EVIDENCE #1: 2-day Professional Training for after school employees analysed through the lens of the Model Code of Ethics for Educators.

ANALYSIS/REFLECTION: I take my role as a teacher and role model for youth very seriously. These workshops provided me with important tools to assure the well being of students and provide a safe, respectful learning environment. According to Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching guidelines, this is an important learning environment quality, as a teacher, in establishing a space where all students feel valued and are comfortable taking intellectual risks. (Domain 2: 2a, 2e)

While learners arrive from a variety of different home environments, if I as a teacher can provide a warm, welcoming and supportive learning environment, in alignment with ethical best practices, mindfulness, self-reflection and decision making, this serves to benefit the students' outcomes. I recently learned about current ethical best practices for educators in part through the Model Code of Ethics for Educators, (MCEE), while attending a professional training in March of 2019 (see Teaching Standard #9.1). The code establishes clear principles for an educators' conduct according to five areas: Responsibility to the profession, responsibility for professional competence, responsibility to students, responsibility to the school community and the responsible and ethical use of technology. I sight this because it supports and provides a clarifying mesh of distinct responsibilities for educators.

Thus, for example, in light of knowing I am a mandated reporter, I can refer to Principle III of the MCEE, section "C" to ascertain that:

"the professional educator maintains student trust and confidentiality when interacting with students in a developmentally appropriate manner and within appropriate limits by: ....2. upholding ....any legal requirement to reveal information related to legitimate concerns for the well-being of a student."

In Vermont, the legal obligation to report child abuse was changed in a couple significant ways in 2015. One must now report it directly to the Department for Children and Families (DCF) and one must do so within 24 hours. Prior to this, an educator could "cause a report," which means that a report could be made through the school administration, which is no longer lawful. The report must be made directly and within 24 hours.

The new Vermont code of ethics for educators will go into practice this fall. The establishment of this national professional code by educators for educators reinforces the dignity of the profession and fortifies the public trust. As a teacher, making so many decisions a day, this increased focus on examining, understanding and informing best practice through this code will help me face the multi-faceted responsibilities of my role better prepared to meet them.

This evidence reflects my achievement of this standard by attending relevant workshops and grasping the parameters and importance of ethical best practices in my teaching decision-making and roles. As I grow as a teacher, I look forward to attending professional workshops around working with youth impacted by abuse and neglect to assure optimal learner outcomes.

DESCRIPTION: I attended a two hour training for the Burlington Kids After school staff in 2011 as an employee of the Burlington School District. The topics covered included prevention and intervention of bullying and harassment in after school.

ANALYSIS/REFLECTION: As a long time after school educator, I can attest to the importance of after school programming. Just as bullying and harassment occurs during the school day, it takes place unfortunately in after school. The training explored the difference between harassment and bullying and provided us with prevention and intervention strategies.

Bullying and harassment are often used interchangeably, however, there is an important difference. The negative behavior defined as harassment is based on a student’s race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin. Thus, bullying behavior meets the threshold of harassment when a student is being verbally bullied with demeaning language about their religion, for example.

Bullying has to do with power and control. Bullies use actions and words that hurt or harm another person physically, emotionally or both. Bullies often select targets that are less powerful then them.

In order to function as an ethical teacher, role modeling respectful behavior and maintaining a safe environment is key. The specific techniques we learned to deal with bullying behavior included interventions, what to do and what to say. The Burlington School District also encourages us to report instances of misconduct to the designated school complaint officers, of which each school has two.

We learned:

• Interventions should be: Timely, Consistent, Firm, Respectful
• What to do: Assess the situation, Give a brief "Stop" message, Separate bull(ies) from target, Provide quick support for target if needed
• What to say: In a firm voice give the "Stop" message. Say, "We don't talk to each other like that in this school, you need to stop." "We don't behave that way in this school, you need to stop."

Bullying can take many forms and it is important that students know how and where to ask for support. From my experience, not enough kids ask for help and according to statistics from the 2012 Indicators of School Crime and Safety , an adult was notified in less than half (40%) of bullying incidents. Kids don’t tell adults for many reasons including:

• Bullying can make a child feel helpless. Kids may want to handle it on their own to feel in control again. They may fear being seen as weak or a tattletale.
• Kids may fear backlash from the kid who bullied them.
• Bullying can be a humiliating experience. Kids may not want adults to know what is being said about them, whether true or false. They may also fear that adults will judge them or punish them for being weak.
• Kids who are bullied may already feel socially isolated. They may feel like no one cares or could understand.
• Kids may fear being rejected by their peers. Friends can help protect kids from bullying, and kids can fear losing this support.

Having these tools and this knowledge has empowered me as an ethical educator to intervene in several different situations at both the middle school and elementary level. At times, support is necessary and in those cases I will reach out to my supervisor and/or another teacher close by. In the future, to augment this skill set, I would like to attend bullying prevention school wide program where the issue is addressed directly with both staff and students present.

Click here for Teaching Standard #10