Overview
This course is designed to provide you with a broad understanding of the major legal and ethical principles and issues that relate to teaching in Canadian schools, and to have you gain a familiarity with the important ethical and legal dimensions that are likely to affect an educator's professional life.
Outline
EDUC 404 is divided into eight units listed below.
- Unit 1: Teachers, Professional Ethics, and Ethical Decision Making
- Unit 2: Legal Structures and the Legal Context of Canadian Education.
- Unit 3: Teaching as a Profession and a Teachers' Private Life
- Unit 4: Teachers and the Duty of Care
- Unit 5: Legal Rights of Students and Student Rights in Relation to Teachers
- Unit 6: Discipline and Punishment
- Unit 7: Controversy in the Classroom
- Unit 8: Diversity, Equity, and Fairness
Evaluation
To receive credit for EDUC 404, you must achieve a minimum grade of D (50 percent) on each assignment, and a minimum grade of D (50 percent) on the final examination. The weighting of the course assignments is as follows:
| Activity | Weight |
| Assignment 1 | 10% |
| Assignment 2 | 15% |
| Assignment 3 | 15% |
| Assignment 4 | 20% |
| Final Exam | 40% |
| Total | 100% |
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Physical course materials
The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:
Crook, K. & Truscott, T. (2007). Ethics and law for teachers. Toronto: Thomson Nelson.
Strike, K. A & Soltis, J. F. (2009). The ethics of teaching (5th ed.). New York: Teachers College Columbia University.
Other materials
The course materials include a course manual and assignments, study guide, and a reading file
Challenge for credit
Overview
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
To receive credit for EDUC 404 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least D (50 percent) on the examination.
Challenge for credit course registration form