Category: Ethics

Social Media – Revisited

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Before you begin reading this article, please take a moment and peruse these past blog posts:

Although several of the cited research links may have expired (for example, PA Department of Education modified most of their website’s URLs), these provided the foundations of background information and references for the presentation I prepared for the DCMEA Virtual Conference in 2020 (during COVID) and serve as the starting point for the workshop I will share in-person at the DCMEA Winter Conference in January 2026. This blog provides updates and additional perspectives. Taken in combination with the above sources, you will be able to identify the benefits, positive models, precautions, and dangers of social media, social networks, professional learning networks, and sample emerging technologies as they apply to teachers’ professional development and education of students.

“THE WHY”

Before every clinic or publication I develop, I always try to spotlight the theme of “THE WHY” as preached by one of my favorite authors and motivational speakers – Simon Sinek! According to him, for organizations and individuals alike, “THE WHY” (rationale and priority) is more important than “THE WHAT” and “THE HOW.” (See this video.)

WHY is a collaborative discussion on social media essential? Why now?

 ”There’s a growing body of evidence suggesting that educators are facing increasing scrutiny regarding their social media use. Concerns include unprofessional conduct, inappropriate interactions with students, and the potential for cyberbullying and other negative impacts on student well-being.”

“Educators are increasingly concerned about how social media influences students’ social-emotional development and their interactions with others.” 
— NEA Member Polling on Social Media…
— NEA Impact on Social Media and Personal Devices on Mental Health
— HHS Youth Mental Health and Social Media

Frankly, there is still a lot of confusion about the dangers of social media, social networking, and other technology integrations into education. In Social Media – Boon or Nemesis, we mentioned that teachers should “debunk the free speech myth.” We demonstrated how the improper application of social media could get educators in trouble. Check out these sites for more info and corroborative stats:
— Teacher Student Misconduct and the Critical Role of Social Media Screening
— NCBA Social Media for School Employees
— Social Media Hazards and Tips for Teachers

As always, our goal is to promote ethical practices in maintaining professionalism in the digital world.

“THE WHAT” — Review of Definitions

“Social Media”

Social media are “websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.”
— Oxford Lexico.com online dictionary

“Social Network”

A social network is, 1. a network of social interactions and personal relationships.; 2. a dedicated website or other application which enables users to communicate with each other by posting information, comments, messages, images, etc.
— Oxford Lexico.com online dictionary

“Professional Learning Community” (PLC)

A PLC is “a group of educators who meet regularly…” (usually in-person) “…to strategically enhance their teaching skills and improve student outcomes.”

versus “Professional Learning Network” (PLN)

A PLN is “a group of educators who gather more informally…” (usually in online communications) “…to problem-solve and generate ideas to enhance classroom practices. A PLN… often takes the form of an open forum, where participants can ask and answer questions based on their experiences.”
— https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2024/08/pln-vs-plc-perfcon

“THE HOW” — Ethos of Care

Teachers use social media to…

  • Get inspired with new teaching ideas
  • Find resources for the classroom
  • Connect with other educators
  • Stay on top of trends and news
  • participate in an online community
  • Find teacher discounts and deals
  • Follow education companies and organizations

— How Teachers Use Social Media
— Teachers Social Media Use

— Social Networks for Teachers

We acknowledge that the benefits of social networking for educators are numerous by promoting professional collaboration and connections, including:

  1. Acquiring information to enhance understanding
  2. Keeping informed about latest developments in education
  3. Enhancing communications with students, parents, and the school community
  4. Fostering connections with colleagues in the field to expand an educator’s professional network.

— Benefits of Social Media as an Educator

However, educators must exercise “sound judgment” and proper professional boundaries when using social media/networks with students. While the introduction of new technology provides many opportunities for teaching and learning, it is important to establish clear rules for appropriate student-teacher communication. In order to promote safety and appropriate boundaries while transitioning to a virtual teaching and learning environment, the Pennsylvania Professional Standards and Practices Commission offers suggestions to help educators protect themselves and their students.

  1. All technological resources and applications should be school entity-approved and only used in the manner prescribed. Ensure that you are familiar with the tools you are using in order to use them properly. 
  2. Communication with students should occur at designated times, consistent with traditional school day hours. Maintain transparency and protect yourself by keeping a record of all communications with students. 
  3. Clearly communicate when and how students should contact you and provide a timeframe for when students should expect responses to questions. 
  4. Avoid one-to-one interactions with students in chatrooms, FaceTime, Skype, or any other online space. School psychologists, school counselors and others providing one-to-one services to students should consult with school administration about the best mode of communication. 
  5. Use approved forms of communication by your school entity to connect with students and parents (i.e. Remind), use only your school email to communicate, and copy administration when communicating with parents or students. 
  6. When creating content or interacting in an online space with students, conduct yourself as you would if you were in school. If appearing on camera, dress professionally and be mindful of your surroundings and the camera’s view. 
  7. Do not “friend” or follow students on social media and do not allow students to “friend” or follow you on your personal social media. Remember, you do not have a “social” relationship with your students. 
  8. Keep your personal and professional lives separate. Do not share overly personal information about yourself with students.

— PSPC Digital Tips for Educators

While exercising responsibility to maintain a respectful, safe, online environment, there are many benefits for the application of social media for students in the classroom:

  • Real-time communications can increase student engagement, collaboration, communication and overall participation
  • Many students may find it easier to participate in online discussions that in the classroom
  • Students can easily ask each other or their teacher questions about assignments outside of class
  • Students & teachers can quickly share resources at any time.
  • Teachers can easily share class announcements.
  • Social media can provide a contingency plan for last minute remote learning scenarios.
  • Students can organize school events with each other or with the help of a teacher.
  • Teachers can augment an online-only class by establishing a social media page or account simply for building community.
  • Students can practice using social platforms responsibly, including maintaining a respectful online discourse.
  • Teachers can communicate directly with parents as needed, and parents can stay informed of school news via a convenient, easily accessible platform.

However, please watch out for these potential drawbacks:

  • Social media can be a major distraction, especially if students are accessing their personal accounts independently.
  • If students primarily use social platforms to participate in class discussions, they can miss out on practicing face-to-face conversations and respectful in-person discourse.
  • Some students may see social media assignments as an opportunity to cyberbully their classmates, and there is always a risk of someone posting inappropriate content or language.

— Social Media in Education

“THE WHAT” — Several Success Stories

Balancing the positives and negatives and taking into account all of these precautions in order to maintaining professional boundaries, the integration of new technology into the classroom may offer excellent enrichment and increase student motivation for advanced learning. This may take many forms. Here are a few interesting models.

Prior to preparing for the DCMEA online session in 2020, I stumbled upon a truly inspiring post from Derek Muller, a gifted teacher, physicist, filmmaker, and founder of the YouTube channel Vertiasium which has captured millions of subscribers. He offers one of the BEST models of using social media to enrich the understanding of learning math and science (applicable to all fields of study), while at the same time, provides warnings against unbridled use of so-called “innovation for innovation’s sake.”

“I feel like people over the years are invariably drawn to use these words:  revolutionize and education. And there’s this sort of amnesia that we’ve had a hundred years’ worth of these predictions, worth of really groundbreaking technologies that have transformed other areas in our lives but have failed to fundamentally change the way we do education. So, I stand here today as a voice of caution, to think that the future of education is not one of revolutions…”

You need to watch this: How is Social Media Transforming the Future of Education? (2016)
— Derek Muller

Say what you want about how COVID significantly disrupted our educational programs, evidence of learning loss, problems in socio-emotional development, decline of student engagement and self-motivation, rise in mental health struggles, decreased instructional time, and the effects of a new digital divide of under-served students (Annie E. Casey Foundation), happily there were surprisingly a few positive advancements — the results of exploring new tools and methodologies we had to employ to tread water and cope with the catastrophe. (“When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!”)

As one example, in the middle of preparing music for my community orchestra, we were shut down in 2020. No in-person rehearsals at the school. I then pivoted to creating my own online platform called SHJOOLA (South Hills Junior Orchestra Online Academy) in 2021 using MusicFirst. For a nominal yearly subscription fee, I was able to continue my Saturday morning classes (synchronous) as well as asynchronous (on-their-own time) learning using excellent applications in a virtual environment: MusicFirst Classroom, Focus on Sound, PracticeFirst, Sight-Reading Factory, Musition, Auralia, a web-based music notation program, and a huge library of method books and ensemble music. Several past blogs showed how we rolled out SHJOOLA:

The latter link above also provided a comprehensive list of supplementary resources (at the time) for online music education. Please peruse these even though some of them may have now gone inactive. We will provide supplemental links at the bottom of this article.

