Navigating the Ethical Landscape: Legal and Ethical Implications of Teacher-Student Relationships

The teaching profession is interwoven with a unique set of ethical relationships and legal obligations. Teachers are entrusted with the responsibility of shaping moral character and serving as exemplars of ethical conduct. This article explores the legal and ethical dimensions of teacher-student relationships, highlighting the importance of ethical decision-making in safeguarding students and upholding the integrity of the teaching profession.

The Evolving Landscape of Student Safety and Wellbeing

In recent years, there has been an increased focus on safety and wellbeing within schools, amplified by events and inquiries that have led to policy responses aimed at safeguarding children and developing child-safe organizations. While these efforts are critically important, ongoing attention is needed to ensure they do not inadvertently reduce children’s safety to compliance-based imperatives that fail to create the cultural conditions necessary to promote their wellbeing. Historically, procedural documents providing child-safe guidance have foregrounded reporting and responding to disclosures, selection and recruitment, staff education, training and supervision, and risk management.

Research into children’s wellbeing in schools highlights the importance of positive relationships with self, teachers, friends, peers, and significant others. Young people’s wellbeing and safety are connected to the relational context they live in and the relationships they establish at schools. This research demonstrates a connection between relationships and recognition characterized by mutual experiences of being cared about, respected, and valued. Ethical practice is understood as the way ethical values are operationalized within human service settings. As such, it is inextricably linked to the relational environment and to notions of professionalism and advocacy.

Understanding Ethical Frameworks

Ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethical norms tend to be broader and more informal than laws. Although most societies use laws to enforce widely accepted moral standards and ethical and legal rules use similar concepts, ethics and law are not the same. Ethical judgment consists of several characteristics: appreciation for moral deliberation, empathy, knowledge, reasoning, courage, and interpersonal skills.

Within teaching, there is a unique set of ethical relationships and legal obligations that are embedded in the work of a teacher. Teachers have the responsibility to build moral character and be an example of that too.

The Role of Codes of Ethics

The misperceptions blurring the lines between personal and professional ethics become even more difficult to address when we think about the ethics of education. We’ve long thought of teaching as being an extension of parenting - a moral good that has seemingly obvious guidelines for what should be done in any situation. As a result, teachers, like parents, are expected - and expect themselves - to follow their own personal morality and life experience as they make decisions. However, we, as a profession, need to shift away from the idea that our personal sense of ethics - driven in large part by our upbringing and our life experiences - is enough to help us navigate all the situations we face in the classroom. Even the expectations and norms that evolve in each school vary so much that they alone can’t serve as the sole guide to our decisions.

Some people’s codes of ethics are like a beacon and some are a dim light in a dark room, therefore clarifying the need to have written codes of ethics for teachers. However, where some professions such as attorneys and medical doctors have this universal code, there is not yet a standard code of ethics accepted for all teachers.

Navigating Ethical Dilemmas in the Classroom

From preschool to high school teachers have an enormous impact on students. At the heart of the matter, the teacher’s relationship to a student is a special kind of power as students can be considered impressionable and malleable. Because of this power there can be the potential abuse of power. Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.

So you may be thinking that’s great - I have those characteristics most of the time so I should be fine! What is the problem with this line of thinking?

What might go through a new teacher’s mind as they are encountering an ethical decision they may need to make - What can be done to help teachers make ethical decisions and ask for assistance if needed? What can a teacher do to mitigate any negative perceptions if they talk to someone about an ethical dilemma?

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The Hierarchy of School Systems

The public school governing system is actually a hierarchy. There are several tiers to this hierarchy beginning with the federal level and ending with the individual teachers. While some may believe that administration of schools starts with the federal government, the truth is that on the federal level there is very little involvement in education, even in funding. The federal government sets some guidelines for education, such as the “Every Student Succeeds Act”, but not specific ones such as curriculum taught.

In actuality, the states have most of the power over their own schools and what they teach. The states set what the students will learn and what standards they have to meet. This means that if a child is meeting their grade level standard in Tennessee they may or may not be meeting the Virginia standards for that grade level. The “Common Core Standards” are an attempt to “level the playing field.” The process began with a group of state governors and school officials. The idea was to create real-life, relevant learning goals that could be adopted by states, and lead to our students learning the same things at the same time. With this idea, that same student in Tennessee would be working on the same standards as the student in Virginia. The CCS, however, were not mandated by the federal government, nor created by the federal government and this is important to know. It was a state initiative and states had the right to adopt the standards or not. Not all states have adopted the CCS, and some adopted the standards and then repealed them. Michigan adopted the standards. Michigan has used the CCS to create our learning standards.

