What should we do about secret recording?

This morning Ewan McIntosh posted an article about children secretly recording teachers on their mobile phones and wondering whether it was possible to put a positive spin on this. The short answer is "only in an ideal world". This type of material is bound to be taken out of context, hyped for media purposes and used for political ends. However, I don't think this should be used for justification of the banning of mobile phones in the classroom. Anybody with a remote interest in technology will know how quickly phones and computers are converging. Is my XDA Orbit a phone or a computer? Skype can now be run on Playstation portables. It won't be long before such devices are indistinguishable - where do we draw the line? So, if we are committed to making the best use of such innovative technology in our classrooms (and I certainly am), then we need to make sure that acceptable use policies cover the activity of filming or recording anybody (adult or child) without their permission, and any such breach should be regarded as a serious disciplinary matter. Clearly, in the case of Angela Mason the General Teaching Council found her guilty of professional misconduct and suspended her for surreptitiously filming bad behaviour in secondary classrooms. Incidentally the comments added to this Times online article are worth reading in that it provides an illuminating public reaction to what this teacher did. For my part, her belief that somehow she had nothing to do with the bad behaviour as presented should be contested. One of the comments I most hated as a teacher was the staffroom cynic saying, "you can't do anything with these kids". Nevertheless, the GTC clearly found her conduct wanting, and so, I think, would any school governing body that had to deal with the exclusion of a child who had uploaded a secretly filmed video to Youtube.

Are children who film bad teaching acting as legitimate journalists exposing the inept (what would the reaction be to secret filming of incompetence in an NHS ward be?) or is all such material gathered for scurrilous reasons? Unfortunately, regardless of the motives of the original recorder, the material is likely to be misused.

Which leads me on to Ratemyteachers, a website whose point I've yet to fathom. Here is just one anonymous post about an identifiable teacher (whose identity I've chosen not to put on the image, obviously). Again, in an ideal world it would be great to think that children could use such a resource to provide illuminating feedback to teachers. Sadly it's usually not the case with this site.

If we keep digging, it all boils down to the kind of relationship that many children have with technology at the moment. Again, Ewan McIntosh recently reported on Becta's research into Web 2.0 which shows that the number of children actively and constructively engaged with Web 2.0 and content creation is still a tiny minority (and much more likely to be a primary school child than a secondary school one). Only through modelling behaviours, teaching skills and providing engaging opportunities to create will children learn that the web is a powerful tool for learning rather than just a means of instant communication, and having a (cruel) laugh at someone else's expense.

Comments

[Chris]

I have to say that on this topic I firmly agree with Ewan- the key to avoiding scenarios like this is to educate pupils on the uses of technology. I've started trialing using mobile phones in MFl lessons, and have had overwhelmingly positive feedback from the pupils. Before we started using them I discussed with all of my classes what we believed appropriate usage to be, and talked through the ramifications of misuse. The excitement and enjoyment they derive from their use is not something that they want to lose.

As for ratemyteacher, well, yes, it's ridiculous, but isn't it just an extension of what we all used to talk about when we were young, transferred into the modern environment online? I have to say that I'm very proud of my ratings on it. There's so often talk of the importance of pupil appraisals, well, there it is in action.

Anyway, keep up the fantastic work!

[John Sutton]

That's great to hear, Chris. I think that giving children positive opportunities to use phones in class will result in a change - for that group. The trouble is that there aren't enough of you around at the moment! Your comments on Ratemyteachers are interesting, never thought of it in those terms before. Must admit you'd have to be pretty thin-skinned to pay attention to any of it.