Ethics in Education

---

 My love of professional writing and experience as an author and journalist has led me to an extraordinary new career - passing on those skills to the next generation within the education sector in Victoria.

It is also a wonderful space for me to advocate for the continual need to strive improved ethical practice in education.

I am fortunate to be a part of La Trobe University's Nexus program. The program is an initiative between the Commonwealth Government and La Trobe to upskill Education Support staff who have experience in inclusive or remote practice, into the field of teaching. This blog is in fact a consequence of the Digital Literacies component of the course, and I look forward to contributing to continually improving cultures of inclusion and human rights informed practice at the university.

Currently I am Education Support staff at  a K-12 specialist school in the South East of Melbourne, where I am in the fortunate position to be able to teach the swimming and bike education programs.

No day is the same. 

In the pool, I get to upskilling students who are sometimes scared to enter the water, to the point where the pool becomes a place of joy and capability. I enjoy breaking the skills down into their base components and scaffolding learning.   

I also take care of the library, the most inspiring room in the school. I love getting interesting and funny books into the hands of interesting and funny students!

I have a keen interest in English, physical education, climbing, climbing and more climbing. Oh, and did I mentioned climbing? As a former owner/operator of a climbing gym I have extensive history running school climbing programs and was also fortunate to host Sport Climbing Victoria's 2019 and 2020 state lead titles, and the 2019 Sport Climbing Australia National Camp. It's been a privilege to play a small part in the lead up to our sport's inclusion at the Olympics in 2024. 

But while its been great to work with people who are elite in the field, my genuine interest lay in taking people who are scared of heights and using a range of techniques I’ve honed over the years to dampen down fear reflexes and getting them able to assess their own safety and operate effectively at height. From there, I relish getting these news climbers upskilled to lead climb and inspired to take the next step into the outdoors, at our top-10 world climbing sites – Gariwerd/The Grampians and Dyurrite/Mt Arapiles. 

With the augmented reality industry within education tipped to hit a whopping $79 billion US this year (Augmented Reality in Education: Tools, examples, benefits and future trends, 2026) the focus is on a raft of opportunities in the space; everything from teaching medical students operating procedures to returning indigenous cultures a form of storytelling in place that defies some of the impacts of colonisation.

 Augmented reality has the power to transform the way we educate, and there is an immediate application in providing alternative forms of education to regions impacted by war.

In 2010, I travelled to the West Bank, but travel was not a luxury not open to most of the people I met there. I could not get into Gaza in 2010. It had been put under siege four years earlier - a siege that still lasts today, 20 years later that limits the entry of food.

The United Nations estimated 1581 Gazan health workers had been killed or murdered by the middle of last year, and Doctors without Borders regularly recalls its staff from the area for it being too dangerous as reported by Haaretz newspaper (Hassan & Dayan, 2026). 

There is a huge gap in the medical professional growing, and the potential for the innate danger of the zone to limit the future prospects of getting staff there. 

The World Beast website is certain that the medical profession is the one that will benefit the most from augmented reality given the STEM field requires 3D conceptualisation (Melnik, 2026). They key benefit to augmented reality is, you will no longer necessarily require a cadaver or need to train surgically on a live human. If a medical mannequin can get to the area and there is a supply of electricity, in theory, a surgeon can now train using augmented reality. 

 Harvard Business Review is also optimistic about the process, with its own studies showing the spaced retrieval with augmented reality or virtual reality head sets increased the confidence of users, which it believes could improve medical outcomes in some cases (Bailenson, 2026). 

Augmented reality could certainly have significant impacts for one particular family in Gaza. Wadeed Alarabeed (2025) is an academic with papers on 'Educide' and 'Scholasticide' in Gaza. At the conclusion one of his academic papers he wrote a highly personal anecdote in the acknowledgements.

'Amid the immense suffering that Palestinians have endured in Gaza, I find solace in dedicating this article to my niece, Ghazal Ayesh, who inspired me to write it. Still in middle school, she dreams of becoming a doctor. To pursue this path, she once studied English at AMIDEAST in Gaza, one of the most distinguished English language institutions there. Yet, for the third consecutive year, she and her peers have been deprived of formal schooling. I hold onto the hope that she will continue to pursue her dreams with courage and perseverance, and that one day she will walk again into a classroom filled with light, safety, and the promise of a better tomorrow.' 

Hopefully Ghazal will be able to achieve direct instruction in person, in a classroom and a STEM lab, with the support of a hospital. Hopefully too, she may have access to augmented reality systems to train. Some of those systems may have mapped the 3D physiology (Han Orthopaedics, 2025) of ill patients and growths and permit training from afar with no risk on plastic patients.

Augmented reality may allow for resistance training during mock surgery or machine calibration of equipment to match the user.

