April 3rd, 2022 
EDU/315 v9
Ethics Scenarios and Resolutions
EDU/315 v9
Page 2 of 4
Ethics Scenarios and Resolutions
Read each scenario below and complete each table with the following information:
· The specifics of the issue
· An appropriate solution, including any information on a school district policy or federal law that would apply
· The potential consequences if the teacher acted unethically
Note: An example has been provided for you.
Example Scenario:
Cathy, a first-grade teacher, comes to school and is “acting funny” according to the students. The principal comes down and sees that Cathy appears to be a bit tipsy. Cathy admits to taking illegal drugs before coming to school. She also admits to having illegal drugs in her purse.
Issue | Cathy has used drugs and has come to school under the influence. |
Appropriate solution | According to the school district’s policy on drugs on campus, no person on campus should have illegal drugs in their possession. |
Potential consequences | Cathy may be placed on administrative leave pending the investigation. The school board will likely terminate her immediately for possession of illegal drugs. She will face prosecution for having drugs on school property. She may lose her license to teach. It is advisable for this teacher to enter a program for drug addiction; this may be discussed with her by the police or a judge. |
Scenarios:
Scenario 1
Jenny, a fifth-grade teacher, had a difficult week with her students. She had to deal with behavioral issues and a host of parental complaints. On Friday, Jenny went to her social media account and posted that the week with her students had been “pure hell” and that she could not wait to be “rid of this class.”
Issue | Insert text. |
Appropriate solution | Insert text. |
Potential consequences | Insert text. |
Scenario 2
Alan, a second-grade teacher, took his lunch to the teacher’s lounge. One of his students had been particularly disruptive and had caused Alan not to finish teaching his lesson for the morning. He sat down and immediately began complaining to everyone in the lunchroom about the student, using the student’s name.
Issue | Insert text. |
Appropriate solution | Insert text. |
Potential consequences | Insert text. |
Scenario 3
Mrs. Cosmo, a first-grade teacher, has a rule that the students must store their bookbags under their desks. Joey forgot and his bookbag was sticking out. Mrs. Cosmo took the bag and threw it across the room. Joey’s glasses were broken as they were in the bag. Joey’s mother is upset.
Issue | Insert text. |
Appropriate solution | Insert text. |
Potential consequences | Insert text. |
Scenario 4
Mrs. Albert has 27 students in her second-grade class. She is short 2 math workbooks, so she decides to copy them for the 2 children.
Issue | Insert text. |
Appropriate solution | Insert text. |
Potential consequences | Insert text. |
Scenario 5
Karen, a fifth-grade teacher, works with students after school on a play. The students are to be picked up no later than 5:30pm. One parent habitually shows up at about 6:30pm. This action is stressful for both the teacher and the student. Karen is thinking that she will just drive the student home this week.
Issue | Insert text. |
Appropriate solution | Insert text. |
Potential consequences | Insert text. |
Scenario 6
Patrick is a seventh-grade teacher. On the first day of school for the new school year, he became very angry at a student who would not stand for the pledge of allegiance because of his religion. After the morning announcement, Patrick lectured this student in front of the class about how fortunate he is to be in America and he should be standing like everyone else.
Issue | Insert text. |
Appropriate solution | Insert text. |
Potential consequences | Insert text. |
Scenario 7
Kate, a second-grade teacher, has not had the best day. Her morning at home started out with one of her children letting the dog loose. Then, she was late for school. A paraprofessional did not show up and the substitute is not helpful. While the children are coming in from lunch recess, one of the teachers mentions that a certain project is due to the principal at 3:00. Kate becomes upset and yells at the other teacher in front of students.
Issue | Insert text. |
Appropriate solution | Insert text. |
Potential consequences | Insert text. |
Scenario 8
Jonathan, a fourth-grade teacher, is on recess duty for the week. He loves being the referee for the students who play tag football. One day at recess, a student on the jungle gym falls and breaks her arm. She was pushed by another student.
Issue | Insert text. |
Appropriate solution | Insert text. |
Potential consequences | Insert text. |
Scenario 9
Mr. Kris, the school’s speech pathologist, has a school-issued laptop which he takes home every evening. Halfway through the school year, two police showed up and wanted the laptop. The police alleged that Mr. Kris had been engaging in buying child pornography online and the laptop may be one of the vehicles he used to obtain the pictures. Mr. Kris decided to admit that he was, in fact, doing this.
Issue | Insert text. |
Appropriate solution | Insert text. |
Potential consequences | Insert text. |
Scenario 10
Susan, a probationary teacher, has a class of 25 fourth-grade students. The students have been given individual Chromebooks, which they are to put away at the end of each day. Last Friday, several of the students did not put their Chromebooks away as requested. Susan gathered the Chromebooks after school, and in the process of walking back to the storage area, she tripped and dropped them. The screens on two of them broke. Susan blamed the breakage on the students.
Issue | Insert text. |
Appropriate solution | Insert text. |
Potential consequences | Insert text. |
Scenario 11
One afternoon in Mr. Hemingway’s sixth grade class, after the students had checked in their classroom devices for the day, Mr. Hemingway noticed Keith’s Chromebook wasn’t shut down properly. When he checked to see what was wrong, he saw that Keith had downloaded sexually explicit and inappropriate content, and it was likely infected with malware that was causing the laptop to malfunction.
Issue | Insert text. |
Appropriate solution | Insert text. |
Potential consequences | Insert text. |
Scenario 12
Mr. Hemingway noticed that Sally had not been her usual happy and outgoing self lately. When he saw her sitting by herself during recess, he asked her if everything was okay. Sally told him that her friend Mindy had been spreading false rumors about her on Instagram and because of that their group of friends stopped talking to her. Essentially, they ostracized her.
Issue | Insert text. |
Appropriate solution | Insert text. |
Potential consequences | Insert text. |
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Copyright© 2021 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.
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