States also choose the standards that the teachers must meet. The state wants the teacher to be able to educate the students to achieve the set standards. There are things that every state requires, but each of them has their own variation. Every state requires the teacher to have a college degree and some form of standardized testing to be able to teach in their public school system. There are national tests available, but each state requires different ones. States have the largest financial role in the schools. Very little funding comes from the federal government. Most of the federal funding is applied for by the individual school in the form of a grant for a special purpose.

Each state is broken up into districts. Most administration deals on a small level, either within the district, or in the individual school. The districts each have their own school board made of elected members. Those boards decide how their schools will achieve the standards set by the state. They will also decide anything else they believe the schools should be doing to service their district’s children. Some of these things include overseeing the curriculum and helping to promote better teaching techniques. A superintendent is chosen to oversee the schools in the district. While the school board is elected by the community, the superintendent is hired by the school board. Anyone who meets the qualifications may apply. The school board conducts interviews and makes the decision on which individual to hire. Sometimes individuals from within the district are hired, and other times the individual hired comes from outside of the district. They are in charge of making sure the schools are doing what is required by the school board. They make routine visits to schools to check on how they are doing.

The district hires principals to oversee each individual school. These principals are there to see that the teachers are doing their job and the children are getting the education they deserve. They are responsible for scheduling, planning the daily activities, and managing the overall activities of the school. Principals make routine visits to classrooms to make sure they are running smoothly and that teachers are making the most of their instructional time. Another difficult duty of the principal is the budget for the school. The schools also have assistant principals. These administrators help the principal in the daily activities of the school.

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The teacher is the one with the most direct affect on students. They ultimately decide what happens in the classrooms. When the door closes every morning it is up to the teacher to make an effective use of time and get children to those standards set by the state.

Maintaining and Protecting Your Teaching License

Once you have completed all of the necessary requirements of your educator preparation program to earn a teaching license in your state, there will be ongoing work for you to not only maintain it but protect it as well. Each state has specific laws in place to protect both the student and teacher, in addition each state may also have certain sets of laws that prohibit someone from becoming licensed as well. Immoral conduct and willful neglect of duty are some of the most common reasons that teachers are fired today.

Legal and Ethical Boundaries in Teacher-Student Relationships

All of the above cases are real and recent headlines. The cases represent a variety of the legal and ethical areas of the teaching profession that exist today. Since the majority of teacher preparation candidates do not have legal backgrounds, this chapter exists to provide an overview of some of the pitfalls that can plague not only the new teacher but those that have been in the profession for years. The legal landscape of the teaching profession seems to be ever evolving with increasingly complex ethical and moral challenges. This section of the chapter will discuss professional ethics and the teaching profession with the takeaway being that you will be able to discern the difference between your legal responsibilities and ethical ones and the impact that your ability to make sound decisions will keep you from potentially hurting a student and your teaching career. Knowing your ethical responsibilities and how to practice ethical decision making can mitigate the teacher’s risk. So why discuss ethics?

Teacher-student relationships have long been a subject of ethical debate, particularly when these interactions cross into romantic territory. These relationships present a distinct ethical and moral challenge in high schools, where students are minors or just reaching adulthood. This issue is not only about age differences; it also involves the inherent power imbalance and the teacher’s duty of care. Power imbalance is among the most significant concerns with high school teacher-student relationships. Teachers hold authority in the academic environment; they assign grades, enforce rules, and are expected to act as role models. Conversely, students are in a vulnerable phase of personal and intellectual growth, making them susceptible to influence and pressure. Teachers are also bound by a duty of care, which is their ethical and often legal obligation to prioritize the well-being and development of their students. This duty does not end at the classroom door but extends to all aspects of their students’ welfare, including their social, emotional, and psychological health.

