AND DISCUSSION
Questions for Chapter 1
1 What are the sources of quality control in the provision of school psychological services?
2 What does the term ethics mean?
3 What does the term applied professional ethics mean?
4 Why do professional groups, such as school psychologists, develop a code of ethics?
5 Summarize the desired ethics competencies of school psychology practitioners.
6 Why are codes of ethics imperfect guides to behavior?
7 Summarize the broad ethical principles discussed in Chapter 1.
8 How do you evaluate whether a course of action is ethical?
9 What are some of the reasons for unethical conduct?
10 What are your responsibilities with regard to peer monitoring?
Discussion
Tanya Howard, a newly hired school psychologist, was upset by a meeting she had with the parents of a child with a disability and the director of special education. The parents were concerned because their son was being called “retard,” “monkey brains,” and other names at school, and he no longer wanted to get on the school bus in the morning. The special educator director’s only response was that “kids will be kids” and “a school can’t be expected to stop kids from teasing kids.” The boy’s parents, from India, silently accepted these statements. Because of the special education director’s overbearing manner, Tanya could not find an opportunity to speak up and express her concern about the bullying or to explore ways to address the problem. That evening, at home and using her own computer, Tanya vented her anger and frustration on Facebook. She did not use any real names, but in a post to her Facebook friends she described “the special education director” as “a bully and an arrogant creep” who “doesn’t really give a crap about kids.” She also wrote: “Parents from other countries need to learn to speak up for their children’s rights like American parents do.”
Using the NASP’s code of ethics as a guide (Appendix A), what are the ethical issues associated with Tanya’s Facebook post? Should practitioners who use social media expect their posts to be private and confidential?
Related Activities
Do you think Tanya could face disciplinary sanction by her employer for her Facebook post? If you would like to read about the outcome of a similar situation, go to your university’s online law database (e.g., Westlaw) or “Google Scholar” and enter “Richerson” and “Beckon” where it allows you to search for a court case by the names of the parties.
Does your school psychology training program have policies to ensure that social media are used by students and faculty in ethically and professionally appropriate ways? If yes, review them with your classmates. If not, read Pham (2014) and Diamond and Whalen (2019) for ideas on this issue.
Review the pictures and posts on your own social networks. Have you posted material that shows poor judgment or conduct unbecoming a K–12 educator?
Vignettes
Eberlein (1987) and others have suggested that mastery of an explicit decision-making model or procedure may help the practitioner make well-reasoned ethical choices when difficult situations arise in professional practice. In this chapter, we introduced the DECIDE six-step problem-solving model developed by Diamond et al. (2021). The incidents that follow are included to provide an opportunity to practice the problem-solving model. At first, use of a decision-making model may seem quite cumbersome. However, it is important for practitioners to remember that ethical decision making “applies to almost everything psychologists do.” Over time, if such a problem-solving model is practiced regularly, it is likely to become almost automatic (Tryon, 2000, p. 278).
In the situations described, assume the role of the school psychologist and then follow a decision-making model to determine the course of action most appropriate. Compare your decisions with those of colleagues or fellow students.
1 A few months after Carrie Johnson was hired as the school psychologist in a rural school district, the district superintendent of schools asked to meet with her. During this meeting, he said, “You’ll be working closely with the principal at Pine Lake. Rumor has it he drinks a lot on the job. He’s been caught twice and fined for driving while intoxicated. I think he’s nuts, and we’ve got to get rid of him. Keep notes on what he says and does. I want a report later.” How should Carrie handle this situation? (Vignette source unknown.)
2 As part of her effort to build a strong working relationship with school staff and community members, Maria Delgado joined the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and regularly attends its meetings. During a public meeting of the PTA, a parent openly complained about the treatment her daughter was receiving in a world history class at a school where Maria is the school psychologist. The parent contended that the history teacher lacked mental stability and consequently was causing her child much anguish. How should Maria handle this situation? (Adapted from J. A. Bailey, 1980).
3 You and a fellow student (a friend) are placed at the same school for your first practicum experience. You are aware that she is a problem drinker, but thus far, she has been able to conceal her problem from the program faculty. You discover that your fellow student drinks before coming to practicum, and you have observed some erratic behavior and poor judgment at the practicum site. What should you do? What will you do? Why? (Adapted from Bernard & Jara, 1986).
Activities
To learn more about the APA and the NASP, visit their Web sites: http://www.apa.org and http://www.nasponline.org.
For vignettes illustrating the use of a problem-solving model and additional practice cases, see Diamond and Whalen (in press) and Jacob et al. (2021).
Many different acronyms are used in school psychology and special education. Appendix E is a list of acronyms frequently used in this volume. For a more complete list of acronyms commonly used in the schools, visit the Center for Parent Information and Resources: http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/acronyms
Notes
1 1 The Professional Standards of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP, 2020) includes four sets of standards: Model for Comprehensive and Integrated School Psychological Services, Standards for Graduate Preparation of School Psychologists, Standards for the Credentialing of School Psychologists, and the Principles for Professional Ethics. https://www.nasponline.org/standards-and-certification/professional-ethics.
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