Another direction accented by the onslaught of the pandemic was digital streaming performances, incorporating technology in both the solo and ensemble settings. The following are two of my favorite examples of these to be viewed on YouTube:

Circle of Life from Disney’s Lion King (2015-18) by Sam Robson, arranger, innovator and performer using multitrack recording of a single performer mixing as many as 50 voices at one time.

Cloudburst, a Virtual & Live Choir and TEDTALK (2013) by Eric Whitacre

Well… sorry this blog has grown to be so large! If you admit to understanding the potential hazards of and precautions for integrating social media, social networks and other technologies into education, we’ll close with the following bibliography of additional resources for further study. If that is not enough to whet your curiosity, stop back in several months to download a copy of my slide summary for the session I will present at the DCMEA Winter Conference on January 30, 2026.

Be careful — stay safe and professional — but ENJOY!

Sample Blogs

Several Major Platforms

Examples of Music Applications/Websites

PKF

© 2025 Paul K. Fox

Sharing is Caring!

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Join the “Fox Network”

“There is no joy in possession without sharing.”
— Erasmus

“Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.”
— His Holiness the Dalai Lama

“There is no delight in owning anything unshared.”
— Seneca

“The miracle is this: The more we share the more we have.”
— Leonard Nimoy

This is a quick blog-post to announce my upcoming professional development initiatives, and an invitation to share your own pet peeves or “thoughts, theories, and teachings.” Of course, I will give you full credit for any contributions, “tips and techniques,” background research, or “quotables” provided!

It has been a challenge motivating any reactions to these articles. Although they would be most welcomed, we typically receive very few online remarks. (If you would like to voice your opinion or add anything to the conversation, PLEASE click on the “comment” button next to the title at the top of the page.)

I feel privileged to have been asked to present three sessions at the DCMEA Winter Conference at the Columbia Heights Education Campus (3101 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20010) on January 30, 2026. These are for music educators undergoing pre- and in-service training and include the following:

  • SOCIAL MEDIA – Boon or Nemesis?
  • ALL ABOARD THE E3 TRAIN – Essential Ethics for Educators
  • SELF-CARE COOKBOOK – Reflections, RECIPES, and Resources for Music Teachers

I would especially appreciate learning about any of YOUR “success stories” or resources on…

  • Favorite examples of “safe and meaningful” social media for teaching music students.
  • Anecdotes of ethical “conundrums” or issues in the daily decision-making of music educators.
  • Sample “stress-reducers,” time management tips, and other self-care strategies to avoid music teacher burnout.

In addition, I am in the process of updating my INTERVIEW 101 and EMPOWERING EDUCATOR & STUDENT LEADERSHIP clinics for future blog posts and clinics. Any thoughts?

Finally, I would also love to hear from you if you have any feedback on a proposed future sharing session for the parents of music students called ADVICE TO MUSIC BOOSTERS. If you have ever sponsored a music parents advocacy group for your school music program, what suggestions would you give to your colleagues and booster officers?

Feel free to reach out to me via email here. Thank you for your willingness to help our profession!

Editor’s Note (things to look forward to): In mid-July, our next blog for this series geared to “the life cycle of a music educator” will be from guest author Ed Carter entitled “Bigger Dreams, Bigger Home: How Retirees Can Upsize for Homesteading and Hosting.” In addition, I plan to share links to materials of the “Retirement 101 – It’s Not All About the Money,” a free workshop I am presenting to residents at the Upper St. Clair Township Library on July 10, 2025.

PKF

© 2025 Paul K. Fox

February Updates…

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PROfessional Development!

Education, ethics, professionalism, and lifelong learning.

Hope you are enjoying the winter season and, for many of you, the anticipation of warmer weather returning soon! Sorry, skiers! I am sick of shoveling snow!!

Here’s a quick “catch-up” on things going on in educator professional development.

For PA School Administrators & Educators

There is still time to register for the upcoming 25-hour, PDE-approved, Act 45 course, “PA Educators: Your Ethical Codes & School Law,” which will cover the recently mandated PA Title 22 Chapter 49 (Certification) Professional Ethics Competencies. The next online series of Act 45 classes will be held Tuesday afternoons in March, and provide “the keys to the car” planning for your own school district’s future continuing education and induction programs in ethics training as required by the PDE.

Now sponsoring our eighth series of classes, I am designated a “qualified instructor” in partnership with the course’s creator/facilitator, retired social studies teacher and attorney Thomas W. Bailey. For more information, please click on these links to his website:

In addition, since over the past year PDE revised their website (and changed most of the content links), I compiled a super-index of “places-to-go” and “things-to-read,” sites of supplemental resources on school ethics here. I recommend visiting this blog if you are interested in our library of links to the Pennsylvania Code of Professional Practice and Conduct, the Model Code of Ethics for Educators, the PA Educators Discipline Act, and research and citations from the PDE, PA Professional Standards and Practices Commission, Connecticut State Department of Education, and Iowa Board of Educational Examiners, among many others.

If you would like to see the kind of things we cover in these classes, take a look at the slide summaries I posted from my presentation at the PDE SAS Institute “Purposeful Leadership” state conference last December:

From Pre-Service to Veteran Music Teachers!

It’s that time of the year… again! The PMEA Annual Conference on April 9-12, 2025 will be held in the family-friendly, perfect-for-a-mini-vacation spot in northeastern PA: the Kalahari Resort in the Poconos.

There is still time to register! (Click here.) If you would like to see a summary of the sessions and performances, go to the PMEA website here or download this PDF brochure.

Why attend the conference? In my five-plus decades in education, I may have missed only two or three of the annual PMEA state events, and heartily recommend you remain actively involved in your professional association. This is what I wrote about it in a recent PMEA Retired Member Network eNEWS:

For some of us, it’s a just chance to catch-up with our colleagues, see our friends, and socialize. Others are more focused and take advantage of the near-perfect opportunity to network with other professionals, perhaps seeking new working relationships, partnerships, or even employment. Many are on a look-out for newly published music, that perfect music lesson or teaching strategy, technology tools, fundraisers, advance educational venues, or much-needed equipment to purchase for our ensembles or classrooms. Most come to hear/see the “state of the art” in music education – concerts, demonstrations, keynote speeches, panel discussions, exhibits, research presentations, and workshops. PMEA’s PD Council would likely submit that the primary purpose of a conference is for professional self-improvement… What did Stephen Covey call it? His Habit #7 of “sharpening the saw” – to build a balanced program of self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual. Covey would insist we embrace “the process that empowers us to move on an upward spiral of growth and change, of continuous improvement.” So, in short, conferences help us “grow” – to revive, re-inspire, re-energize, rejuvenate, re-direct, and re-motivate all of us – pre-service, active in-service, and retired teachers towards making successful new connections, updating our knowledge and skills, and forming new goals. This is how we “keep up” with all the new standards, benchmarks, and cutting-edge advances, and meet the “movers-and-shakers,” visionaries, and leaders in the profession!

There’s a lot in store for college music education majors. Besides the aforementioned state meetings, concerts, clinics, and keynote addresses no one should miss, the music industry exhibits (new innovations in sheet music, instruments, technology, summer school and graduate programs, etc.), and the chance to introduce yourself to other music colleagues (aren’t some of you looking for a job soon?), there will be a “coffee and connections” informal lounge to ASK-AN-EXPERT on Thursday afternoon to pick-the-brains of PMEA mentors and retirees on any subject. Do you have a question about conducting technique, musical literature, lesson plan idea, classroom or time management tip, or teaching method? And, just take look these sessions the PMEA Professional Development Council has targeted specifically for YOU:

For Retirees… They are special, too!

PMEA Retired Members, consider this your personal invitation to join us at the Kalahari Resort in the Poconos for the chance to catch-up, connect, collaborate and communicate with other colleagues throughout the Commonwealth! (a plethora of “C’s!”)

As usual, we will “break bread” together Friday morning (April 11, 2025) with the annual retiree breakfast. Be sure to register soon for the PMEA Annual Conference (now only $25) and check the “yes” box that you will attend our meeting. Those in attendance will be treated to some “conference swag!”

Retirees are a valuable resource to PMEA! Our experienced retired members are among the best-trained (unofficial) mentors in PMEA. Facing many years of “boots on the ground,” we have at our fingertips numerous strategies to solve problems in education. Frankly, in my opinion, we have a lot to offer “the future of the profession!”

If you are a retired PA music educator, hopefully you have maintained your PMEA membership (dues significantly discounted), and have signed up for the Retired Member Resource Registry to help future “rookie” music educators. (To reach the R3, first login to your PMEA portal here.)

