Twitter Chat: Session Two

The fourth-year ECS Ryerson students took over the Twitter-sphere once again during their online class discussing ethical considerations on pedagogical documentation. As stated in a previous post, majority of pedagogical documents have been transferred into online digital portfolios. The students brought up various topics and concerns surrounding liability, consent, and confidentiality. Majority of the suggestions involved documenting only the hands of the child in order to sustain the anonymity, as well as using the digital documentation programs like HiMama and Storypark.

I shared a personal experience of when I was taking a video document as a part of a children's event. While I was documenting the children's activities, one of the staff members informed me that one of the fathers refused to have their son recorded and posted online. From this notice I avoided the child and focused on the activity that was in hand. As the event was coming to an end, the mother of that same child insisted that their child and her broadcast their testimony of the event. This placed me in a difficult decision because of what I was told prior. Before I reveal the ending to this particular case, I would like you to reflect and share your thoughts and suggestions based on ethical documentation.

Image from Free Wix (2017)

Some of the suggestions that were brought to me from my peers included; blurring out the faces of the children or creating two separate copies of the footage for the mother to share and the blurred to be publicised. These were all excellent suggestions that respected the needs of the father but also allowed the child and their mother to participate. Due to the fact that I did not have the professional training or awareness of ethical documentation, I brought this issue to my supervisor for their opinion. Luckily, the supervisor was well-acquainted with the mother and explained to the father where the video will be posted. It resulted in the father compromising and allowing their child to be filmed with the mother.

As educators, it is important to be aware of the laws and regulations that surround ethical documentation. Since the majority of documentation is now digital, the confidentiality and respect for the families' needs should always be the first consideration.