Introduction - Legalities and Ethics
Guidance counsellors need to be aware of both the legal and ethical issues when working with students. Our course document, Ethical Guidelines for Guidance Counsellors, has hopefully, shared many of the situations that counsellors are presented with throughout their careers. As gatekeepers of student information, which is more often than not, confidential in nature, you need to know when to maintain confidentiality and when to break that confidentiality. The challenge is not with the big issues, but with those issues you are just not sure what to do. This module is about thinking about real challenges and when we need to seek support beyond the Guidance Office.
Task 1: Acts and Guidelines for Counsellors (Discussion Board)
Read through the Counsellors and the Law and the Maintenance of Records sections (to the end of page 50) of the 2022 OSCA Ethical Guidelines documents. Familiarize yourself with the following:
Counsellor-Police Relations
Guidelines for Court Appearances
Youth Criminal Justice Act
The Child and Family Services Amendment Act
Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession
Age-based Legal Milestones
Professional Misconduct, Ontario College of Teachers
Professional Advisory, Professional Misconduct Related to Sexual Abuse and Sexual Misconduct, Ontario College of Teachers
The Student Protection Act
Use of Electronic Communication and Social Media
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
Education Act and Ontario Student Record Guideline
Choose one Guideline or Act from the list above and report on its importance/significance to guidance on the Discussion Board.
As per discussion
" 'Municipal Freedom of Information Act' requires that local government institutions protect the privacy of an individual’s personal information. As teachers, we often come into contact with student's personal information, such as their identity documents as well as their medical records. It is important that teachers hold high ethical standards and do not disclose or use students' personal information other than for the purpose that it was collected for.
MFIA is really important as it reminds us as teachers that we need to be extremely careful with regards to the ideas that we cannot bring work home with us in some cases, wherein what happens at schools stays at school sometimes. This also having implications on the way that we ask students to participate in community invovlement initatives.
From the list I would select The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as it basically branches down into many of the other policies/acts/laws that we recognize as canon today. One of the acts that are passed as an essential piece of our duties as teachers comes from 1980 and was revised in 1990, the Education Act, which in turn acts as base for all or most roles within the schools.
Education Act 1990: http://ncee.org/2017/01/ontario-education-act-1990/
This is a piece of legislation that sets out to govern and regulate the education of Ontario's youth as well as set an example of what Education needs to be. The legislation is essentially seeking to accomplish a lot. I am writing with ambiguity because the question is ambiguous-if one asks what is the purpose of the legislature is one asking for the "actual purpose" or the presumed idea that the legislature was created for many purposes but some underlining ones more than others.
The Education Act of 1990 produces answers and regulations as well as amendments to 1980's Education Act. In regards to Special Education, the differences were necessary. After the Charter of Rights and Freedoms were approved (1982), there was what seems to be an immediate call for policy change/creation that was known as the Human Rights Code which reigns specifically over Ontario and calls upon "equal treatment with respect to services, good and facilities". After the introduction of the Human rights code and the Charter of Rights and freedoms-que the Education Act of 1990 which protected separate schools; called for education to all regardless of how they identified or what barriers may have existed, as well as set standards that needed to be met by professionals in the education system.
It is not an "early" piece of legislature but one that certainly focuses more on the issues and social movements that were forthcoming at that time. At this stage in Ontario's educational development I have seen the special education system in effect and make a difference in some lives. After things like budget cuts and lack of provincial government support, it makes me believe its the opposite though.
Growing up, our rural separate school had limited facilities for students with special needs and saw students supported in the regular classroom quite well. Back then, we also had Educational Assistants who would be in the classroom helping students. That role that the school faculty plays is a bit different now and approached through the school board contigent to the IPRC's decision on placement/identification of the student.
As a student in High School, our school developed a "Peer-Mentoring" course where the students who signed up for this course would work together with the special needs students and the fauclty or SERT to support them in class as well as help integrate them into the routine social environment of the classroom."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Task 2: 'Legal' Case Study Assignment
Choose one of the case studies below to focus on.
Read your chosen case study carefully and provide an action plan that you would take to effectively deal with the given situation.
Include what legal Acts or guidelines you are bound by or that come into play with respect to your chosen case study.
Similar to your module 4 assignment, if you make assumptions to ground your response - please list those assumptions at the onset so your instructor has an understanding of your student from your perspective.