Beyond the issue of power dynamics, age differences further complicate the ethical implications of teacher-student relationships. Most high school students are under 18, making these relationships illegal in many regions. Even in cases where both parties are of legal age, a significant age gap can raise concerns about emotional maturity and potential exploitation. Public perception and the potential for perceived exploitation often mean these relationships are widely criticized. It’s hard to define a clear-cut moment when such a relationship could be deemed “acceptable” by society. Even once students graduate, the lingering influence of the teacher-student dynamic can make the relationship feel unbalanced. Legally, once a student has left school and reached adulthood, relationships with former teachers may be permissible, but ethically, there’s still a grey area. The teacher-student relationship is ultimately rooted in trust, guidance, and care. Given the risks of emotional harm and exploitation and the potential to erode public confidence in educators, it is generally considered unethical to pursue romantic relationships in high school settings.

The Complexities of Teacher-Student Relationships

Humans have many relationships in their lives. Indeed, virtually all repetitive social interactions can be categorised as relationships of some kind. Some philosophers and social scientists believe that it is within these relationships that the human moral conscience is formed. For example, Stephen Darwall has argued that being able to take the second-person perspective (i.e. the perspective of the other party in the social relationship) is key to moral reasoning. Similarly, the developmental and evolutionary biologist Michael Tomasello has argued that being able to understand the duties associated with different social roles is responsible for the evolution of the human moral sense. Finally, though it is less popular these days, Lawrence Kohlberg’s developmental theory of moral reasoning suggests that it is the capacity to see and empathise with the other side of our social relationships that represents the emergence of true moral reasoning in children.

There are some ethical rules that apply to all relationships, irrespective of their precise character. For example, you shouldn’t harm someone unless you have good cause. But other moral rules are specific to certain relationships. Lawyers, for example, have a duty of confidentiality to their clients. Doctors too. The problem is that relationships can take many different forms. Think of the relationship between parent and child, doctor and patient, boss and employee, brother and sister, two friends, two lovers and so on. The teacher-student relationship is just one among many. One simple way to think about the ethics of our social relationships is to focus on the purpose or telos of the relationship and to use that to determine what the respective duties of the parties to the relationship might be. Many relationships have a function or goal associated with them. Think about the relationship between a doctor and their patient. The purpose of this relationship is to improve the health of the patient. To do this effectively, the patient has to supply the doctor with all relevant information concerning their health; the doctor then has to be well-informed about the best options for care. This gives rise to respective duties: the duty of honesty for the patient and the duty of competence for the doctor.

That said not all relationships serve single or obvious goals. Some relationships serve multiple goals. Furthermore, thinking about certain relationships in terms of goals can seem contrary to their ethical character. For instance, it seems wrong to suppose that the relationship between friends is goal-oriented. It is no doubt true that friendships serve a purpose: companionship, support, entertainment and so forth. But thinking about them solely in terms of these purposes can seem instrumentalising and dehumanising. If my friends no longer entertain me, am I entitled to abandon them or ignore them? Surely not. That complication notwithstanding, it seems fair to say that the teacher-student relationship is one that can be thought about in purposive or teleological terms. It does serve a goal, namely: to educate the student (in a broad sense). A first pass at the ethics of teacher-student relationships is to say that the duties of the parties (and the ideal mode of relating between them) flow from that goal. A teacher should not do something that subverts or undermines it, and nor should a student. That said, as everyone points out, there is usually an asymmetry of power between the teacher and student (similar to that between a doctor and a patient) which typically means that the burdens are higher on the teacher than they are on the student.

There are, however, some problems with this initial take on the ethics of teacher-student relationships. The purpose is vague: To say that teachers should educate their students isn’t to say much since people disagree about what education is really about. Is it about knowledge transfer? Providing credentials? Developing the capacity for critical thought and self-reflection? Producing better citizens for a democracy? Helping students find themselves? Each of these has been proposed as legitimate goal for education over the years and each of them might warrant a different mode of relating to students. Furthermore, some people have, no doubt in a self-serving way, argued that the eroticisation of the teacher-student relationship is part of the educational mission. Relationships often overlap or nest: Humans often pursue multiple different kinds of relationships with people and often have different relationships types thrust upon them due to social circumstance or necessity. For example, many people are friends with their work colleagues; it is not uncommon for parents to teach their children (not just in homeschooling but in mainstream schools too); and some university professors teach friends or colleagues (because they enroll in their courses). This nesting or overlapping of relationships makes their ethical analysis more complicated. Is it always wrong to pursue different kinds of relationships with people at the same time? Relationship analogies are common: Humans often use analogies between relationships to determine the ethical rules that apply to them. We analogise between friendship and intimate partnership, for example, to figure out how we should relate to friends and lovers, respectively. Of course, analogical reasoning is common in human life, but it creates challenges when it comes to the ethics of relationships. If someone thinks a teacher-student relationship is like the relationship between a parent and a child, then they are likely to reach a different conclusion about how they should relate to their students than someone who thinks it is more like the relationship between a boss and an employee. This isn’t a purely hypothetical example either. There are other complications but these will suffice for now.

