How Do Teachers Host an Authentic and Professional Online Presence? 

Photo by Victoria Heath on Unsplash

The Presentation Made Me Wonder…
Today’s presentation with guest speaker Jesse Miller provided me with some valuable information regarding online safety, security, and presence as a teacher. It was both informative and unsettling. While I learned useful information, I’m left feeling unsettled and irritated that teachers are still held to a puritan standard. I wonder how we as teachers can hold an online presence that is true to ourselves and professional?

Oh, The Irony… And I rant.
I wonder why, in a time where we’re trying to teach honesty and transparency to youth, teachers are asked to essentially be flawless. Teachers cannot be witnessed in a photograph doing something legal and completely harmless, like having a glass of wine with a friend. As a teacher in training, I find this to be a potential invasion of my personal life. Not that a student sees a photograph of me drinking a glass of wine, but that I have been asked to not enjoy that glass of wine in the presence of anyone who may have a camera and post that online. To get persnickety about this, that would mean that I am not able to go anywhere where a camera and alcohol is present, on the chance that I may end up online with a glass of wine in hand. Same goes for other joys in life. What if I enjoy laying on a beach with my top off? While it is legal, and women have fought for centuries for equal rights and the end of objectification to women’s bodies, would I be reprimanded for doing this? Using the current logic, If a person decides to take a photograph of me without my knowing, places it online, and a student somehow sees it, I am the one who will be reprimanded despite my actions being legal.

How to (Hopefully) Ensure Privacy
Turn your privacy settings ON. What I gathered from the presentation is that in order to stay safe as a teacher in the world of online presences is to turn all social media settings to private. Never have a student as a contact/friend. Use an alias. Don’t tell other co-workers about your online presences. What other precautions could teachers take to keep their work and social life separate?

Final Thoughts
How do you see being able to express yourself honestly in social media, if there are parts of your life that have to be censored? Do you see this as being valid, given that teachers are teaching other peoples’ children? Do you think the censorship of teachers lives is outdated and needs to change? If so, why?
Here is a link to a CBC article about social media and its effects on teachers reputations –> https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/why-social-media-can-be-a-minefield-for-teachers-1.3219179

Thank you to Jesse Miller for the thought provoking presentation and being available to approach with questions regarding this issue.

Sources
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