Based on the recent incident on Christian student’s suspension after challenging Muslim professor’s claim about Christianity in class, I asked myself whether this issue was moral temptation or ethical dilemma. According to Rushworth Kidder (Institute of Global Ethics, 2005), “moral temptations pit right against wrong while true dilemma pits right against right”.
I initially wrote a detailed blog, analyzing every piece of information based on what I read. Upon reflecting Kidder's Framework, I didn’t feel it was right for me to comment about this incident out of “Respect for Institution” (Principle #9) and “Respect for Colleagues” (Principle #7). Even though I am not teaching at this college, imagine if this incident happened to me, how would I feel if someone commented about my teaching practices without full knowledge of what actually transpired in class? “Do to others as you would like them to do to you” told me to do the right thing. As such, I deleted my initial draft copy of this blog.
Social media offer many opportunities for keeping students engaged in class, allowing students to easily access real-time information and sharing of knowledge through its worldwide connectivity. The lack of confidentiality is perhaps one of the major flaws of social media since information posted can be viewed by anyone, anywhere.
Besides, “don’t trust what you have you’ve just read” Brookfield (p. 276). This is another imperfection of social media. Anyone, who have access to internet, can express their views without having their facts checked. In light of the plethora of fake news, what you see is sometimes not what you get.
References
Brookfield, S. (2015). A Skilful Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Institute of Global Ethics. (2005). How Good People Make Tough Choices. Retrieved from
https://usm.maine.edu/sites/default/files/core/How%20Good%20People%20Make%20Tough%20Choices-Kidder%20chapter1.pdf
Nardi, W. (2017, March 27). Christian Student Suspended After Challenging Muslim Prof’s Claim That Jesus Wasn’t Crucified. Retrieved from FoxNews: http://nation.foxnews.com/2017/03/27/christian-student-suspended-after-challenging-muslim-prof-s-claim-jesus-wasn-t-crucified