In the thirteenth week of UST 311A, we learned from Haley and Cole about the importance of correct ethics when working with our mentees. This lecture (for me) brought back a lot of what I have learned in my education classes concerning professional ethics and how to handle myself in a teacher-student or a teacher-teacher situation.
The question that Haley and Cole posed to us for blogs that the end of their presentation was "out of the twelve ethical principles that peer educators should use, which five do you think will be most important in the fall and why?" This was interesting, since all are important to the success of a peer educator. The five I have chosen and the reasons why are in the next paragraph.
First, I chose "when in doubt - consult." This is fairly similar to the first principle "know your limits," and I think it is of vital importance to know where to draw the line with your mentee and know when it might be prudent to seek help from another source. For us, this would probably include referring the mentee to Allie and/or Chelsee. Second, I chose "maintain your client's privacy" because as an education major I have learned all about FERPA and other educational privacy laws - and confidentiality is probably the most important thing we will have to use with our mentalities. Obviously, we can't keep secrets that conceal a crime or harm to others, but hopefully a student will be able to come to us peer mentors with a personal issue without fearing that we will betray their confidence - again, assuming that whatever they're telling us isn't something that Allie and Chelsee would need to know. Third, I chose "act appropriately when dealing with persons for whom you feel attraction." As a peer mentor, I would deem any inappropriate mentor-mentee relationship absolutely unprofessional. Not only do we monitor their academic progress throughout the semester, but we are also a bridge between Allie/Chelsee and the students, and unearned bias could blossom from attraction and starting a relationship. Fourth, I chose "show respect and dignity for other individuals" for obvious reasons. And lastly, I chose "remember you are a role model," which accurately sums up everything: as peer mentors, we need to be able to represent the Hixson Program well both in the classroom and in public.
Hey Brady. I'm glad me and you could be in a group and discuss this topic. I think what you're learning as an education major in Ag overlaps with what we are learning in this class. You're definitely someone to ask questions about a topic like this. I think ethics really shows who we are as a person and how we handle certain situations.
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