CASE STUDY: AN ETHICAL DILEMMA

CASE STUDY: AN ETHICAL DILEMMA

JUAN TREMINIO
AZUZA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY

CASE STUDY: AN ETHICAL DILEMMA

CASE STUDY: AN ETHICAL DILEMMA

Taimane is a non-verbal student I have in my Moderate/Severe SDC class at the high
school I teach at. This is my first year teaching and I took over for a teacher who was hardly
present. There were many issues I had to overcome when it came to instilling my philosophy on
the class and gaining control from what had become a volatile classroom. I worked diligently to
attain order from chaos and set a schedule that would represent much needed continuity for the
students. For the most part, the students had responded well to me, but one student presented the
largest challenge to me. Taimane is a 63 freshman who at times can be very quiet and kept to
himself, but suddenly began acting more explosive. When it comes to issues with students, it is
always my goal to keep an open line of communication with parents and ensure that we remain
on the same page when it comes to a behavior modification. This situation was not so easy.
Before I begin to delve into the issues with communication, an elaboration on the
underlying issue must be addressed. Taimane began by seeking high fives and fist bumps from
staff and students, which was seen as him being in a good mood. That soon escalated and his
energy began to jump with each physical contact. He went from seeking a high five to chasing
someone down to lightly push them on the shoulder. This was not so much of an issue with the
staff, but when someone as large as he pushes a more delicate student the result was more severe.
He pushed three students in a singular instance during their physical education period and this is
where a call home was deemed necessary. I called home and explained the situation, Hello Mrs.
Rogers, Taimane has had an incident at school He pushed three students to the floor and it was
unprovoked. There was an immediate response from Taimanes mother, Is Taimane okay?
What did the students do to him? Why werent you there to prevent it? After explaining to her
that it was not my period and restating that the incident was unprovoked she began to rant how

CASE STUDY: AN ETHICAL DILEMMA

the inconsistency of the classroom had affected Taimane and he only seeked to be involved with
his fellow classmates. I elaborated on the incident and explained to her that we had to remove
him from that physical education period. The alarming response from Mrs. Rogers followed,
How could you deprive my child of that experience? Why werent any of the other students
reprimanded? After a lengthy discussion she became frustrated and exclaimed, I CANT BE
BOTHERED AT EVERY PROBLEM. I NEED TO WORK. I NEVER SEE ANY ISSUES AT
HOME, SO THIS HAS TO BE HAPPENING BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOUR DOING!
I was puzzled and alarmed because I could not establish a base of communication with mom and
felt a void in support needed from parents to aid in these times.
The incidents kept happening in the following weeks and one day during school Grandma
came to pick up Taimane early. I had a conversation with her and she explained to me that this
had been happening quite frequently at home and out in the community. This shocked me, I
couldnt comprehend how Taimanes mother would not cooperate being fully aware of his issues
both at school and at home. As incidents kept occurring I made sure to log every one as well as
receiving reports from the speech therapist, bus driver, and P.E. teacher that each paralleled what
I was experiencing. I know had a dilemma on my hand each time I tried to converse with mom I
was greeted with hostility and the program specialist only aided by telling me to log each event.
Would I judge the actions of a SDC student in a zero tolerance light or view these incidents as
behaviors that needed modifying? This perplexed me and I had an issue with calling
administration and security on a student who I felt could not comprehend that his actions were
wrong. The ethical question I now faced was to either utilize enforcement at school and risk him
being viewed as a bigger issue than he was or I could act individually and try to modify these
behaviors off my own accord.

CASE STUDY: AN ETHICAL DILEMMA

Despite my own reservations I began to call security and administration each time the
student acted out against his classmates. There were four occasions in the first week in which I
began the reporting. Administration instantly hounded the program specialist and Taimanes
mother when he struck one of the Assistant Principles who tried removing him from an area. I
did not enjoy allowing Taimane to be persecuted in this manner and it did not sit well with my
ethicality. I could not find justification to see this student struggle in comprehending why he was
being reprimanded and restricted each time he acted out. The problem only seemed to be getting
worse. I could see the frustration growing in his expression as the days passed and after about
two weeks an emergency IEP had been called. Mrs. Rogers was livid that she had to take a day
off of work to come down to address this. Both Taimanes mother and father were present and
she instantly began stating how he never acts out at home. I began to describe the situations we
had been dealing with and explained what grandma had told me as well as correlating these
issues with what other staff had experienced. Taimanes dad also began to elaborate on the
issues he was experiencing when Taimane would stay at his residence. The mother soon
followed. This difficult situation had escalated and had become something much larger and at
that moment it had been resolved. From that point we all set a standard of interventions that all
parties would do in certain circumstances. I can safely say that this issue is no longer prevalent
and Taimane is a joy to have in class. This experience showed me that sometimes you must go
against your gut and philosophy as an educator when considering what is best for the student in
the long run. Looking back, I now know that being more stringent and straightforward when it
comes to parents is sometimes necessary. The students development and well-being must be
considered above the personal feeling of staff or parent.

CASE STUDY: AN ETHICAL DILEMMA

After writing the case study, discuss how a consequentialist and nonconsequentialist
would have resolved the dilemma. Be sure to define each position and why the action would
align with the theory you have described. Remember, these theories are not common
knowledge; thus they must be documented, even when summarizing in your own words.
Citations are absolutely necessary.
Concluding your case study, give your reader the details describing the solution you chose,
or the solution you should have chosen, and why you feel this way.