Beaver County Career & Technology Center PIL 2
Model Lesson's Student writing assignment
March 13, 2023
"Sadly I think students nowadays do not want to get in other kids' business and to report something that happens can result in other kids calling you a snitch. As for kids or people who are treated differently because of how they dress or look, it is more common than adults even realize. Until someone gets caught or someone reports it, the bullying does not get reported. I have found that most kids in my school and at the VoTech tend to not single people out because of religion or skin color, instead, it is more common to see kids get picked on if they steal someone's boyfriend or girlfried or snitch.
I think David, in the example we read about, was more worried about himself and getting ahead and ethically he should have reported it and and made sure that he remained anonymous. In the ISTE code of conduct, it states that "ISTE does not tolerate harassment of ISTE members, ISTE staff or other persons involved in ISTE events and activities. It was David's responsibility to let people in authority know what occured with Rona and Aina."
Allegheny County Charter School CEO/Principal
PIL Class 5
June 19, 2024
"This workshop was 100% aligned to my job. While ethics are something we "discuss" during beginning of the year PD sessions, by taking this class, it has made me reflect deeper knowing that we will take a different approach moving forward."
"Even during end of the year meetings, I brought up ethical topics when reflecting with teachers. This allowed me to understand more about how our jobs as educators run deeper when thinking about ethical dilemmas we have with staff, students and families."
Superintendent Washington County
PIL Class 5 Member
May 6, 2024
"These discussions involving the Code of Ethics and the actual case studies discussed were most informative. Informative in (a) manner that will allow an administrator the opportunity to discuss these types of behavior with educators, in a non-punitive manner and allow he/she the opportunity to gain an understanding as to how their actions may take away from the educational process within a school building. Great job...."
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Reflective Writing Prompt #2:
Could members of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) help an educator with an ethical dilemma like the Allegheny County Bar Association's Ethical Hotline?
"While teacher prep programs are supposed to prepare you for all of the things that happen in a classroom, we all know that duties change regularly, while always trying to make the best decision. While I have always tried to take the avenue of being fair and consistent, sometimes decisions may not fall into those two categories. It has taken years to develop the skillsets and comfortability to understand how to problem solve and try to get to making the best solution to a challenge or problem." Allegheny County Charter School CEO 4-30-24
I guess that a teacher could rely on a PLC to help them with an ethical dilemma. If the PLC is widely able to speak upon code of ethics, I would not have a problem. I guess the struggle I have is in the term of “locker room talk”. We all know where that advice got us when we were younger. Who would provide the training for that PLC? What would give them expert authority?
I would rather a teacher go to their union or to their administration. It would be wonderful for a PLC to guide a teacher like a mentor would do but I am worried about the advice given. I can also see how a teacher would be weary of discussing anything ethical with their administration. I can only hope for a hotline to be invented before the end of this class. Bucks County Assistant Elementary Principal 2-15-24
I believe that PLCs could be utilized as a sounding board for professional decision making. Educators as a whole could benefit from a fresh perspective of other professionals that may have experienced the same issue or have other prior experiences. ie parent, educator, administrator. Establishing this PLC would however be the challenge. Selecting the PLC membership would need to be thought out to contain individuals from all aspect of the school system and consist of members would hold true to values of confidentiality." Beaver County Superintendent 2-15-24
Beaver County Superintendent
PIL Class 4 March 8, 2024
"I admittedly was not aware of the Model Code of Ethics for Educators (MCEE) and the specific written PA Professional Code of Practice and Conduct for Educators.
I will implement this into my "every school year routine" as a reminder to all educators their expectations relate to their conduct and ethics. I received much more knowledge and information than the MCEE through this course, but if I only received the MCEE and related content, it would have been worth it.
I was worried about the course being 3 hours after a work day, while already having many committee, board meetings and school activities in the evening but the instructors kept the information interesting and relevant."
Bucks County Elementary Educator
PIL Class 4 March 17, 2024
"I found our conversations regarding the Model Code of Ethics for Educators (MCEE) and PA Code of Conduct to be constructive and thought provoking. As educators, it is important to remember that our first duty is to to our students and we should not allow our personal beliefs or political views to influence how we treat them . We had enlightening conversations regarding (MCEE) Responsibilities to the Profession, particularly A.2.