Check out our vid on the rewards and risks of AI in education. It's not just theory either, we've embedded an example of an AI resistant assessment task we crafted for English studies on Lord of the Flies.

Michelle Coleman and James Camp. 

Educators are faced with an increasingly AI-savvy student base and the increasing risk of allowing products that are no longer the authentic work of their students.
The risk is clear - putting out a generation of tech savvy students that conversely lacks critical thinking skills to impact the world as creators of systems as well as users of systems.
As part of our Nexus studies at La Trobe, I had the opportunity to work with James Camp, an education support staffer at a school for the hearing impaired. We took part in an assessment for the university's Digital Literacies program in the School of Education, which itself is at the forefront of creating tertiary level assessment that allows for AI collaboration while also ensuring core competencies and authentic authorship of papers.

As part of our submission on this project we found high degrees of value in using AI to speed up content creation and assessment. (Zhai et al., 2021; Kasneci et al., 2023). However, knowledge around how to embed AI-resistance in into assessment was equally important (Awadallah Alkouk & Khlaif, 2024). 

We also included theories around the potential for unintentionally embedding bias in scholarly work and school assignments using generative AI with close-sourced algorithms that are inherently racially biased (Damiao et al., 2025) - which I have continued to explore in the infographic blog (see below).

These are all relevant and heavy topics but when we created the video we chose to have some fun and play around with the concept of a job interview. Why? Given that we were not able to evaluate participants (Mayer, 2024) - that is you, the viewer -  we chose a situational format that an experienced educator or pre-service teacher, was likely to see value in, linking AI awareness and competency to financial and career rewards, which in turn is linked to better values coding in the pre-frontal cortex suggested by the work of Lin et al., 2012.  

As I sit here looking rather sheepishly at Richard Meyer's 3rd Edition of the seminal text, Multimedia Learning (2021), I am thinking about all the principles I have touched upon in the above infographic without really mastering. But respectfully, Mayer himself has created an ironically text-heavy tome, which makes me feel somewhat better. 

Looking at the positives, some large concepts have been drilled down, despite potentially having more room to go. While not entirely without redundancy, given the field does not have an abundance of scholarly articles available on this information, it took a lot of time filtering through newspaper articles for reliable information. Given the complex nature of the topic, which overlays political, international law, genocide, identity, just and and the commercial realm involving Big Tech. While not a precise interpretation of either spatial or temporal contiguity, I feel it touches on both, by allowing the reader the immediate option of moving into an area of interest to ratify a claim, and embed the concept at a deeper level.

The design implements Mayer's concepts around signaling, using colour and positioning to attribute positive or negative connotations. 

There is a central symbolic image in order to create context and mood.

The infographic touches on heavy content, so I included a more personal touch at the bottom, with the image of a transparent white kite faded into the background that does not distract from the main concepts of world importance, but offers an 'exit slip' for anyone invested enough to notice the touch.

'If I Must Die' by Dr Refaat Alareer.

 If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself—
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale

Dr Refaat Alareer was kill in an Israeli strike along with his brother, sister and their children. A few weeks later, his daughter and the grandson he never had a chance to meet were also killed. 

Art by Pat de Sousa for Flyers for Falastin

 I wanted to write a lesson plan based around this poem, however I was overcome by emotion every time I researched Refaat or the site We are not Numbers run by Gazan students and previously assisted by Refaat. Having AI do it seemed like a good idea, but would it do the subject justice? 

As it turns out, more so than even I could.

I was surprised by the thoughtfulness and gentleness of this lesson plan from Thaura.ai aimed at Year 7s taking part in the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 and the inherent capacity for differentiation at almost every point. 

Probably the most surprising point was I did not have to provide extensive clarification on the context. I provided the Curriculum framework, content description and elaboration. I provided site details for We are not Numbers and a an explanation the lesson would around the poem by Refaat. From there, I asked it to write a lesson plan. Thaura.ai responded beautifully, crafting a sensitive lesson plan, without me needing to place additional context of it being from a teacher's perspective. 

AI was able to provide more differentiation over a range of areas, permitting me to choose various paths forward. 

My main prompts after that were refining and tightening the concept, and refining points around metaphor.

AI did not pick up on the fact, the term 'left in a blaze' was literal and not figurative - or Thaura was being subtle - but this is a potentially problematic idea for the age group, so leaving it as not mentioned and seeing if the students pick up on it might be a good approach.

The cross curricular links were far more developed than I could have managed on my own. 

