Professional Boundaries and Social Media

As an OCT, or Ontario Certified Teacher, I was interested in today’s release of the third-ever “Professional Advisory” from the Ontario College of Teachers, the regulatory body overseeing the teaching profession in the province of Ontario, Canada. This eight-page report contains guidelines for Ontario teachers in the “Use of Electronic Communication and Social Media”. It can be found on the home page for the Ontario College of Teachers at http://www.oct.ca/home.aspx .

This week’s class topic is “Fears”, and we are focusing on those fears that parents and educators have regarding young people’s use of media. This document brought up another question: What do teachers have to fear from their own use of social media?

Though I am no longer teaching (the call of the public library was too strong), I found the content of this document to be thought-provoking, from the perspectives of a librarian, a parent, and student of media literacy. Among the guidelines for teachers using social media are these recommendations from the Ontario College of Teachers:

• Assume that information you post can be accessed or altered.

• Ensure that the privacy settings for content and photos are set appropriately and monitor who is able to post to any of your social media locations. Students should not be among those who are allowed to view or post on it. Remember, no privacy mechanism is guaranteed.

• Monitor regularly all content you or others post to your social media accounts and remove anything that is inappropriate.

• Ask others not to tag you on any photographs without your permission.

• Ask others to remove any undesirable content related to you.

While much of this is common sense for teachers, I wonder, where are the lines drawn between the personal and the professional? As a teacher, if I have a drink with a friend at a bar, and a photo is posted on Facebook, is that unprofessional and worthy of disciplinary action or dismissal? A Georgia public school teacher was forced to resign after photos of her holding a glass of wine and a mug of Guinness were posted on her Facebook page.

As many of us in this class are teachers, I would love to know what opinions are on this subject. In the example above, the posted photo was from a school trip to Europe, and parents felt it was inappropriate. Had she not been on a school trip, would she still have been forced to resign? After all, as a woman over 21, she has every right to have a glass of alcohol on her own time, doesn’t she? Or do some people feel that the “professionalism” of teachers includes not drinking at all? Not drinking in public, perhaps? Not drinking to excess? And why is this anyone’s business?

Posting information, photos, and opinions on the internet using social media makes it everyone’s business. The Professional Advisory points out that “teaching is a public profession. Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that teachers’ off-duty conduct, even when not directly related to students, is relevant to their suitability to teach.”

Clearly this is not just a Canadian viewpoint. The Huffington Post reported last month that a Brooklyn teacher was fired for expressing her anger with her students on Facebook, saying, “I hate their guts.” She went so far as to say that, “I’m thinking the beach is a good trip for my class”, a shocking and tasteless comment in light of the tragic drowning death of a 12 year-old girl on a school trip the day before. (Read the full story here.)

Comments like these clearly destroy the public trust that a society invests in its teachers. Making comments like this on Facebook becomes the equivalent of speaking into a microphone on a stage in a packed auditorium – and the difference between a public voice and a private one must be understood by those in teaching positions.

There are many stories of ill-advised Facebook posts causing people to lose their jobs, but are teachers held to a higher standard? Last year, a teacher was forced to resign after posting comments on Facebook that some would consider less inflammatory. 'I’m so not looking forward to another year at Cohasset Schools,” a Massachusetts teacher wrote, using the words “arrogant” and “snobby” to describe her community. (ABC News reported on the story here.)

The Ontario College of Teachers’ report acknowledges that “electronic communication and social media can be effective when used cautiously and professionally. They serve a range of purposes, from helping students and parents/guardians access assignments and resources related to classroom studies to connecting with classrooms in other communities and countries.” It goes on to say, “However, the most popular social media sites were not created for educational purposes and their use can expose members to risk when it comes to maintaining professionalism.”

I wonder if fostering a fear of Facebook and other social media in teachers will be to the detriment of those teachers and students who would use these and other digital media tools for educational purposes.