Where do the Ethical Boundaries Between

Teachers and Students Lie?

By Sheena Okai

Background

• Teacher does student’s hair during class

• Teacher posts transformation pictures on Facebook

• Teacher receives negative backlash from the cyber community

Where did she go wrong?

Main Claim

• Teachers are like fairy godmothers.

• “In fairy tales, a fairy godmother (French: fée marraine) is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies.”

-Wikipedia

Why Establishing Ethical Boundaries is Complicated

• Not firmly established• Strict ethical codes are contradictory

Boundaries• Curricular• Emotional• Relationship• Power• Institutional• Financial• Communication• Temporal• Cultural• Expertise • Personal

Relationships Affect Achievement

Crossed the Line?Teacher Elizabeth Davies sprayed air freshener on Asian children if they smelled of curry in the mornings. Mrs Davies was accused of ‘humiliating' children aged between three and six by using the aerosol on them in her nursery class. The 48-year-old was said to have told Bangladeshi children who smelled of onions or curry, ‘There is a waft coming in from paradise' before blasting the air freshener. Davies, who had 20 years' experience, is also said to have sprayed pupils who broke wind, washed their hands with pine disinfectant and made them stand on newspaper if they wet themselves.

I Wish my Teacher Knew…

Students in third grade class were tasked to finish the sentence “I wish my teacher knew…”

If you knew, what would be the ethical thing to do?

Conclusion

• Being a teacher is hard work• Each teacher needs to be familiar with their

surroundings

Works CitedLori Price Aultman, Meca R. Williams-Johnson, Paul A. Schutz, Boundary dilemmas in teacher–

student relationships: Struggling with “the line”, Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 25, Issue

5, July 2009, Pages 636-646, ISSN 0742-051X, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.10.002.

(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X08001753) Keywords: Student–

teacher relationships; Teacher–student relationships; Boundaries; Caring; Control; Emotions

Maynard, W. Barksdale. "Thoreau's House at Walden." Art Bulletin 81.2 (1999): 303.Academic

Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 19 Nov. 2002.

Strauss, Valerie. "‘I Wish My Teacher Knew’ — Poignant Notes from Students." Washington Post.

The Washington Post, 17 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Why You Should Thank A Teacher Today. Youtube. Buzzfeed, 6 May 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2LNK2MW_xQ>.

Zennie, Michael. "She Threw Herself in Front of the Gunman to save Her Students: Astonishing

Story of the Brave Teacher Who Died Protecting Children from 'deeply Disturbed' Killer." Mail

Online. Associated Newspapers, 15 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.