Analyze case study scenarios and apply the Principles of Professional Conduct of the Education Profession of Florida and the Code of Ethics in written reflection format. For each of the scenarios provided, answer the following questions:
• Briefly discuss the purpose of Florida’s Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Conduct as it relates to your major/discipline/program of study.
• Determine if there is a potential violation of the Principles of Professional Conduct, and, if so, which principle(s) are at risk in this scenario and why?
• Identify statutory grounds/procedures for disciplinary action, the penalties that can be imposed by the Educational Practices Commission against a certificate holder, and the appeals process available to the individual if applicable.
• What would you actually say to the parties involved that shows that you are responsible, dependable, and concerned about your students? Or what precautions would you take to protect yourself and your students? (Write a scripted response or a procedure or strategy.)
• In a scenario that requires you to respond verbally, assume that your first response is not “accepted” by the party involved’ and he/she tries to convince you to do what he/she wants you to do. What would you say next? (State what you think the person would say to convince you to do what he/she wants, and write your second scripted response.)
SCENARIOS:
1. Money: As the band pre-service teacher, you are in charge of collecting monies from student sales of chocolate bars. The students are counting on this sale to go on a field trip. You are being asked to be responsible for about $ 1,000. What do you do?
2. Alcohol: During an over-night field trip with students, one of the chaperones brings a cooler of alcoholic beverages to share after the students go to bed. You check the field manual, which doesn’t mention alcohol, but you are not sure if you are responsible for the students after they go to sleep. You would sure like one glass of wine or bottle of beer. Can you have a drink?
3. The Press: Your principal is running for superintendent and a local reporter asks your opinion about the principal. (Assume two different scenarios here. In the first you think the principal is excellent; in the second you think the principal is incompetent.) What do you say to the public?
4. Internet Pornography: Another pre-service teacher sends you e-mail containing funny but pornographic cartoons on the school e-mail server. What do you do?
5. Public Role: You are a member of a civic group, club, church, or organization, and you are asked to speak representing that group on a controversial matter.
You are introduced as a pre-service teacher. What do you do?
6. Equal Opportunity: There is a state drama contest and you are the advisor for the drama team. You have a population of mostly Hispanic and Black students in your school and club. This year’s selection for the contest is a scene from Shakespeare. You need six parts and have eight majority White Non-Hispanic students in the club. You are sure that pronunciation is one of the major criteria for judging. How do you pick the parts?
7. Self-Competing and Personal Crisis: You have always had a normal life, but after the death of your brother in a car accident, you can’t help dwelling on how short life can be. You have no energy for teaching and go home and sleep all afternoon. You don’t grade papers or make lesson plans. A psychologist tells you that you are depressed. Your annual review is coming up, and you’re afraid of a bad report. What do you do?
8. Free Speech and Equity in the Classroom: Your eighth grade class is studying earth science. You assign the class a science fair project with grading criteria.
They are supposed to set up a poster display on a project related to the course content. One student comes in on display day and sets up a religious scene of God creating the world in seven days. You explain to the student that the display isn’t consistent with the criteria – it’s not from a topic in the book. The student insists that his parents approved the topic after reading the science book and encouraged the project. Another student doesn’t have a project. He is from a very low SES family. How do you grade the two students?
9. Supervisor Interactions: Your school has an assistant principal who constantly makes “adult comments”, dresses provocatively and, occasionally, winks or waves at you. This makes you uncomfortable but nobody else seems to mind. You report to this AP for an annual review and for permission for several educational requests. Do you say something to her, “go over her head” to the principal, ignore her, or file a complaint?
10. Confidentiality: You are in the pre-service teachers’ lounge and cannot help but overhear several other pre-service teachers discussing student performance on examinations, including student names and scores. The pre-service teachers’ lounge is not very private; office personnel wander in to get coffee, and the door often stands open even though students pass by regularly and can overhear anything said. Should you say anything to the talkative pre-service teachers?