On Friday, April 11, at 3:30 p.m., we are offering a special sharing session for soon-to-retire teachers… the annual one-hour Retirement 101 workshop joined by a panel of experienced retirees: Rick Coulter, Jeffrey Dent, Sister Kathleen Doutt, Dan Klingbeil, Chuck Neidhardt, and Louise & Richard Victor. Active educators who plan to retire over the 1-5 years can learn valuable techniques from us for a smooth transition to post-full-time employment and successfully reinvent, reprogram, and “recharge” themselves to modifying those essential elements of purpose, structure, and community throughout their “golden years!”

My Professional Advertisement

You may have noticed in my last blog-post an outline of past article topics archived at this site, and a complaint that I feel I must repeat myself (or repackage the material) to meet the changing personalized “bookends” – life cycles – specific passages of my readers. The earlier February post was mostly for job seekers. If you were not looking for employment or coming fresh out of college, it may have seemed irrelevant. The same goes for specialty articles on self-care, ethics training, or retirement transitioning… WHEN WOULD YOU BE MOTIVATED TO STUDY THESE?

I have decided to maintain a comprehensive index of my writings (see “Inside” link in the top menu bar). Please visit the sections of this blog-site that matter to you most… and, when things change, come back and look again. You may find something that “hits the spot” or satisfies the needs of your new journey in education or personal/professional life.

I remain willing and able (aka “very interested”) in doing in-person or online sessions for college methods classes, PCMEA chapter meetings, PMEA festival directors’ meetings, PMEA District or Regional PD workshops, or school district/department inservices. Just give me a call. My contact information can be found in the top “About” link. Please visit this section for catalogs of my presentations and articles. FYI, I created this trifold of some of my past work.

Best wishes on your future successes in career development and professional goal setting.

PKF

© 2025 Paul K. Fox

FOX_PAUL_trifoldDownload

Exceptional Ethics Training

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A Follow-up to the Pennsylvania Educators E-TRAIN

SCHOOL SYSTEM LEADERS, CTC DIRECTORS, & OTHER ADMINISTRATORS:
In case you missed my last update here in September 2024, this “express car” blog post will help you “catch-up” on the PDE “company line,” “supply new freight” to your continuing professional development and induction programs, get back “on track” and avoid being “sidetracked” or “derailed” for meeting the newly revised PA Chapter 49 “guard rails” of professional ethics training competencies.

THE ETHICAL WHEELS GO ROUND & ROUND…

You may have noticed that due to compliance regulations, the PDE website was revised with many of its former URL “tracks” leading to “train wrecks.” This “propelled” us towards making an “overhaul” to “connect” the new references (research “destinations”) in my slide presentations. Please use the following index (substituting old “routes”) and travel to our renovated “union station” with the new schedules.

Okay… I will stop “conducting” any more train “puns!”

Recent Ethics Sessions

Slide Summaries for the PDE Purposeful Leadership Conference (if you attended) are available from the SAS Institute’s conference app: Eventsquid.

Upon completion of the 25-hour course, the PowerPoints for all four sessions of the Thomas W. Bailey Act 45 class series were emailed to the participants.

Here is the PRE-TEST for both events.

What is your “best guess?”

UPDATES TO RESEARCH LINKS

Act 126 Child Abuse and Reporting Training
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/pspc/content-pages/outreach/act-126-training.html

Adjudications & Orders (PA Certificate Actions)
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education/programs-and-services/educators/educator-misconduct/certification-actions.html

Attorney (PA) Rules of Professional Conduct
https://www.padisciplinaryboard.org/for-attorneys/rules

California BTES – Overview of the Ethnographic Study by David Berliner and William Tikunoff
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002248717602700107?journalCode=jtea

Certificate Actions (Adjudications & Orders)
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education/programs-and-services/educators/educator-misconduct/certification-actions.html

Chapter 49 Ethics Training
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/pspc/resources/chapter-49-ethics-training.html

Cleveland Board of Education v. James Loudermill (US Supreme Court 1985)
https://www.twbaileylaw.com/blog/educator-court-case-blog-1/may-a-school-district-employee-be-dismissed-without-prior-opportunity-to-respond-to-allegations-of-wrongdoing-4

Code of Professional Practice and Conduct
https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/022/chapter235/chap235toc.html&d=reduce OR
https://paulfox.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/code-of-conduct-revised.pdf

Codes (Conduct vs. Ethics), Types of
https://www.amazon.com/Music-Education-Your-Hands-Introduction/dp/0415800900

Commission Publications (Professional Standards & Practices Commission)
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/pspc/resources/commission-publications.html

Connecticut State Department of Education TEAM Program Manual
https://portal.ct.gov/sde/team/teacher-education-and-mentoring-team-program/documents

Contract Termination 11-1122 Public School Code of 1949
https://govt.westlaw.com/pac/Document/NB5B9C950342F11DA8A989F4EECDB8638?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)

Criminal History 1-111 Public School Code of 1949
https://govt.westlaw.com/pac/Document/NB6D6E91007EE11EA8D85D136C641FF9C?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)

The Danielson Group
https://danielsongroup.org/

Digital Tips (Online Boundaries) for Educators (Professional Standards and Practices Commission)
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/pspc/resources/commission-publications/digital-tips-for-educators.html

Educator Discipline Act
https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/pspc/documents/statutes-regs-forms/educator%20discipline%20act.pdf and
https://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Statutes-Regulations-Policies-Forms/Educator-Discipline-Act/Pages/default.aspx

Educator Misconduct
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education/programs-and-services/educators/educator-misconduct.html

Ethical Dilemmas of In-Service Music Educators by Joelle L. Lien
https://act.maydaygroup.org/articles/Lien11_1.pdf

The Ethical Educator (Frequently Asked Questions)
https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/pspc/documents/ethical-practices/publications/the%20ethical%20educator%20and%20professional%20practices.pdf

Ethical Equilibrium – Troy Hutchings’ work
https://slideplayer.com/slide/12243050/ and
https://vimeo.com/126979216

Ethics Toolkit – Teacher Preparation Programs (missing from revised PDE website?)
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/pspc/resources/information-for-school-administrators/teacher-preparation-programs.html
Web archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20240807121601/https://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Promoting-Ethical-Practices-Resources/Ethics-Toolkit/Pages/default.aspx

General Assembly (PA)
tps://www.legis.state.pa.us/

Iowa Board of Education Examiners (Moral vs. Ethical Standards)
https://slideplayer.com/slide/12203932/

Loudermill Hearings – Court Case Blog (US Supreme Court 1985)
https://www.twbaileylaw.com/blog/educator-court-case-blog-1/may-a-school-district-employee-be-dismissed-without-prior-opportunity-to-respond-to-allegations-of-wrongdoing-4

Model Code of Ethics for Educators
https://www.nasdtec.net/page/MCEE_Doc and
https://www.nasdtec.net/page/MCEE_Video_Series

Moral Development Philosophy by Lawrence Kohlberg
https://archive.org/details/essaysonmoraldev0000kohl

Moral Professionalism (Wynne, E. A. (1995). The moral dimension of teaching)
https://www.itejournal.org/wp-content/pdfs-issues/spring-2013/08bergman.pdf

Moral v. Ethical Standards (Iowa Board of Educational Examiners)
https://slideplayer.com/slide/12203932/

National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification
https://www.nasdtec.net/ and
https://www.nasdtec.net/page/MCEE_Video_Series

Pennsylvania Code & Bulletin (Title 22 Education)
https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?titleNumber=022&file=/secure/pacode/data/022/022toc.html&searchunitkeywords=&operator=OR&title=null

Pennsylvania Code (Title 23 Child Protection Services)
https://govt.westlaw.com/pac/Document/NAD136501756B11E88795828A65D8C1A1?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)

Professional Ethics Program Framework Competencies
https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/education/documents/educators/certifications/professional%20ethics%20program%20framework%20guidelines.pdf

Professional Standards and Practices Commission
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/pspc.html and
https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/022/chapter233/chap233toc.html and
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/pspc/resources/commission-publications.html

Public School Code of 1949
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/1949/0/0014..HTM or
https://govt.westlaw.com/pac/Document/NB5B9C950342F11DA8A989F4EECDB8638?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)

Rules for Teachers (1872 & 1915)
https://www.openculture.com/2013/09/rules-for-teachers-in-1872-1915-no-drinking-smoking-or-trips-to-barber-shops-and-ice-cream-parlors.html

Simon Sinek
https://simonsinek.com/

Slater v. PDE Case Citation
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/pa-commonwealth-court/1465107.html

Statutes, Regulations, Policies and Forms (Department of Education)
https://www.pa.gov/search.html#q=Statutes%20Regulations&f-copapwpagency=Department%20of%20Education,Department%20of%20Health or
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education/programs-and-services/educators.html

Teacher Preparation Programs
https://www.pa.gov/en/agencies/pspc/resources/information-for-school-administrators/teacher-preparation-programs.html

Thomas W. Bailey Court Case Blogs
https://www.twbaileylaw.com/blog

Thomas W. Bailey PDE-Approved Act 45/PIL and Act 48 Courses
https://www.twbaileylaw.com/

If you missed the SAS Institute 2024 in Hershey and still need help in designing your own educator ethics training in-service or mentor/mentee induction programs, check out the Thomas W. Bailey website here. Consider registering for our next 25-hour PDE-approved Act 45 online course.