In practice, the overlapping of different relationship types, and how this might bear on the purpose of the teacher-student relationship, is probably the most problematic issue and the one that has generated most debate in the literature on teacher-student relationship.

The Ethics of Teacher-Student Sexual Relationships

The ethics of teacher-student sexual relationships has tended to dominate writing in this area. In an interesting article on this, William Deresiewicz points out the image of the feckless, morally corrupt, professor, who sleeps with his (it’s almost invariably a ‘he’) students is probably one of the most common fictional motifs of the 20th century. You couldn’t even begin to list all the examples of it. But we can trace the origins of the motif back much further. There seems to be good reason for this cultural and intellectual obsession. Teacher-student sexual relationships are a major problem. Recent revelations of rampant sexual harassment and assault of students by well-heeled professors, coupled with institutional misdeeds in covering up these affairs, highlight how rampant it is. In tandem with the #MeToo movement, and the broader societal activism against the sexual mistreatment of women and children, the academy is having to reckon with its history of abuse and misconduct. Sexual harassment and assault are not quite the same things as consensual sexual or romantic relationships between two adults. But there is a fuzzy line between these two things in the case of teacher-student interactions.

Clearly, there are some ’successful’ romantic relationships that began in this form. As mentioned in the introduction, I have interacted with such couples in the past and my own knowledge of them suggests that they were generally happy and well-functioning (who knows what goes on behind closed doors). But given the nature of teacher-student relationships, there are some very good reasons for thinking that sexual relationships between these parties are always fraught with risk. First, the power asymmetry between the parties casts a shadow over any alleged consent to such a relationship. Teachers are the more powerful parties within such relationships, at least within a certain institutional context. They have some knowledge or skill that the student lacks and is supposed to learn from them. Even if the student is highly competent and intelligent in their own right, the default assumption is that this asymmetry exists. Furthermore, the teacher often has power over the future of the student, both in terms of their testing and evaluation, and their access to future opportunities (e.g. through reference writing). It’s a complicated question as to whether this power-asymmetry necessarily undermines any consent that might given to a sexual relationship. But you certainly could argue that there is a lingering, implicit threat inherent in the relationship. Even if this shadow doesn’t place the relationship within the realms of illegality or crime, it may, at the very least, place it within the category of what Ann Cahill has called ‘unjust sex’.

The weaker party may be encouraged to signal consent and approval of what the more powerful party desires in order to accredit it, even though they themselves appear to have limited choices. Cahill’s point is that these cases of unjust sex are not equivalent to rape or sexual assault but, rather, lie in a gray zone between rape and ethically permissible sex. Their moral character is tainted, even if it is not completely reprehensible. Second, there appears to good evidence to suggest that these relationships are often harmful to the weaker party in the long-term.

Creating a Child-Centred Culture

Participants identified several practices as having an ethical dimension when viewed through a lens of ‘what is the most ‘right’ thing to do?’ These were: (i) building positive relationships with students; (ii) promoting student voice and agency; (iii) being equal, fair and inclusive with students; and (iv) contributing to an authentic child-centred organisational culture.

Appropriate mechanisms in place to encourage student voice and participation in decision making (e.g. Staff are supported to manage and critically reflect on ethical challenges (e.g. Designated welfare/wellbeing officer and/or Year Coordinator; Student management systems (e.g. Leaders who promote a child-centred culture and empower staff to work in child-centred ways. Co-creation of values with students and staff to promote joint ownership. Recruitment, induction and professional development that contributes to child-centred cultures. Staff are supported to build positive relationships with students based on mutual trust and respect. Teachers demonstrate personal qualities suited to working effectively with young people.

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