Alison Nielcen

Ethics and Issues in Education

EDUW 695
June 20, 2016
Journal Assignment

Journal Entry #1

Facts:
Johnny, a 7-year-old EBD student, makes suicidal threats during the school day,
usually during recess when his friends will not play with him.
Johnny often hits and kicks his friends during recess and/or physical education
class.
Mrs. Nelson has been working with Johnny to develop appropriate social skills
and coping strategies, per his IEP.
Johnny tells Mrs. Nelson that he makes suicidal threats as a way to get his friends
attention.
Johnny has mentioned to Mrs. Nelson in the past that his parents will give him
the belt if he ever gets in trouble at school, however, since Johnny seeks attention
negatively and exaggerates frequently, she has not taken this seriously.
Mrs Nelson decides to call Johnnys parents to inform them of Johnnys behavior
at school, hoping to help him come up with replacement behaviors at school.
Johnny comes to school the next day and blames Mrs. Nelson for the beating he
got the night before, due to her phone call home. Johnny shows Mrs. Nelson bruises that
his father gave him as a result of the punishment.

Ethical Issue:
Should Mrs. Nelson have called Johnnys parents to inform them of his behavior
at school or not?

Arguments for calling parents:

Johnny could have had a plan to seriously hurt himself.
Mrs. Nelson could have received some support from Johnnys parents to help him
deal with his feelings more appropriately.
Johnnys parents might have sought outside counseling help for him to help him
cope and develop appropriate social skills.
Mrs. Nelson might have prevented a tragedy.

Arguments for not calling parents:

 Mrs. Nelson knew his parents were quick to anger and the potential of harm was
there.
Johnny had a history of negative attention seeking behavior, therefore, she did not
need to take his comments seriously.
Johnny admitted he was making suicidal comments to get his friends attention.
Mrs. Nelson was already working with Johnny on developing more appropriate
social skills and anger management strategies.

Ethical Decision:
Mrs. Nelson did the right thing by informing the parents of Johnnys threats and
behaviors, due to it being her duty to care for Johnny while he is in school. My decision is non
consequential since it is based on principle and obligation.

Journal Entry #2

Facts:
Miss Smith is a second year fifth grade teacher.
There are 20 kids in her class, five who have IEPs, two of these being students
with autism.
Some students in the class can be very defiant, noisy, and disrespectful to Miss
Smith and their peers.
Miss Smith was eager to improve the students behavior at the beginning of the
school year, but has resorted to having kids sit in the hall for long periods of time and
ignoring behaviors.
Miss Smith often sends Timmy out to the hall for talking during instruction.
Timmy then misses instruction and, when allowed back into the classroom, does
not know how to complete the work.
Timmy is not retaught the material he has missed while in the hall. Miss Smith
tells him this is a natural consequence of not following the rules of the classroom.

Ethical Issue:
Should Miss Smith send students to sit in the hall during instruction time?

Arguments for sending students to the hall:

Fifth graders should know how to behave in a classroom setting and respect the
rules of the classroom.
Timmy knows what will happen if he talks during instruction time.
 If students are talking during instruction, they are disrupting the learning of
others.
Allowing students to talk during instruction tells the other students they do not
need to follow the rules of the classroom.

Arguments for not sending students to the hall:

Timmy is falling behind the other students due to him missing so much instruction
time.
Students are not supervised in the hall.
Classroom management strategies should be investigated in order to prevent
sending students to the hall during instruction.
Other consequences could be attempted, such as loss of recess time in order to
maintain instruction time.

Ethical Decision:
Miss Smith should not send students to the hall during instruction time, unless absolutely
necessary. If she does need to remove a student from the classroom, she should make sure they
are supervised or only in the hall for a short period of time. She should also provide an
opportunity to reteach the material or send them out during independent work time. Miss Smith
has an obligation to make sure each of her students receives the required fifth grade content. My
decision is a nonconsequentialist decision since I believe Miss Smith has a duty and obligation to
her students.