Task 5.A Ethics for Teaching in a Secondary School

Working in a secondary school brings about new challenges every day. The pressures and responsibility brought on by such a demanding and important position keeps you on your toes as no two days are the same. It was never my intention to become a secondary school teacher, my opinion of high school dance and teaching teenagers in general was that it would be a stressful headache. I was never a fan of forcing the arts on students and felt it was a subject that should only be taught to those interested in the subject.

After accepting a temporary position at a school to help out a friend I found that my opinion on the importance of performing arts in high school had changed completely, it was around this time I decided to pursue a career in teaching. Witnessing the positive effects the arts had on teenagers along with the safety net built by influential and supportive teachers made me realize how important this job really is. Observing outstanding teachers deliver lessons of high quality with enthusiasm made me want to do the same.

I have been working in the same secondary school for two years now teaching dance and drama alongside covering for other teachers in a variety of subjects. When thinking about the ethics of my work place one thing comes to mind, children do what children see. This is something I take very seriously which affects the way I represent myself in the work place. I have seen how influential teachers can be and the positive or negative effects they can have on a young person’s life. I think as a teacher it is important to be the best role model you can for a young person. I feel it would be easier for me to list the ethics I try to stand by in order of importance:

• Always remember children do what children see, try to be the best role model you can. 
• Support you colleagues, present a united front in a situation, any disagreements must be discussed in the staff room or in private.
• If a child talks to you in confidence, always inform them that the information must be passed on if their heath or well-being is in danger.
• Keep your private life private from students, some things are nice to share with the students you are close to, for example your form group but as a general rule I try to not talk about myself at all.
• Always arrive to lessons early and prepared with a lesson plan in mind.
• When teaching small groups or one to one always leave the door open.
• Protect your own personal space if needed and inform students when they get too close, this is usually an issue with lower school transitioning from primary.
• Set rules and stick to them, children respond best to routine when it comes to discipline and behavior.

 These are just some of the ethical considerations that come to mind when I think about my job. After making this list I had a discussion with my fellow performing arts colleagues and we made a new list of things related specifically to dance and drama. We talked about how learning in our subject can sometimes break the usual code of conduct and how some rules do not apply to our subject as much as they do in non practical subjects. For example, physical contact and touching another student would not be acceptable in English or maths, however in dance part of learning is contact with the teacher and can sometimes involve physically moving a student’s body or body parts.These are just some of the issues we come across in our subject:

• Female teachers cannot go into the boys changing rooms, students are very aware of this and some use it as an excuse to misbehave. This can also be an issue if a student gets injured during changing time. 
• Nature vs Nurture, can you teach someone to dance who has no natural rhythm or technique? Is it a waste of time, should we focus on the student who have a real chance of pursuing it for the future? Should there be a discussion as to which students can progress to GCSE and A level performing arts? Do we waste too much time with inclusion and differentiation? Is it best to have a mixed ability class and differentiate or best to divide by ability?
• Contact with students, how can we keep ourselves and student safe when such a high level of contact is involved? Should all dance studios have cameras?
• Safe guarding- when creating choreography for GCSE students tend to use real life situations as a stimulus, this can be a safeguarding issue which you then need to inform the student will be passed on. We try to encourage students to choose topics they are passionate about but sometimes this can lead to the routines being a form of therapy and is important that as a teacher we keep a close eye on the students and report anything we are concerned about. 
• Being on your own, one to one tuition when students are absent or sixth form classes that have one pupil. Should we allow ourselves to take these one on one lessons when the subject is so physical?
• By physically correcting students are we making ourselves vulnerable and open to allegations? Is the learning more important? Can learning be done without this?
• Should students be given the option to either take P.E or Dance?
• Health and safety when moving rooms at the last minute, events in school can create chaos and rooms are used for different things such as open evening, meeting etc. Sometimes this happens during a lesson, which can call into question health and safety, can the new room be used for practical work?