Finally, the answer to the above PRE-TEST is letter “D” (NOT):

Please reach out to Paul Fox (click here) if you find any of the above links have gone inactive or have suggestions/updates to this blog-post.

PKF

© 2024 Paul K. Fox

Educator Ethics Training Revisited!

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ALL ABOARD THE E-TRAIN… Embarking and Embracing a Journey of Essential Educator Ethics

The wheels of the train go round and round…

“All black, well stacked, goin’ down the track clickety clack” = the train looked good on the visual roll-by inspection.

“Highball it out of here” = proceed at maximum permissible speed

“Let’s pull the pin and roll” = uncouple so we can get out of here

The fall season is bringing upon us a series of ethical workshops, classes, and the creation of other resources, and the perfect time to warehouse everything at the main rail terminal! Take an excursion below to learn more about “staying on track” with research on the responsibilities and “regs” for serving as an educator.

Can you name the exact title of your Code of Conduct? What agency enforces it? Do educators have a Code of Ethics? Are school teachers fiduciaries or model exemplars? What does all of this mean?

First, let’s take a pretest of your knowledge and experience on the subject of school ethics. Which of the following statements has the least validity?

  1. Moral professionalism involves being well informed about students, education, and content, confronting parents of underachieving students, cooperating with colleagues to observe school policies, and criticizing unsatisfactory policies and proposing constructive improvement.
  2. Teachers, attorneys, doctors, nurses, counselors, therapists, and the clergy have “fiduciary” duties: own the highest legal duties of good faith and trust and are bound ethically to act in another party’s best interest.
  3. Although not always defined in exact terms of school law or policies, professional ethics are “standards that assist practitioners within situation and systemic contexts in choosing the best course-of-action.”
  4. A code of ethics outlines a set of principles that affect decision making, while a code of conduct delineates specific behaviors that are required or prohibited and governs actions.
  5. The primary goal of professional ethics training is to emphasize the “minimum standards of acceptable behavior” and focus on specific illegal and unethical actions that may result in disciplinary actions.

After a thorough exploration of the materials below, you should feel confident in responding to this question. (If you need help, scroll down to answer at the end of this blog-post.)

Classes and Conferences on Ethics, Oh My!

I am looking forward to sharing insights on ethical issues and especially the seeming “conundrums” or conflicts in the myriad of snap judgments of daily decision-making, both in and outside of our classrooms. Upcoming opportunities are on the ethics e-train schedule.

Currently, we are completing the sixth series of our 25-hour PDE-approved Act 45/PIL online course for school/system leaders, career and technical center directors, and other administrators. Sponsored by my colleague Thomas W. Bailey (check out his website here), the next class “PA Educators: Your Ethical Codes & School Law” begins on October 22 for four consecutive Tuesdays from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Thomas Bailey and I were also invited to present this Act 45/PIL course for the Northeastern Intermediate Unit #19 as a two-day workshop on November 19 and December 16, 2024. Visit http://www.iu19.org or click here to register.

I am venturing out of the Western PA to Eagleville, PA (near Valley Forge) to provide a 70-minute in-service, a school ethics “refresh” for the faculty at Methacton School District on October 14, 2024. Click here to download a copy of the slide summary with all links active.

Finally, I am happy to report that I was invited back to the PDE SAS Institute to do two sessions: “Planning School Ethics Training, Part I – Definitions, Codes, and the Commission” and Planning School Ethics Training, Part II – Model Code of Ethics for Educators. My proposal to present the session “CATCH THE E-TRAIN – Codes, Case Studies, and the Challenges of Ethical Decision-Making” was not approved for the 2025 PMEA Annual Conference in Kalahari Resort (Poconos). However, a facsimile of similar slides from past NAfME/PMEA workshops and webinars on educator ethics is available here.

Supplemental Resources for the Study of Codes, Case Studies, and the Challenges of Daily Decision-Making in Education

And now, the grand daddy of school ethics destinations…

Past paulfox.blog posts on educator ethics

Especially for Pennsylvania educators, pre-service students, and newcomers to the Commonwealth (citing the PA Professional Practices and Standards Commission website)

From other state governments (all rights reserved)

An additional sampling of articles

WHY STUDY ETHICS? Answer to the PRETEST above.

A code of ethics sets a higher threshold than regulatory codes of conduct or even a nonprofit organization’s bylaws and compliance rules enforced by the government. A code of conduct, such as the Pennsylvania “Code of Professional Practices and Conduct” of the PSPC, provides absolutes for employment, licensure, and/or civil/criminal sanctions. In contrast, the Model Code of Ethics for Educators document serves more as a general compass to help steer professionals towards sound judgment in their daily decision-making. What is unique about a true code of ethics vs. a code of conduct is that the principles are not defined in exact terms of law or policies, nor do they necessarily model family morals or values on which we as individual educators have been raised. The proposed standards are not about definite issues of right/wrong or black/white, but shades of grey. They are more open-ended, offering opportunities to discuss recommendations for consideration from a set of possible choices based on the circumstances of each ethical dilemma or resolution.

– excerpt from “The Ethical Music Educator,” Winter 2020 issue of PMEA News

Teachers are ethical professionals. Our moral aspirations, the “codes” and “standards” we subscribe to, and our professionalism are important to us, our students, our programs, and our communities. Essentially, these are the beliefs for which we stand, the values and behavior we model in our day-to-day decision-making to “make a difference” in the lives of our students, and the overall integrity of the profession. Therefore, the answer to the PRETEST above is #5. (#1-4 are TRUE!) But, as stated in #5, the goal of meaningful ethics training is NOT to emphasize the minimum standards of acceptable behavior or to focus on specific illegal and unethical actions that may result in disciplinary actions.

Do you have anything to add to this collection? ALL ABOARD! The conductor would appreciate feedback! Please feel free to make a comment to this blog (see link next to the title).

PKF

© 2024 Paul K. Fox

Rising Educators Conference

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June 28-July 1, 2024
Marriott Marquis – Washington D.C

It is my pleasure to be invited to present two sessions at the Educators Rising Conference on June 29, 2024 in the Liberty L/M Room of the Marriott Marquis in Washington D.C.

This is a very unique venue, something in which I encourage other educators and clinicians to consider participating. The event brings together prospective future educators, middle to high school and college education majors, with veteran practitioners and experienced educators in the profession. This is from their website:

Each year, Educators Rising hosts a national conference to convene our network of rising educators and teacher leaders. It’s a unique opportunity for students and their teacher leaders to:

  • Connect and learn from each other through more than 40 breakout sessions;
  • Network with other members from across the country;
  • Compete for national titles in competitive events designed to allow students to develop and showcase their teaching skills; and
  • Be inspired by keynote presentations from national education leaders

Want to learn more about what you can look forward to for 2024? Check out the 2023 National Conference Program Book, 2023’s Conference Daily, and our conference highlight video to see what current and future educators experienced last year.

An outline of the conference schedule may be viewed here. Additional information may be found at the conference website here. You can still register for the event.

My two offerings will not come as a surprise to anyone who has been following my work at this site:

GETTING A JOB

My first workshop, “Interviewing & Branding 101” (Saturday, June 29 at 9 a.m.) will provide an overview of important definitions (e.g., “professional,” “total educator,” etc.) and dive into interactive exercises to exploring the basic building blocks of personal self-assessment, building “a brand” and “marketing plan” for the job search, practicing networking and storytelling skills, and analyzing and “playacting” better interviewing techniques. Although I will need to shorten the presentation to fit in the 45-minute time block allotted and provide more focus on the interactive partner and small group exercises, this was the initial outline that was accepted by the Rising Educators Conference Session Selection Committee:

My favorite candy, Hershey Symphony bars, will be distribute as incentives for the more “brave” attendees who volunteer themselves to serve as good (as well as bad) models of the mock interviews.

In conclusion, this is “the session” I wish someone would have provided me before I went out into the labor market! We will have some fun connecting with each other, learning something new about our core values, goals, and strengths – especially those areas we want to broadcast to future employers – building a marketing plan of the essentials to promote ourselves in future employment screenings, and breaking-out into “duos” and small groups to “practice-practice-practice!” The branding and interviewing exercises and suggestions may be applied to finding any job, but will definitely be a big help for landing “the one” teaching position you always wanted.