You may wish to consider some of the following ideas for your organizer:
Basic Information/Background
Supports & Connections - in the school, in the board, in the community
Follow-up plans
Concerns or any other information
Please try to avoid "one big paragraph" answers. Much detail is required, therefore using an organizer or at least sub-titles to isolate the major 'chunks' of information is highly recommended.
Case Study #1: In your conversation with a male-identifying student (Angus), he talks about a fascination with fire. Angus talks about how he learned in science that some chemicals will burn off without damaging the item it has been spread upon. He was intrigued by the demonstration that his teacher did when they were discussing this topic. Angus reveals that he spreads Axe body spray on his arms and sets it on fire. It is one of the substances that burns off without damaging the skin underneath, according to him. Note: This student, is identified as having Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD) and possesses an IEP. What do you do with this information?
Case Study #2: A female-identifying student (Sophie) arrives in your office and shows you a picture sent via text message of arms that have been cut and are bleeding. Sophie is reluctant to tell you who is in the picture, but you notice the phone number on the top of the image which Sophie has made no effort to hide. She also mentions how the dance teacher, Ms. Gadenski is aware but has never shared it with anyone to protect confidentiality (she does not say whose confidentiality the teacher is protecting). How do you proceed?
Note: the case studies are written up to be very vague for a reason. Often you have little to work with when you first start dealing with a student issue. You have to ask questions, to find out what is going on and then formulate a plan to work toward a solution. These scenarios are attempting to illustrate that situation.
When responding, try to think of all the 'what ifs' and the 'whys'. Don't just think about the student in isolation but about the immediate world around them - in and outside of school.
These are not simple cases - the answers will require some depth and breadth.
Refer to Assignment Rubric for assessment criteria - Assignment Assessment.docx Assignment Assessment.docx - Alternative Formats
Submit your assignment to the Dropbox. Be sure it is in a file format your instructor is able to access/open.
Task 3: Every Teacher as a Guidance Counsellor (Discussion Board)Task 3: Every Teacher as a Guidance Counsellor (Discussion Board)
Students far outnumber their Guidance counsellors. What could you do as a classroom teacher to help or reinforce what Guidance Counsellors are doing? (e.g., school-wide initiatives to promote well-being of students, environment, community) Even if you never become a Guidance Counsellor, what can you do or change in your own practice as a teaching professional to help Guidance Counsellors support students and their success? Share with your classmates on the Discussion Board one thing, big or small, that you feel after taking this course that you could do in your own classroom.
Task 4: Journal Self-AssessmentTask 4: Journal Self-Assessment
Complete a self-assessment of your Journal Reflections
Consider the journal feedback you received from your course instructor and your commitment and overall effort in linking theory to practice and challenging your own ideas and learning about "Guidance". Consider the following when completing your self-assessment.
1. Your self-assessment is based only on what you completed as part of your reflection journal entries based on the OSCA Guidelines document. Your discussion and assignments are NOT part of this self-assessment piece.
2. The rubric assessments that were provided for your 2nd and 4th journal entries are formative assessments to help guide you with your decisions. Please hold off on doing any of the journal self-assessment component until you have had the chance to read over and consider the feedback from all 3 of your submitted journal entries.
3. When you submit your self-assessment, please include a copy of the Journal Rubric (found below) with your levels filled in. The rubric can be downloaded from the Assessment/Grading tab found on BlackBoard. You can choose to fill in the rubric similar to the way that I have been doing throughout the course in your module feedback, or leave the rubric blank and make specific reference to each category in your rationale.
4. Please provide some rationale for the level that you are choosing to give yourself for each category. It doesn't need to be overly long, 3-4 sentences would easily suffice. Feel free to refer directly to any of the feedback that you have received from any of the journal entries.
5. When determining your final grade for yourself, consider the weighting of each journal entry to be equal. Remember that a level 3, 70-79% means that you have met the expectations, while grades in the 80%+ range mean that you exceeded the expectations for your journal entries. Treat the rubric and your associative grade like you would if you used a rubric in your classrooms and that it makes sense. (E.g. don't give yourself all level 3s on the rubric and then a grade of 86.5%)
6. Make sure to give yourself a final grade out of 100 somewhere at the beginning or end of the assignment. You would be surprised how many people forget to do this! Be realistic with your self-evaluations - I have a hard time thinking of reasons why anyone would give themselves an overall mark of less than 70 or a grade of 100. Be critical and honest with yourself and don't focus on the number.
Journal Assessment Rubric.docx Journal Assessment Rubric.docx - Alternative Formats
Submit your self-assessment to the Assignment Dropbox.
No comments:
Post a Comment