Nadya Dunkley
November 17,2020
BUS 311 [1900]
Prof. B. Buckler

Unit 11 Employee Relations & Business Ethics/ Live Session #4 Debate

Reflection of the COVID-19 Debate on Ethics

The debate answered a lot of personal questions I had about the remote learning protocol. As a NYC Public School parent I in the LIVE Session I was able to hear how remote learning impacts the teachers who though they love their students they are still very concerned about the safety and welfare of themselves, their families, and their students. My take on what was discussed was that the intentions of distance learning is good but because of all of the technicalities regarding what can and cant be done in the classroom due to the coronavirus it makes it extremely difficult for children especially younger ones to learn and complicates the task of effective teaching. It actually broke my heart when the guest speaker said it’ so hard because we can’t touch the kids. “We can’t help them to tie their shoelaces or open their snacks.” Distance learning defeats the purpose of what the system is trying to do. Which is to get the kids in the classroom to proceed with their usual way of learning which is the opposite. I also thought that it was ludicrous you would have a class filled with students with a virtual teacher instead of a live teacher. The state needs to provide resources for the parents to have all the necessities in their home to provide virtual learning for their children. This will protect the teachers as well as the students and will help to flatten the curve faster. In the LIVE debate I was on the PRO in school learning team which was kind of uncomfortable because I was debating against my personal take on the issue. My kids are at home doing remote learning which has its difficulties but if the parents are supportive of the teachers and vice versa it can be an has been very successful. My children were provided laptops and Wi-Fi via sprint all provided by their school. The guidance counselors check in with each family every Friday and the parents are CC on the child’s google classroom so that they can monitor attendance. The gives me a sense of security to know that the school is making a qualified effort to make sure that my children as well as other children are safe. I feel bad for the parents who have to send their children and I feel like a lot of them do it because they are lacking the resources such as childcare, sufficient food, Wi-Fi and simple necessities that if consistently provided by the state would make a huge difference.

Issue at hand :

With COVID-19 ravaging the country and the world, what should the Human Resource managers who work in school systems advise leadership to do? Why is this controversial? Should teachers or parents have the stronger voice?

Opening

The ethical issue at hand is should parents risk the health and safety of their children and should educators risk their health and safety for education ? Or should education be the sacrificed due to COVID-19 fears ? It is a hard-heavy coin to toss but we must pick a side.
• On one hand some say that the health and safety of our children and educators are being sacrificed because of education if they are mandated to show up for in person learning in schools. They say this because we cannot ignore the fact that COVID-19 is real and has deadly effects. Their argument is that If students and teachers at all levels of education are mandated to report to educational facility, we are putting them at risk of contracting and spreading the virus no matter how much social distancing we practice. They feel like we can never be too careful with infection control. People are only in control of their own persona and their own personal surroundings. So even though the tactic being used to combat this deadly virus is social distancing, the wearing of mask, ventilating rooms, hand washing, and cleaning and sanitizing people can only monitor their own surroundings. If people do not have the resources to consistently practice the things, I mentioned above then then everyone they meet is liable to contract the disease if they are infected. Much more people who does not take COVID-19 and the pandemic seriously and does not follow infection control routines and the CDC guidelines in their homes. If students and teachers are mandated to show up for in person learning lives are at risk and are being ignorantly sacrificed for education. No one should have to risk their lives to get an education and education should not be sacrificed because of any pandemic.