For the participants who attend my session (facsimile of slides available after June 28), here are links to the printed handouts and other supplemental materials:

EDUCATOR ETHICS

My second workshop (offered one hour later), “Embarking the E3 Train – Ethos, Ethics, & Engagement,” brings to fruition my passion for the preparation of future educators to embrace the essential ethical standards of our profession. Again, back in 1977, no college methods course nor student teaching prep covered the meaning behind such terms as “fiduciary,” “ethical equilibrium,” “moral professionalism,” etc. To be fair to my college professors, Pennsylvania had not yet written its Code of Professional Practice and Conduct which now “governs” the educators in our Commonwealth, nor had the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification facilitated the creation of the amazing document called The Model Code of Ethics for Educators. It was not until 2017 (four years after I retired) when I was asked to research and present my first educator ethics session for PMEA District 7 did I “discover” the need for interactive, open, peer discussion of these core questions:

  • How do ethics inform a teacher’s personal and professional actions?
  • Why is the study of educator ethics essential for all educators entering the profession?
  • What does it mean to be a “fiduciary” and “moral exemplar” in the community?
  • What is the difference between a “Code of Conduct” and a “Code of Ethics?” Is one more important than the other?
  • How do you avoid any action and/or appearance of impropriety, and prevent the “slippery slope” of inappropriate student-teacher relationships, and other ethical problems?

During this presentation on Saturday, June 29 at 10 a.m., we will discuss the thousands of daily rapid-fire decisions (many snap judgments) of teachers and evaluate the potential effects of any who “stray” – “levels of misconduct + consequences.” Furthermore, we will unpack and review a portion of the five principles, 18 sections, and 86 standards in the Model Code of Ethics for Educators. Fostering open and interactive discussion, we will empanel a mock “ethics jury” (volunteers from the attendees) to assess fictitious “fact scenarios” of potential ethical issues, hazardous choices or vulnerabilities, and even tackle a few “conundrums” or problems in educator decision-making. Our jurors will receive our thanks and an Educators Rising Mock Jury t-shirt for their “willingness to serve as guinea-pigs.”

Admittedly, some of our past material on ethics was “for mature audiences only” resulting in the need for adjustments to be made to some of the hypothetical case studies (serious infractions) for group analysis. However, the majority of my work on educator ethics is available for review on this site (in reverse chronological order) by clicking here.

Here are additional case studies for group discussions of ethical dilemmas.

For the participants who attend my Washington D.C. session on June 29, 2024, a facsimile of “Embarking the E3 Train” slides are available. (CLICK HERE.)

PKF

© 2024 Paul K. Fox

Launching PA Educator Ethics Training

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Implementing the NEW PDE Chapter 49 “PE” Competencies – “The WHO, WHAT, WHY, & HOW!”

Blogger’s Note: We will return to Part II of “Bookends” next month to explore:

  • Stage 3: Inservice/Growing Years
  • Stage 4: Veteran/Sustaining Years
  • Stage 5: Next Chapter/Living the Dream

Instead, our November blog will share methods, modes, media, and other materials to provide meaningful professional development on ETHICS for EDUCATORS in the Commonwealth, resources from my upcoming presentation to school administrators at the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s SAS Institute – Successful Leadership – Shaping Your School’s Story to be held in the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center on December 11-13, 2023. Click below for my handouts.

planning-pd-for-ethics-sas-institute-handouts-s121123Download

PKFox

Interested in joining us at the Hershey Lodge on December 11-13, 2023? Please click here for more information or to register.

A Summary of My SAS Institute Ethics Session

To paraphrase the wisdom of one of my favorite recent visionaries and online workshop presenters, Simon Sinek, “Every organization should begin with “the WHY!” According to SmartInsights, Sinek’s Golden Circle theory explains “how leaders can inspire cooperation, trust and change in a business based on his research into how the most successful organizations think, act and communicate if they start with why.” On his website, he declares his own WHY: “We are here to inspire people to do the things that inspire them so that, together, each of us can change our world for the better.” I love his mission!

https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/online-value-proposition/start-with-why-creating-a-value-proposition-with-the-golden-circle-model/

“Your WHY is your purpose, cause, or belief. WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care about the work you do?” – Simon Sinek

So… lets ask the questions that define our own golden circle, my session, and this article:

  • WHY should we be so concerned about professional development in ethics for PA educators?
    (Why should you even be reading this blogpost?)
  • HOW should we train our staff?
  • WHAT should be introduced and reinforced over the long term?

And, I will add one additional question: WHO is responsible for all of this?

Well, the quick response to that last query is EVERYONE in the profession. However, this blog is particularly geared to school system leaders, career and technical center directors, and administrators charged with the responsibility of continuing education/professional development and induction programs for their PA educators.

The “WHY!”

Quick. Calling on all PA teachers! Without looking on the Internet, can you identify the exact title of your “code of conduct” (1)? Do you know the PA agency responsible for writing this code and adjudicating its rules (2)? Can you name the “code of ethics” recently adopted by PDE and the Board of Education which provides school staff comprehensive guidance in professional decision-making based on context (3)?

Hints? How about a few acronyms?

  1. CPPC
  2. PSPC
  3. MCEE?

Don’t you think “we” should at least be familiar with the commission that grants us the license to teach in PA as well as the document that “governs” our behavior, violations of which could remove us from our job or revoke our certificate?

Of course, six years ago, even I didn’t know we had a PA “code of conduct!” (I started teaching in the public schools in 1978 and it wasn’t written until 1992!) After retiring from full-time teaching in 2013, I was asked to present my first ethics workshop back in 2017 for a Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) Regional In-Service Program. Already scheduling me for two other sessions, the organizer came to me, “Could you add a presentation on educator ethics?” My first reaction was, WHY? Why would this be necessary? I promised him I would do a little research before getting back to him… and found these (now updated) statistics. Here’s the WHY in a nutshell!

HORRIBLE! These are the number of PA educators by year who had misconduct complaints filed against them. Sure, a majority of their cases were not always fully prosecuted nor did they all result in a “guilty” verdict or plea, as this glimpse of educator disciplinary resolutions for 2016 (out of 672) for comparison shows (statistics from PDE):

But, if you can read the above graphic, that means that in 2016, 156 educators surrendered their license or had their certificate suspended or revoked! Obviously, no matter how you interpret the stats, this is a SERIOUS PROBLEM! And it may be due to a lack of training or understanding of the regulations and principles of ethical decision-making!

Why is this topic crucial for all pre-service, “rookie,” AND experienced professional educators? It is essential… not so much to serve as a reminder of the penalties for ethical infractions or spotlighting the occurrences you read or hear about in the news… but, because ETHICS are what we all stand for, the values we exhibit in our day-to-day decision-making, the integrity of the profession, and our “making a difference” in the lives of the students.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it.

(Oliver Wendell Holmes)

The “WHAT!”

My colleague Thomas W. Bailey, a retired social studies teacher who reinstated his law license, and I set ourselves the goal of creating continuing education courses to provide REAL ethics training for PA educators. Thomas applied to the Pennsylvania Department of Education and received approval for a four-hour online Act 48 continuing education course for all PA educators (earning credits in PERMS) and a 25-hour online Act 45 PIL continuing education course for school system leaders, career and technical center directors, and other administrators responsible for planning the professional development of their school staff. The dates for our next two series of classes with open for enrollment in January 2024 are:

To register for either course, please go to Tom’s website: https://www.twbaileylaw.com/event.

Both of our courses satisfy the recently revised PDE Chapter 49 requirements of learning the “professional ethics” program framework guidelines:

For school system leaders and other administrators, PDE has set high expectations with the release of the following DEADLINES in April 2022:

“Chapter 49 requires instruction in professional ethics to be integrated in educator preparation, induction, and continuing professional development programs as follows.

  • Continuing professional development programs must integrate the professional ethics competencies no later than the 2023-24 academic year.
  • Educator preparation and induction programs must integrate the professional ethics competencies no later than the 2024-25 academic year.“

Our Act 45 and Act 48 courses cover the following subjects, definitions, and applications of these terms:

  • Fiduciary
  • Ethical Equilibrium
  • Personal Morality
  • Regulations of Law
  • Professional Ethics
  • Professional Dispositions
  • Moral Professionalism
  • Differences Between Moral and Ethical Standards (with Examples)
  • Codes of Conduct (Examples)
  • Codes of Ethics (Examples)
  • Differences Between a Code of Conduct and a Code of Ethics
  • PA Professional Standards and Practices Commission
  • Paths of Educator Discipline in PA (Local and State)
  • Loudermill Hearings
  • State Discipline System (from Misconduct Complaint to Appeals)
  • PA Code of Professional Practice and Conduct
  • The Educator Discipline Act
  • National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification
  • Model Code of Ethics for Educators

The “How!”

