Running head: LEARNING TASK 2, OPTION Three: CONNECTING WITH STUDENTS 1

Learning Task 2, Option Three: Connecting with Students

EDUC 525 Ethics and Law

Dr. Donlevy

Hannah Brown, Vicki Chen, Sara Gobrail and Julie Tran

LEARNING TASK 2, OPTION Three: CONNECTING WITH STUDENTS 2

Connecting with Students

We have chosen to respond to Connecting with Students and we use the fact pattern to

evaluate the conduct of Derrick, the principal, and the university supervisor, using Virtue (V.E.),

Deontological (D.E.), and Utilitarian Ethics (U.E.).

To begin, we gained initial insight into Derrick’s character, his view of himself, and

others’ view of him (V.E.) through two grounds; Derrick lives with his parents and his favourite

activities are drinking and partying. By living with his parents at the age of 26, we are led to

suspect that he may lack a sense of responsibility, financial management skills, and motivation to

make a life of his own. This also shows his tendency toward depending on others, which may

have later translated into his choice to move in with Max. His favourite activities being drinking

and partying shows that Derrick may lack concern for personal health, discipline, and potential

negative consequences of his actions. It also reveals that he may not be accustomed to having

many responsibilities in life (i.e. personal, financial, social, familial) that would require him to

limit such activities.

Through Derrick’s responses and actions in his practicum, we also gain more insight into

his character. While teaching in the classroom, Derrick wonders why Max “did not find his

teaching enthralling”. This reaction demonstrates Derrick’s need to feel validated by his students,

given that their response directly defines his sense of personal success as a teacher. He failed to

realize that there may be factors outside of the classroom affecting their engagement, thereby

setting the focus on himself, rather than on the students. Furthermore, Derrick did not take all the

students’ engagement into consideration, but instead focused on the engagement of only one

student. This leads us to suspect that Derrick may have been initially drawn to Max and that his

good intentions may have been tainted by self-interest.

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The manner in which Derrick related to the students at Pierre Trudeau showed his

inability to define appropriate professional and personal boundaries for the overall good of the

students and the profession. This is evident when Derrick chose to join a group of students in a

conversation about their personal waxing experiences. According to the ATA Code of Conduct

(19), teachers should not engage in activities which adversely affect the quality of their

professional service (The Alberta Teachers' Association, 2004). This conversation topic is highly

personal and arguably sexualized, and as a result, has the potential to skew the students’

perception of Derrick’s professional role and responsibility toward them.

Derrick further crossed professional boundaries by engaging in private conversations

with Max that involved exchanging personal details. This perceived sense of mutuality is

deceiving for both Derrick and Max because the reality is he still holds a position of authority

and trust over her as her teacher. Max’s situation makes her more vulnerable to forming a deeper

attachment and need for Derrick. Derrick should have recognized that Max’s struggles were

beyond his professional scope and it was his duty to support her emotional and psychological

well-being by referring her to the appropriate supports. Given these actions, we can infer that

Derrick preferred maintaining a personal relationship with Max, rather than losing that benefit if

he referred her to a qualified person who can adequately support her. Driven by his own self-

interest and a lack of foresight into possible long-term effects of this relationship, Derrick was

compromising Max’s wellbeing and educational success. The interchanges that Derrick shared

with Max and other students do not create and maintain “environments that are conducive to

students’ learning” (Alberta Government, 2013) or “environments wherein students feel

physically, psychologically, socially, and culturally secure” (2013).

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Although at first we see Derrick’s seemingly noble intentions toward Max, we quickly

come to realize that his intentions speak more to his desire, rather than his will. Immanuel Kant’s

categorical imperative makes a distinction between desiring an end and willing an end

(Plato.stanford.edu, 2017). To desire something is an emotional and hypothetical state which

does not necessarily imply action. Derrick demonstrated that although he desired Max’s

educational success, he did not will it as the true goal. If he had willed it, he would have been

committed to carrying out this goal without getting sidetracked or doing anything that could

remotely jeopardize the outcome. Engaging in overly personal conversations, singling her out,

meeting outside of school, and moving in with her and her daughter are all ways in which the

nature of Derek’s masked intentions were revealed. He may have desired for Max to succeed.

However, his intentions were not unstained with self-interest and a desire to meet his own needs

in the process. Moreover, Kant argues that “the value of desirable qualities...can be diminished

under certain circumstances”. In this case Derrick’s compassion and good-will toward Max are

diminished by establishing a sense of mutuality, where she would be expected to give Derrick

something in return. Derrick’s desire to do the ultimate good is overshadowed by the selfish

pursuit of his own happiness, thereby showing a contradiction of intent (D.E.).

The principal of the school demonstrated an ethical lapse by not effectively protecting

Max, who is a student placed under his trust. Although she is 18, she is clearly vulnerable and as

her principal, he has a duty to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all students. From his

previous experience, he should have known that an individual who is at-risk, and has a rough

background, is more vulnerable to dependence and unhealthy attachment in relationships. Max

currently does not have adequate supports in her life, evidenced by the fact that she lives alone,

is a single mother, and is performing poorly. The principal should have considered the long-term
LEARNING TASK 2, OPTION Three: CONNECTING WITH STUDENTS 5

consequences of personal and emotional well-being instead of the short-term improvement of

Max’s grades. Extending the ‘golden rule’ principle, if Max was the principal’s daughter, we

believe that he would be more concerned about Max's psychological and emotional vulnerability.

Finally, the principal should have considered the wellbeing of the whole school and the

precedent that is being set here (U.E). If he allowed this kind of personal relationship to take

place between a teacher and a student, how would the school body shift its view of student-

teacher relationships? How would this affect the integrity of the profession, the educational

success of the students, and stakeholders’ trust in the institution? In our opinion, the principal

failed to see the ethical issues arising from such a relationship and should have more closely

considered the wellbeing of Max and the student body as a whole.

Derrick’s university supervisor has a responsibility to ensure that Derrick is developing a

sense of professional duty and responsibility by teaching and encouraging the ATA code of

professional conduct. This code is driven by personal and collective ethical principles for the

good of the students, the profession, the school authorities, and all others involved. Moreover,

teachers are held to higher standard by the public because they are entrusted with the great

responsibility of shaping the minds and future of society. The university supervisor justified

Derrick’s actions in this instance because Max was now considered an adult. However, she

should have considered the general principles that Derrick should adhere to, regardless of the

situation, as these principles take the overall good of the majority into account (U.E.). The

university supervisor should have alerted Derrick that his personal connection with Max is

unprofessional because it poses a risk to the quality of his professional service and sets a

precedence for other teachers and pre-service teachers, thereby disturbing the honour and dignity

of the profession (ATA, 2004). She ought to have considered how her inaction may impact the
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students’ trust in teachers, the overall quality of education in the classroom, and the integrity of

the profession.
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References

Alberta Government. (2013).Teaching Quality Standards. Teaching Quality Standard

Applicable to the Provision of Basic Education in Alberta. Retrieved from

https://education.alberta.ca/media/1626523/english-tqs-card-2013_3.pdf

Plato.stanford.edu. (2017). Kant's Moral Philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

[online] Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/ [Accessed 4 Nov.

2017].

The Alberta Teachers' Association (2004). Code of Professional Conduct. [online] Alberta: The

Alberta Teachers' Association. Available at: https://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCo

llectionDocuments/ATA/Publications/Teachers-as-Professionals/IM-

4E%20Code%20of%20Professional%20Conduct.pdf [Accessed 4 Nov. 2017].