I felt the Model Lesson was strong and achieved the lesson objectives. The activities were interesting and relevant, and I felt that the closing activity promoted student self-reflection."
Beaver County 8th Grade Social Education and
Studies Studies Teacher •
PIL Class 2 Ethics PLC member March 15, 2023
"This lesson was relevant to what I teach and found it essential to integrate it for the upcoming school year. The 8th-grade students are social beings and like discussing issues that may or may not be ethical or legal. They spent time comparing the concept of morals v. ethics and came to the a better understanding than what they had previously learned.
Scenario: Students are working on an online group assignment, and one group member continued to make inappropriate comments about the new student's broken English and ethnicity.) Students used the decision-making framework to determine their course of action. Several students stated that they would report the incident to an adult or authority figure but also brought up our Safe to Say as an excellent opportunity for them to report incidents anonymously.
...they had great discussions on ethical codes and how they have been in various situations that impacted them. These lessons are essential to all grade-level students since the digital world is where we interact and leave our footprints.
The weakness is that many of my students need more time to discuss these issues since they live in this world 24/7. As a Social Education teacher, I can build upon this type of lesson and look forward to working it into next year’s curriculum."
Beaver County Middle School Principal
PIL Class 2 March 15, 2023
"I looked forward to taking this course to build my understanding of Professional Ethics and possible legal implications...This upcoming year Act 49 will require the integration of professional ethics and couldn't have found this course more relevant for the time.
Before facilitating a PLC meeting, I became more familiar with MCEE and the PA Code of Conduct. After reading and reviewing the information, it was clear that many of our staff members could benefit from this type of professional learning.
The PLC group that I worked with was engaged in talking through various scenarios and learning specifics that they needed to become more familiar with. We discussed the importance of developing something for the 2023-24 school year and having teachers sign off on having read the information and talk through a few scenarios.
This will be something that I will bring to the table with our administration team. We will have an exodus of teachers in a few years to come, and we know this will be essential with the Induction Program."
Beaver County Middle School Guidance Counselor &
Social Education Teacher
PIL Class 2 Ethics PLC Member March 15, 2023
"I am the middle school guidance counselor, and I found the PLC group relevant and helpful to me since many teachers approach me confidentially about situations and find the PA Code of Conduct and MCEE to be a great resource(s) to reference.
After reviewing the PA Code of Conduct and MCEE, I am more confident in helping to support staff. Our PLC meetings were less frequent due to many daily interruptions however, we agreed that this would be a great in -service at the start of the new school year. There are often many grey areas when dealing with situations, and I have found this helpful in guiding others in their thinking and my own.
As the 7th grade Social Education teacher, I...introduced the International Society for Technology in Education website Standard 1.2b and elaborated on what it meant before jumping into the scenario.... The biggest takeaway was their willingness to discuss the scenario and explain what they were to do if the situation were to occur.
The students enjoyed talking through the scenario because they deal with many situations but have yet to really take the implications into account."
Beaver County Career & Technology Center
Assistant Administrator•
PIL Class 2 March 13, 2023
"As an educational leader, I wasfamiliar with the PA Code of Conduct, as I have made it a yearly practice to have all faculty and staff in the entire school read the PA Code of Conduct and sign off that they understood what it said. With that being said, I was not familiar with the Model Code of Ethics for Educators (MCEE) nor were the members I selected to participate in the Ethics PLC.
I found members of the PLC to find our discussions to be beneficial for all staff, especially the newer staff. Furthermore, the members shared that the discussions to be beneficial for all staff, especially the newer staff. "
Bucks County Elementary Assistant Principal
PIL Class 4 March 30, 2024
"At first when the teachers in the PLC started to read and discuss the PA Code of Professional Practice & Conduct for Educators (PA Code of Conduct) and the Model Code of Ethics for Educators (MCEE), they were very similar in their thoughts of this being silly or like 'No Duh'.
But as I began to lay out a few of the scenarios from (PIL) class, there began a 360 degrees role reversal in their thought process. I thought at first they were timid to speakupon these issues in front of me, and later I knew I was a little right. I had to leave early to meet with a parent. When I met back up with the group, they were elated and even recruited another teacher. "