I know this will sound a lot like bragging, but what makes the Thomas Bailey + Paul Fox ethics courses truly effective and different from everyone else in the game (albeit there are few “classes on the codes” sponsored in our geographic area) is the process – a focus on top-down training (administrator to teacher to student), interactive discussion, and a major emphasis on borrowing from the research of “Principled Teaching” in Domains 4a, 4d, 4e, and 4f of the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching, the Teacher Education And Mentoring (TEAM) Module 5 Guide of the Connecticut State Department of Education, and the Facilitators Guide of the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners.

In my SAS presentation, I review several different modes of case study analysis, from simple to comprehensive, modeling small group interactive peer review, encouraging healthy discussions of diverse opinions in an “open,” non-threatening environment. The following approaches could be adapted to your setting of in-service programs or inductions:

MOCK JURY

Degree of Misconduct, scenarios for learning the PA Code of Professional Practice and Conduct (CPPC): For more details, revisit the application of my misconduct rubric and explanation in the blog “Ethical Scenarios” here.

In collegiate sessions, I have used color-coded popsicle sticks and handouts of different hypothetical case studies for “the jury” to evaluate the behavior and “find the relevant code” in the CPPC.

VOICES IN MY HEAD

Random Bad Attitudes for review of the standards in the Model Code of Ethics for Educators: I doubt (or sincerely hope) you would not hear too many of these directly from the school staff, but comments like, “Don’t ask for permission, beg for forgiveness” are NOT ethical precepts! Let’s dissect these bad boys!

SEARCH FOR THE STANDARDS

Hybrid Approach for using “the negative voices” and researching appropriate provisions in both the CPPC and MCEE: Select a single bad attitude and break off into two or three teams, each focused on corroborating related ethical principles in CPPC, MCEE, and even the PA Educator Discipline Act (EDA).

ALL CODES

“Deep Dive” Case Study Analyses in small group break outs for comprehensive interactive discussions using an adaptation of the questions in the Connecticut State Department of Education TEAM Manual:

  1. What possible issues/concerns might this scenario raise?
  2. How could this situation conflict with school policy, CPPC, EDA, MCEE, or case law?
  3. In this situation, what are some potential negative consequences for the educator’s students, fellow educators, and the school community-at-large?
  4. What responses/actions will result in a more positive outcome and/or what proactive measures might be considered?

A single hypothetical scenario would first be presented to the full group, and then the educators would break off into 4-6 smaller groups to review these questions. Individuals may or may not all agree. A group leader is usually appointed to record their responses and then upon reconvening, report back to “the whole.” Here is a sample case study (painful reading; fictitious but based on actual past incidents):

The moderator may promote further discussion (sample answers below) and even pose additional questions like the following:

  1. What if the relationship was always of mutual consent?
  2. What if the teacher never taught the student while she was enrolled in his school?
  3. What if the relationship did not start until after the student graduated?
  4. What if his student was over the age of 18 during the time of the relationship?

It deserves mention here that this final training mode, representing perhaps the highest degree of scaffolding of the learning for the ethics training of your staff, proposes the establishment of a permanent school district Professional Learning Community (PLC) or ethics committee. We know from our past experiences in providing continuing professional development of educators that promote free, open, healthy sharing of potential professional decision-making conflicts or ethical “conundrums” – “what would you do” scenarios – will foster lasting long-term benefits. Danielson Framework for Teaching (Domain 4) and CSDE reinforce this philosophy of peer collaboration.

“Teachers must engage in district-facilitated conversations that focus on ethical and professional dilemmas and their professional responsibility to students, the larger school/district educational community, and to families.”

Connecticut State Department of Education

My educator ethics mentor and “hero” Troy Hutchings, Senior Policy Advisor to the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, admitted that in his early years of teaching, he felt a little reticent about going to his principal for advice in handling a situation of a student developing a “romantic crush” on him. To paraphrase his remarks during his webinar, “I was concerned that my supervisor might think I was encouraging the girl… Who could I turn to?” Sharing these anecdotes and talking informally with other faculty members will go far in building teamwork, mentor-mentee relationships, and intra-building trust in allowing more peer review towards enhanced educator decision-making.

If you need a resource on PLCs, my colleague (PA Principal of the Year to be honored at the upcoming 2023 SAS Institute) Dr. Tim Wagner recommended the handbook Learning by Doing by Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, Thomas W. Many, and Mike Mattos (Solution Tree Press, 2016).

The authors’ summary of reasons to implement a PLC in your school building(s) are to:

  1. Improve staff’s individual and collective practice
  2. Build on staff’s “shared knowledge and experiences”
  3. Build clarity and understanding in the use of a common vocabulary
  4. Develop a library of accessible tools, templates, and protocols (i.e., ethical scenarios)
  5. Promote non-threatening, thought-provoking discussion on ethical decision-making

Wrapping It Up with More Resources

Every school setting is different, and your application of these staff ethics training ideas will be unique. Hopefully I have given any interested PA school system leader, CTC director, professional development or building administrator, or department chair some “food for thought.” For example, if you wanted to set up a PLC to meet regularly to discuss ethical issues, many of you may need to involve your teacher’s professional association and/or review their contract… or perhaps on-your-own implement a rotation of educators to experience these case study discussions during pre-scheduled inservice or induction days.

For “the keys to the car” to build your own local ethics professional development programs, we encourage you to sign-up for one of our classes here. For our PIL series, Thomas Bailey shares the native files of his PowerPoint presentations so that they can be turned around and taught to other educators, and then even students who are studying their own discipline code or online anti-bullying school policies. Here is an image of our PIL brochure which will be offered beginning on January 3, 2024.

I also suggest perusing Thomas Bailey’s free videos on this topic, slide #61 (page 31) from the handouts to my SAS Institute presentation (above), and these links to other blogs on paulfox.blog.

NOW YOU HAVE IT… the entire toolkit and rationale… the “who, what, how, and why” of educator ethics training and satisfying the new PDE Chapter 49 “PE” competencies.

© 2023 Paul K. Fox

Bookends – Part One

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The Life Cycle of a Successful & Happy Music Educator

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”

Colin Powell

I feel blessed to have spent five decades in the field of music education. No other career has offered so much personal satisfaction, discoveries and growth of hidden potentials and skills I never knew I had, sharing my love of creative self-expression, and facilitating others to seek their own connections to music. I am trying to follow my own “retirement” advice, remaining active in the profession in ways that matter, helping others find their own success, and embracing author Ernie Zelinski’s mantra to “find purpose, structure, and community” throughout my years as a retiree.

Parallel to the mission of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Council for Teacher Training, Recruitment, and Retention, serving “the life cycle of a music educator,” this blog site is my “gift” to future and current music educators and those contemplating retirement. Recently, I presented a workshop on this topic for student teachers in music education at Seton Hill University (Westmoreland County, Greensburg, PA), summarizing a framework for “professional development for life” in order to foster these goals and nurture meaningful successes of pre-service music educators. No “road map” (or to retain the analogy in my title, “library” of resources) is applicable to everyone nor will the journeys/readings be the same… but since my collections of past blogs over ten years are now vast, I offer this simplified checklist for any “newbie” interested to seek their own pathway. Happy travels!

  1. Preservice/Training Years: Marketing, Interviewing, & Networking
  2. Rookie/Practicing Years: Ethics & Professionalism 101
  3. Inservice/Growing Years: Career Development (next blog post)
  4. Veteran/Sustaining Years: Time Management & Self-Care (next blog post)
  5. Next Chapter/Living the Dream Years: Retirement Prep & Mastery (next blog post)

The slides to the entire presentation are open to anyone to view below.

bookends-slides-for-website-s101823Download

However, here’s a shamelessly offered advertisement. It would make more sense to see this “in-person” or online with my moderation. I would be happy to present this session (giving me at least an hour to allow for more interactive discussion) to collegiate members, a music education methods class, a regional workshop, or festival meeting via Zoom or in-person (in PA). If interested or to inquire, please send me an email here.

Now… the checklists. Depending on your current status and interests, peruse the following resources. It is possible a few of the links contained within these blogs have gone inactive, but I believe enough is there for you to gain the insight, tools and motivation to achieve “professional development for life.”

Stage 1 – Preservice/Training Years

The focus during our early years in any profession is learning the “shtick” and getting ready for the job search and interviewing. Probably before anything, we revisit our inspiration and what Simon Sinek directs us to “the why” of any organization… in this case, “the why” of becoming a music educator – our philosophy, mission, vision, and understanding of the purpose/role of music education n the schools.