• I say that what is really at risk here is the educational setback that students will incur due to the inadequacies of remote learning and virtual classrooms. On the other hand I think parents should decide if their children receive remote learning or in person learning because even though there are many fears and liabilities associated with COVID-19 we were able to flatten the curve by following the CDC recommendation and guidelines and can attest to the effectiveness of their plan and direction. If educational facilities are inspected and transformed to accommodate students and teachers under the new CDC guidelines along with families, students, and teachers collaboratively contributing to flattening the curve and practicing proper infection control routines. Schools will be able to proceed as they were before the pandemic with students and teachers reporting to the building for in person learning. Schools should proceed with in person learning as an option because the real liability that needs to be addressed is the educational setback of children who were already at a disadvantage due to educational inequalities and learning gaps.
Main Points:
• Students should resume in person learning because there are preventative measures that can be taken to prevent the spread of the virus. Education should not be sacrificed because we are afraid of COVID-19. Students do not learn properly when they are not in a physical classroom. There are too many distractions ate home.
• The momentum gained in in schools prior the pandemic slowed. Its hard for students to keep up with the material that they learned before the shutdown when the consistency of the lessons are being diluted to conform to remote learning guidelines and virtual classes. The lessons are being watered down. Most students aren’t even taking notes and isn’t mature enough to develop the discipline to work independently with the setting and supervision of a teacher and physical classroom.
• Fewer students are logging into virtual classrooms and online systems to access and complete assignments. While some does not have the internet access some students have lost motivation and have given up. These are the students that are completely discouraged with keeping up with virtual learning.
• The learning gaps and inequalities that already existed are widening by the minute. Due to the wealth gap and many other inequalities some students already had the odds against them and are fighting to keep up. Virtual learning will set them even further behind.
What Virtual School Means for Students in Need
• Kids are home alone because parents are going out to work to keep the households going financially. Many students are caring for other siblings while parents work so they are unable to properly focus on their virtual classes and assignments. While others need supervision to make sure that they do the work and submit the assignments.

• Students with developmental delays who were already receiving individual learning plans can not properly learn in the manner that they are supposed to and their parents aren’t able to provide the extra help they need to have educational success because their parents are not educators. Many students from families in need are not financially able to afford extra help such as tutoring. Their parents cannot afford the resources that they normally would receive in school for free.
The most compelling reason my side is right:
• The most compelling reason to my side is that learning gaps and inequalities in education already existed before COVID-19 so the shutdown due to the pandemic only makes it worse because the disparities for many students especially students from the inner cities were already at large with minority students and lower income white students already receiving less than adequate educational resources due to the wealth gap and racial inequalities. With virtual learning families who can afford extra help for their children are able to keep their children afloat educationally while others sacrifice having an opportunity to advance because they are not financially able to keep up.

• Teachers do not have the focus to share between their students and their own children who are also at home being homeschooled. There will always be a constant distraction with the focus understandably being given to their own children.
Conclusion
In this case the decision should be left up the parents. Parents should have a right to choose if they would like their children to participate in remote learning or show up to school for in person classes. Parents should have the right to choose because we can assume that a parent would make the best decision to accommodate the welfare of their children and their individual circumstance. For the parents that opt out of in person classes and decide to participate in remote learning for their children. The virtual classroom should be an annex to the physical classroom and should be a live synchronous class were both remote and in person learn in one. Each parent who does choose the remote option should be provided the resources for their children to have educational success and this should be evaluated and assessed according to their families and students’ individual needs. Families in need should also be partnered with some for of informal supervision to make sure that their needs are being met and that there living environment is able to accommodate remote learning. Teachers should support parents in their decision making regarding their children and should be prepped to accommodate either decision of parents opting in or out of in person learning.
Works Cited
B, Krista. Teacher Shares Eye-Opening Effect of School Changes and COVID-19 on America’s Youth. 2020, www.bgca.org/news-stories/2020/July/Teacher-Shares-Eye-Opening-Effect-of-School-Changes-and-COVID-19-on-Americas-Youth?c_src=idm_cm_googleads.
“K-12 Disparity Facts and Statistics.” UNCF, 20 Mar. 2020, uncf.org/pages/K-12-Disparity-Facts-and-Stats?gclid=Cj0KCQiAhs79BRD0ARIsAC6XpaUO-1ufWIv6nst-0vI13kB8wHukh0k9O4zN_Iuhmg3f1B6B3YkMrTcaAvN2EALw_wcB.