will not be having lunch because of his

behaviour.

Timeline of Misconduct (Visual Provided in Appendix A)

Educational Assistant: The educational assistants first breach of ethical conduct was when she

forcefully grabbed the student’s hand. The educational assistant was not acting in a manner

consistent with her position and responsibility to the care of students. By humiliating the child
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and threatening to deprive him of lunch, the educational assistant further erred from the ATA

guidelines on the responsibilities of Educational Assistants, which states that an educational

assistant must “work within established structures, including classroom management structures,

behavioral rules and IPP expectations” (Alberta Teachers Association, 2000).

Phys-ed Teacher: The phys-ed teacher breached the ATA Code of Professional Conduct (2018)

by failing to ensure the safety of the student and failed to meet the responsibility of their position

as the caretaker of this student. They failed to intervene when the student’s dignity and respect

(Item #4) were denied by the educational assistant. When excessive physical force continued to

be used, the teacher did not act “in a manner which maintains the honor and dignity of the

profession” (Item #18).

Student Teacher: As a hypothetical student of the University of Calgary, this student teacher

would be held by the University to the same ATA Code of Conduct (2018), and could be in

breach of the same items as their partner teacher.

Schools of Ethical Thought

Deontological Ethics:

First, looking at the situation through the teacher’s perspective, the “right thing to do” would

have been to acknowledge the matter and take action. The teacher has an obligation in respect to

her profession to advocate for her students (ATA Code of Conduct, 2018), as well as a

responsibility in accordance to her own ethical morale. If following the golden rule the teacher

would advocate for her student; as if it were the other way around, the teacher would want
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someone to speak up for them. Thus, taking action would be the right thing to do, regardless of

the consequences. The consequence may include future hostility between the educational

assistant and teacher. Despite this, the teacher should have spoken to the educational assistant

directly and informed her that the physical abuse and verbal threat towards the student was

inappropriate and that it would be reported.

The “right thing to do” for the student teacher would be to ensure that the matter be

properly taken care o, having a discussion with the teacher and the student teacher’s field

instructor. While there is the potential consequence of straining or jeopardizing the relationship

between the University that the student teacher belongs to and the field-placement school, there

is a question of whether the actions and behavior of the education assistant is considered child

abuse. Similar to the teacher perspective, the student teacher’s actions would be dictated by

similar morale. In addition, for the student teacher to go on without addressing the situation

would be breaching the standard that is expected of them, this standard being the ATA Code of

Conduct (2018) as per University policy. Thus, deontological ethics suggests for abiding by

those terms set out as well as acting on the universal idea of “the right thing”.

Virtue Ethics:

If we understand virtue using traditional virtues such as self-restraint, bravery, or

prudence, it would be difficult to argue that the teacher acted in a virtuous manner if ignoring the

situation. However, whether they failed to act morally would depend in part on their own

understanding of what is virtuous, since virtue ethics recognizes the individuals' personal, lived

conception of what it means to act morally. It is therefore possible that the teacher and

educational assistant would view the scenario as virtuous. If part of their understanding of virtue
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was rooted in the need for strict discipline as a part of character formation, then the use of

physical force may be seen in their eyes as a decision in line with good character.

However, the educational assistant appeared to be acting reactively, in response to losing

control of the situation. Rather than reflecting a moral choice, the education assistant relied on

physical coercion and verbal threats to re-assert power over a situation. It is therefore difficult to

see how the teacher’s inaction might reflect a conscious decision which was in line with a

personal conception of virtue. This is especially true given their position as the primary caretaker

of the class, and the status as role model and teacher who would be aware of the effect that their

moral behavior and modelling has on their impressionable students. The teacher would have an

awareness that their authority was ultimately the one which would provide the moral guidance on

the situation. Given this, it would be unlikely that the teacher would consciously choose not to

act out of an accordance with their own conception of strong moral character. They would be

aware that their own inaction could be read by students as approval for the education assistant’s

handling of the situation.

Based on their role in the class as being under the supervision of their partner teacher, it

is more difficult to assess with as much certainty how this school of thought might apply to the

student teacher. It would depend heavily on their own life experience and personal conception of

character. In this scenario, they are bound to both the authority and respect of the position of

their partner teacher, but also to the care of the students of the class.

Post Modern:

Understanding that one cannot determine in advance what ethical values or principles

may apply as their responsibilities do not lie within a code, it is not surprising that the teacher did
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not step in and say anything when this situation happened. The teacher in this case was acting

with her own ethical values and not upstanding the code of conduct that she is bound to as a

teacher. The teachers' impulse in this situation was not to follow the code, however this was a

misstep on the teachers' behalf. Unfortunately for the Postmodernists, a teachers' responsibility is

derived from a Professional Code of Conduct (2018), and professionally they must uphold this,

thus stepping in and taking control of the class to ensure the safety of the student.

The student teacher, is also held to the same standard of the Professional Code of

Conduct (2018). In this instance, one must put aside the Postmodern view of ethics that an

individual’s responsibility is not from a code, rather from the very fact that they exist as a human

being in relationships with the student or the others in the room. Student teachers must also

ensure that every student has a safe environment and, is treated with dignity and respect. Thus,

the student teacher should have reported the incident to the Physical Education teacher and

follow up on the course of action.

Resolution to the Scenario

After analyzing the different perspectives based on the three schools of ethical thought

above, and taking into considerations the guidelines as outlined by the ATA, we conclude that

the most ethical resolution that puts the student’s best interest first, is for the teacher and student

teacher to report this. A discussion on the matter should first be addressed by the teacher with the

educational assistant out of courtesy and professionalism. Regardless of how the conversation

goes, the teacher then should report it to the administration and parents who will determine the

course of action that is to follow. The student teacher should discuss the situation with the
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teacher and ensure that a higher authority is aware of the situation and will take further action

accordingly.
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References

Alberta Teachers Association. (2018). Code of professional conduct. Retrieved from

https://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/Publications/Teachers-as-

Professionals/IM-4E%20Code%20of%20Professional%20Conduct.pdf

Alberta Teachers Association. (2000). Teachers and educational assistants: roles and

responsibilities. Retrieved from

https://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/Publications/Teachers-as-

Professionals/MON-5%20Teachers%20and%20Educational%20Assistants.pdf
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Appendix A
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