[ ] 1. The Meaning of Pro: Are you a professional? Do you have the skills, habits, and attitudes of a professional in the field of education?

[ ] 2. Marketing Yourself and Your Pre-K to 12 Music Certification: What is your professional “brand?” Do you plan to “sell” yourself as a specialist, e.g., “band director” or “elementary general music teacher, etc.? To those potential job candidate screeners, promote the image of being proficient – “a total music educator” – and don’t emphasize your major/emphasis or perceived skill or experience limitations. The only thing that really matters is whether you are the “right fit” for a particular opening, and of course, deciding whether or not to accept the offer. Your license (certification) implies that you do indeed have the necessary training to teach all K-12 music classes. Don’t sell yourself short!

[ ] 3. Criteria for Selection of the “Ideal” Teacher Candidate: The best way to prepare for a job interview is to become aware of how you will be judged in comparison with your peers. What are the standards (or behaviors or criteria) of outstanding teachers? For what are administrators looking to fill the vacancies and build/maintain a quality staff?

[ ] 4. “S” is for Successful Storytelling: The number one method to land a job is “SHOW, don’t TELL!” Stories are up to 22 times more effective than facts alone. Identify the key impressions you want to convey. Pick interview stories that will “sell” the right message. Learn how to share unique personal examples of your interactions with children, colleagues, and music programs. These additional resources can be shared about “strategic storytelling” and how to prepare (a.k. practice) telling your anecdotes:

[ ] 5. The Ultimate Interview Primer for Pre-Service Music Teachers: This super-packet has a collection of more tips on marketing yourself and mastering the “science” of finding a job, interview strategies and sample questions, evaluative rubrics, follow-ups, “bad habits” to avoid, etc. Take the time to download and explore these excellent tools!

Homework for Stage 1 – Developing a Marketing Plan

  • Standards: Define your personal mission, goals, and philosophy for teaching music, modeling the highest ideals of professionalism, and becoming the “total music educator.”
  • Marketing: Design and distribute a “state-of-the-art” résumé, e-portfolio, website, and business card.
  • Skills: Compile a list of anecdotes and true stories of you overcoming challenges, solving problems, and demonstrating  “best practices” of professionalism and self-improvement.
  • Assessment: Practice, record, and evaluate yourself answering job interview questions.

Stage 2 – Rookie/Practicing Years

[ ] 6. Ethics for Music Educators – Part I, Part II, and Part III: You may think that the primary focus for our early years as a novice teacher would be the reinforcement of what we learned about education – curriculum, content, methods, classroom management, and assessment, but something else trumps all! Before we ever step foot in a classroom, rehearsal room, or stage, it is essential we first review those ethical standards in education, terminology, philosophy, and “the codes” that bind us. We should be able to show in depth understanding of these concepts:

  • Fiduciary
  • Moral Standard
  • Ethical Standard
  • Ethical Equilibrium
  • Moral Professionalism
  • Differences Between a Code of Conduct and a Code of Ethics
  • Student-Teacher Boundaries and the Slippery Slope of Ambiguous Relationships
  • Function/Relevance of “The Codes” to Daily Teacher Decision-Making

For nearly every presentation I do on “ethics for pre-service music educators,” I hold up a fifty dollar bill and ask, “Who wants this? Can you name the exact title of your state’s code of conduct for educators and the government agency that enforces it?” So far, no one has made me $50 poorer. Indeed, few active teachers “in the trenches” have read their “codes,” and frankly, that is surprising. Violation of any major provision in our code of conduct will result in a serious reprimand, being fired, losing one’s certificate to teach anywhere, and/or criminal/civil prosecutions. Wouldn’t you think all of us would be intimately familiar with the “rules” of our professional?

For my Pennsylvania colleagues, please download and READ these:

[ ] 7. Ethical Scenarios (and More): The study of morality in professional decision-making is essential to pre- and in-service training of music teachers. Our goal should be to reinforce recommendations for the avoidance of inappropriate behavior (or even the appearance of impropriety), and defining and modeling the “best practices” of a serving as a “fiduciary” by promoting trust, fostering a safe environment for learning, acting in the best interests of our students, and upholding the overall integrity of the profession.

One of the best ways to accomplish this is to discuss ethical scenarios in small peer groups, an interactive exchange of opinions – “what would you do?” – in analyzing hypothetical case studies. Perhaps in a college methods class, student teaching seminar, department meeting, faculty committee, or PLC (Professional Learning Community), the following thought-provoking questions from the Facilitator Guide for Professional Responsibilities – Module 5, written by the Connecticut State Department of Education T.E.A.M. (Teacher Education & Mentoring) manual should be discussed in an open, reflective, nonthreatening setting:

  1. What possible issues/concerns might this scenario raise?
  2. How could this situation become a violation of the law, the “Code” or other school/district policies?
  3. In this situation, what are some potential negative consequences for the teacher, students, parents, and/or school staff?
  4. How would this episode affect a teacher’s efficacy in his/her classroom, demean the employing school entity, or damage her position as a moral exemplar in the community?

Please visit link #7 (above) for sources of ethical scenarios to study, including my “conundrum series.”

Homework for Stage 2 – Are you an Ethical Educator?

  1. Self-assess your own habits of professionalism, and identify goals for at least two “personal improvement projects.”
  2. Read “cover-to-cover” any documents relating to your own state’s code of conduct and the NASDTEC Model Code of Ethics for Educators.
  3. Discuss the ramifications of “choices” and teacher decision-making in context by reading a few of the fictitious scenarios highlighting ethical precautions, disputes, and “conundrums.”

Coming Soon…

Bookends Part Two

PKF

© 2023 Paul K. Fox

“The Codes” & School Law

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Free Five-Part Series on PA Educator Ethics Updates

Since the NAfME and PMEA conferences in April, we have been busy creating additional opportunities for professional development in PA educator ethics training. My colleague Thomas Bailey and I have been preparing a Zoom meeting/video series for interested Pennsylvania school system leaders, administrators, department heads, educators, and PA Act 45 or 48 continuing education providers.

Please see the schedule below. The first seminar was recorded.

Session 1: 
William Penn vs. PDE – May 30, 2023 @ 4:30 p.m. 
Click here to view the video.

Session 2: 
Model Code of Ethics for Educators – June 6, 2023 @ 4:30 p.m.

Session 3: 
PA Code of Professional Practice and Conduct – June 13, 2023 @ 4:30 p.m.

Session 4: 
PA Professional Standards & Practices Commission – June 20 @ 4:30 p.m.

Session 5:
Educator Discipline Act – June 27 @ 4:30 p.m.

To join the Zoom meetings and participate “live” in the upcoming question-and-answer sessions with our speakers, go to this link and scroll down to the bottom of the page. After completion, the YouTube URL for each seminar will also be posted here.

An intriguing follow-up resource is to visit Thomas Bailey’s website, especially the informative educator blog he has published including analysis of the William Penn vs. PDE hearings on equitable school funding in the PA Commonwealth Court (first session above) and other “ethical conundrums” and issues in the news.

I am also happy to report that we are expanding our PIL Act 45 professional development class offerings and Thomas has reapplied for PDE approval of a revised version of our Act 48 workshop on “PA Educators – Your Ethical Codes and School Law.” Click below to download a copy of our trifold brochure on the PIL course and summer in-service programs.

230530-pil-and-summer-pamphlet

Finally, to all of my music educator friends in the Commonwealth, I hope you have registered for the PMEA Summer Conference, being held in the Red Lion Hotel Harrisburg/Hershey on July 17-19, 2023. This event is in conjunction with the annual PMEA Board of Directors meeting on July 17 and the PMEA “Day of Service” assisting the Harrisburg Symphony and the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts on July 19. In addition, I am looking forward hearing a performance of the Yankee Brass Band:

Since 1987, the Yankee Brass Band has both entertained audiences throughout New England and championed the cause of “historically informed performance” within the field of American band music. 2023 marks our 36th season. Using rare and authentic period instruments, and outfitted in appropriate uniforms, the Yankee Brass Band presents the music of the “Golden Age of Bands” played in much the same manner as in the mid to late 19th century. 

The workshops, clinicians, and details for registration are posted on the PMEA website here.

Hope to see you there!

PKF

© 2023 Paul K. Fox

On the Road Again (2023)

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“Doing My Thing…” — Professional Development Conferences for Music Educators

It’s been awhile since I posted here… arguably the longest editorial break I have taken since retirement and starting this blog-site. What’s that line retirees often say? “It’s a good thing I am retired from my job; otherwise I would not have enough time to do everything!”

