ETHICAL DILEMMA CASE
STUDY: PROMOTING
PEER ACCEPTANCE
Group Members: Laurel Goldberg,
Lilian Masocha, Preston Paris,
Heather Bell, Lauren Bowne
Dr. Joy Bell
Fall 2011
Location of Study: Lindley Sixth Grade Academy
• Lindley Sixth Grade Academy is located near South Cobb Drive
in Mableton, Georgia.
Socioeconomic Profile
• The socioeconomic profile of Lindley
Sixth Grade Academy is staggering:
• According to the Georgia Department of
Education, approximately eighty-seven
percent of students are on free or
reduced lunch.
• Lindley Sixth Grade Academy is a Title 1
School.
• 9% of the school population qualifies for
special education, meaning awareness is
limited.
Lindley 6th Grade
Academy
Demographics
Demographics
The Georgia Department
of Education breaks down
ethnicity for Lindley in its
annual school report card.
According to the DOE, the
school is made up of sixtyeight percent Black,
twenty-six percent
Black
Hispanic
Hispanic, five percent
White
White, and one percent
Asian
Asian.
Case Study: Peer Acceptance
Mr. Grey is a 6th grade History and Social Studies teacher at Lindley 6th Grade
Academy. His teaching experience is fairly extensive at eight years and counting.
The particular class we will be looking at is one in which there are four students with
disabilities: two who are wheelchair dependent, one visually impaired, and one with
MRDD.
In Mr. Grey’s years of teaching experience, he had witnessed and dealt with student
bullying around the school on numerous occasions. More recently, he had noticed
subtle bullying perpetrated by one of his older 6th grade boys in the hallway: John.
Out of concern for his students who could not easily defend themselves, Mr. Grey
felt compelled to address this issue.
Mr. Grey asked John, "Have you ever felt like someone was not pleased with you?"
This question prompted John to verbalize a memory in which he had broken his
mother’s favorite vase. John said that he understood that his mother felt that he
could have been more careful with her vase; however, he understood that his mom
still loved him very much. He felt ashamed for his clumsy behavior, which seemed to
be a habit for him.
Now that Mr. Grey had related a very common situation to his students that they
could all understand, he continued, "Now class, how would you feel if someone
laughed at you for unwillingly drooling in class? You want to look just like everyone
else but you have this stuff coming out of your mouth and you are completely
unable to control it." Mr. Grey hoped to level with his students in a way that would
incite empathy for those different from themselves.
His students’ looked downcast as he pushed his point across. He called the
following students by name asking them where they went to elementary school:
Emily, Timothy, Jude and Greta. He knew that they had all been to different schools.
Mr. Grey’s inquiry was followed by an explanation of the term “peer acceptance.”
“It means accepting that we have all been created differently. As such, we need to
accept that we come from different backgrounds, are born into different situations,
have different opinions and outlooks, etc. However, when it comes down to it, we
are all inherently equal and the same.
"The human thing to do is to help those who are in
need, and that is going to start in this class. In case of
an emergency, who would be willing to push Emily's
wheelchair down the hallway to safety?
John scanned the class as he slowly raised his hand.
Thanks John, I’m proud of you. The next time we do a
drill, John will assist Emily in exiting the building
safely.”
Stakeholders
• Mr. grey is a key player in this scenario because he is the one who
will teach his students about peer acceptance.
• Boys in the six grade class are key players in this scenario because
they need to understand they cannot bully someone who may be
different from them. Mr. Grey hopes to teach them peer
acceptance.
• John is a key player in this scenario because he is being bullied by
his peers. He just wants to be accepted by his peers and possibly
make friends.
Ethical Questions
1. If the bullying continues even after the
teacher addresses it, what is the next step?
2. How far can a teacher go in asking other
students to help other students with physical
disabilities without taking away from their
learning time?
3. How much is too much inclusion when it
comes to taking on heaps of responsibility for
the classroom teacher?
Possible Resolutions
1. Contact the administration about concerns. Hopefully, the parents
of the students involved will also be contacted.
2. The teacher may limit student-student assistance to only a by needbasis. For example, in the case of an emergency in which the need to
evacuate the classroom arises.
3. We suggest no more than 5 inclusion students per class, depending
on the availability of teacher aides so that the teacher's time may be
equally balanced between all the students
References
• "Ethical Dilemmas - Moral Dilemmas - Classroom Discussion."
Character Education - Free Resources, Materials, Lesson Plans. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.goodcharacter.com/dilemma/dilemma.html>.
• "Lindley 6th Grade Academy: Report Card." Georgia Department of
Education. http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ReportingFW.aspx?
PageReq=101&SchoolID=37400&PID=63&PTID=214&T=0&FY=2011
(accessed November 28, 2011).
• Mastropieri, M.A., & Scruggs, T. E. (2000). The Inclusive Classroom:
Strategies for EffectiveInstruction. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.