This has been an extremely busy couple months of renovating three bathrooms, promoting the 30th Anniversary Gala Celebration of the Community Foundation of Upper St. Clair featuring a CASINO NIGHT & the local band NO BAD JUJU (to which I can’t even go because it is on the same day as PMEA), staffing a transition of new editors and an office manager for the UPPER ST. CLAIR TODAY community magazine, “keeping my hand in” by conducting a small nonprofit community ensemble (now in our 40th season of the South Hills Junior Orchestra), volunteering at the hospital (see my Tales from a Wheelchair Jockey article), developing new PDE Act 45 and 48 programs on ethics (school system leaders and educators respectively), and… (deep breath): preparing four PowerPoint presentations for two music conferences in April. Yes, and loving every minute of this frenzied activity!

Pennsylvania and Eastern Division music education colleagues: Hopefully by now, you have registered for the coming conferences on the horizon:

NAfME Eastern Division Conference, April 13-16, 2023, Rochester, NY

PMEA Annual Conference, April 19-22, 2023, in the Poconos

Now to quote the inspiration of Simon Sinek — his theory of value proposition to ‘start with why’ — how leaders can inspire cooperation, trust, and change based on research into how the most successful organizations think, act, and communicate if they start with why. Check out his rationale with The Golden Circle:

The “why” of attending your professional development conferences, “sharpening your saw” (self-renewal by Stephen Covey) aka “recharging your batteries,” learning what’s new and innovative on the forefront of “the state of the art,” and networking with colleagues, and has been addressed often in past blogs:

Simply put — to maintain your mastery of music and methods and build on your “best practices” and professionalism, you MUST attend as many educational conferences and workshops as possible!

Now to my “bags of tricks” for April 2023

Mark your calendars:

April 15, 2023 at 10:45 a.m. in Hyatt Susan B. Anthony (NAfME) – OR –
April 21, 2023 at 11:30 p.m. in Kalahari Suite 40/50 (PMEA)

I was blessed to have been asked to present THE INTERVIEW CLINIC — Practicing & Playacting to Improve Your Performance at Employment Screenings at both the NAfME and PMEA conferences. This will be FUN! Perfect for college music education majors, soon-to-be or recent graduates, new transfers to the profession, teachers seeking to change positions while openings seem to be “heating up,” or first-timers looking for employment, the session targets will provide interactive exercises to build self-confidence and develop better insights, practices, and strategies to successfully land a job. “The key is in the preparation” of:

  • Standards—Defining/modeling professionalism, versatility, and ethics
  • Marketing—Branding, networking, and selling yourself
  • Skills—Interviewing, storytelling, and organizing
  • Assessment—Observing, reviewing, diagnosing, and improving

Interactive exercises, you say? Yes! Get ready to meet new people and perhaps dive into a few activities slightly outside your “comfort zone!” (We promise NOT to embarrass anyone!) We will break up into small groups or “duet partners,” and explore defining our professional “essence,” telling anecdotes about our strengths and past problems we have “crushed,” and focusing on learning “the golden gift of gab” — storytelling.

Portions of this workshop will come from material in the past posts Storytelling, etc. Part 2 and When it Comes to Getting-a-Job, S Is for Successful Storytelling. (Your homework? Peruse these before coming to either session at NAfME or PMEA!)

As always, articles, resources, and slide summaries will be posted under the “Training/Jobs” menu tab (above).

Mark your calendars:

April 20, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. in Kalahari Suite 30 (PMEA)

How many of you feel at times a little overwhelmed, exhausted, stressed out, disorganized, demoralized, or disenfranchised?

Are you at the end of your rope and wondering how you’re going to “keep it all together” over the next week, month, year?

Is your health is interfering with your ability to do your job and find success, balance, and meaning in your personal life and relationships? Then… it is time for a change.

We are still dealing with the effects of the pandemic which has brought on a “gap year” to most of our music programs, the stress of “working harder not smarter,” more teacher burnouts, and the resulting bail outs, staff shortages, and/or job cuts. We need to embrace NEW strategies for personal self-care and SEL (social and emotional learning). Do you still enjoy teaching? How have you coped with all of the changes? How will you achieve a better work/life balance and skills in time/priority management and personal health and wellness?

The prescriptions and RECIPES towards stress reduction and developing a self-care plan are here! Doug Sands, a consulting hypnotist and founder of AnywhereHypnosis.com, joins me to “throw in everything and the kitchen sink” to alleviate these problems, with NO cookie-cutter, “one-size-fits-all” solutions from the chefs:

  • What has COVID done to all of us?
  • Instant personal online stress assessment
  • Taking an inventory of the ingredients towards a healthier lifestyle
  • Definitions, symptoms, and remediations for teacher stress and burnout
  • Why teachers are so exhausted and what to do about it
  • Time management tips
  • Breathe like a Navy SEAL
  • Coping and learning “acceptance”
  • How to “coach overwhelm!”
  • The role of meals, movement, music, and mindfulness (thank you, Lesley Moffat!)
  • From MEJ: A suggested self-care plan and “cognitive distortions” to avoid
  • Focusing on ONE self-care strategy from a “sea of solutions”

We’re in this together… so we need to join forces and SHARE the secret recipes for a happier life! Add your own “baking tips,” and I promise, you’ll leave with a better understanding of how we all can celebrate the coming year or decades in music education!

By the way, my “mindfulness partner” for this workshop, Doug Sands, promises us he will not hypnotize any of us during this session (although he could!).

For more about his work, including “15 Rapid Tools (and Counting) to Wipe Out Anxiety, Stress, and Panic,” please go to his website here.

You are invited to stop in to see him at his PMEA booth in the Kalahari exhibit hall.

POST-CONFERENCE NOTE: Doug sent us his Anti-Panic Toolkit entitled, 15 Rapid Tools (and Counting) to Wipe out Anxiety, Stress, and Panic – Wherever They Strike! Click here.

If you would like a sneak preview of the revised handout for the Self-Care workshop, go to the Care menu section at the top menu bar.

Taking a peek at our recent past…

Workshop for Orchestra & String Teachers

In case you missed the PMEA District 5 Professional Development Day, my wife Donna and I presented “Plucking Our Minds” at Grove City College on February 20, 2023.

We were privileged to “share some of our secret sauces” gleaned from over 80 combined years of experience on a variety of topics:

  • CommUNITY Music-Making
  • Online Academy
  • Summer String Camp
  • Assessment Projects
  • Collaborative/Creativity Projects
  • Library of “Fox Firesides”

If would be a shame to waste these resources… and reading them could inspire new adaptations to your instrumental program.

Click here for a copy of the slide handouts. Feel free to comment (above) or send an email to me (paulkfox.usc@gmail.com) if you have any questions.

Our Crystal Ball

Future Accredited Workshops on Ethics in Education

Are you aware that the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has recently revised the PA educators’ Code of Professional Practice and Conduct AND adopted the Model Code of Ethics for Educators developed by the National Association of State Directors for Teacher Education and Certification? Have you seen the new Professional Ethics Program Framework Guidelines? PA Chapter 49 requires instruction in professional ethics to be integrated in educator preparation, induction, and continuing professional development programs as follows:

  • Continuing professional development programs must integrate the professional ethics competencies no later than the 2023-24 academic year.
  • Educator preparation and induction programs must integrate the professional ethics competencies no later than the 2024-25 academic year.

Not one to let grass grow (or mud sink) under his feet, retired social studies teacher, current attorney-at-law, and past PMEA conference presenter Thomas Bailey has partnered with me to design new ethics training classes for school system leaders (25-hour Act 45 PIL course) and educators (four-hour Act 48 continuing education course). In addition, we are introducing a new “hybrid” program for school administrators involving four-hour pre-recorded asynchronous webcasts (site license), along with a three-hour synchronous webinar using the webcast videos and adding facilitated interactive discussions of three ethical case studies either via Zoom OR in-person follow-up workshops led by both clinicians.

In Depth Ethics Training for PA Educators:

  • PA Model Code of Ethics for Educators
  • PA Code of Professional Practice and Conduct
  • Professional Standards and Practices Commission
  • PA Educator Discipline Act

Click here for to register for Act 45 PIL Course.
Next series: April 25, May 2, 9, & 16, 2023

Click here for more information on the Ethics Webcast/Webinar and general information/landing page for the TWBaileyLaw website.

Click here for timeline of educator ethics presentations and clinicians’ bios.

Also review the Educators Court Case Blog and William Penn SD vs. PDE Blog.

Numerous articles have already been published on the subject of educator ethics, professionalism, and decision-making:

Hope to see you at one of these conferences or workshop sessions! Yes, it means a lot more to attend these IN PERSON!

PKF

© 2023 Paul K. Fox