The below lesson plan is predominantly the work of Thaura.ai

• VCELT254: Identify and explain how different types of texts across the curriculum have different language features and structures depending on purposes
• VCELY358: Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audience
• VCELT251: Explore common poetic devices such as sound play, word play and imagery

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Identify and explain at least 5 different poetic devices used in "If I Must Die"
2. Analyze how these devices contribute to the poem's emotional impact and meaning
3. Apply these devices in their own creative writing
4. Discuss how poetic choices reflect cultural and historical context

Hook: Begin with the powerful opening lines:

"If I must die, you must live"

Ask students to respond to: "What emotions or images does this opening line create for you?"

Context: Briefly introduce Refaat Alareer as a Palestinian poet who was killed in December 2023, just weeks after writing this poem. Explain how the poem has become an international symbol of resistance and hope.

Activity 1: Guided Analysis

Provide students with the full poem and a poetic device reference sheet. Focus on these key devices:

1. Imperative Mood and Direct Address

• Lines: "If I must die, you must live to tell my story"
• Analysis: The use of "you" creates direct address, making the reader complicit in the poet's legacy
• Effect: Creates urgency and personal responsibility

• Lines: "to buy a piece of cloth and some strings, (make it white with a long tail)"
• Analysis: The kite symbolizes hope, freedom, and connection
• Effect: Creates visual imagery that transcends cultural boundaries

• Lines: "sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above, and thinks for a moment an angel is there bringing back love"
• Analysis: The kite as metaphor for angels and love
• Effect: Transforms a simple object into a symbol of spiritual connection and hope

• Lines: "If I must die" (repeated throughout)
• Analysis: Creates rhythmic emphasis and reinforces central theme
• Effect: Builds emotional intensity and memorability

• Lines: "awaiting his dad who left in a blaze — and bid no one farewell"
• Analysis: "left in a blaze" gives human qualities to an abstract concept
• Effect: Creates vivid imagery of sudden departure

• Analysis: Strategic use of dashes and line breaks creates dramatic pauses
• Effect: Controls pacing and emotional delivery

Poetic Device Hunt: Divide students into small groups and assign each group 2-3 poetic devices to identify in the poem. They must:

1. Find the exact lines
2. Explain how the device works
3. Discuss its effect on the reader
4. Share with the class

Quick Write: Using the poetic devices from the poem, students write 4-6 lines about something they hope will continue after them. They must include:

• At least 2 imperative mood phrases
• 1 metaphor
• 1 image symbolizing hope

Exit Ticket: Students complete:

1. "One poetic device that really stood out to me was..."
2. "This device helped me understand the poem's message by..."
3. "I could use this device in my own writing by..."

• Provide a poetic device glossary with examples
• Work in pairs to identify devices
• Use highlighters to mark different devices

• Research other poems of resistance and compare poetic devices
• Write a critical analysis of how the poem's structure supports its message
• Create a visual representation of the poem's imagery
• 
  

• Imperative Mood: Commands or direct statements
• Imagery: Vivid descriptions that appeal to senses
• Metaphor: Comparison without "like" or "as"
• Symbolism: Objects representing larger ideas
• Repetition: Using words or phrases more than once
• Personification: Giving human qualities to non-human things
• Caesura: Pause within a line of poetry

• Discuss the poem in the context of Palestinian resistance literature
• Analyze how poetry serves as historical documentation

Art:

• Create visual representations of the poem's key images
• Design a kite that represents hope and resilience

• Record readings of the poem with appropriate pacing and emphasis
• Create multimedia presentations analyzing the poem's devices

  Required: pencil/pen and paper.

Pre testing:

Write an APA7 end-reference for a Journal article without consulting reference/online guides. No cheating! It’s okay to guess. Don’t worry if you get it wrong.

Formative testing:

Sing the song below to the tune of ‘12 Days of Christmas’. After each stanza, write the matching reference line in pencil. You will end up with twelve separate paragraphs getting bigger each time.

Summative testing:
After you have finished the song, rewrite the original Journal article from step 1 and correct any errors, again without looking at a guide. No cheating!

Self-marking
Scroll below to see what it should look like. See if you’ve improved!

On the first day of Swotvac, my lecturer graded me on:

A byline in the journal category.

Smith, M., & Scott, H.
 

On the second day of Swotvac, my lecturer graded me on:
 

Two parentheses and
An author in the first category.

Smith, M., & Scott, H. ().

 

On the third day of Swotvac, my lecturer grade me on: 

Three or four whens

Two parentheses and

An author in the first category.

Smith, M., & Scott, H. (2023).

On the fourth day of Swotvac, my lecturer grade me on:

Four titles lower

Three or four whens

A full stop and two parentheses and

An author in the first category.

Smith, M., & Scott, H. (2023). Distance education under oppression 

On the fifth day of Swotvac, my lecturer grade me on:

Five-ish subtitles after a colon
Four titles lower

Three or four whens

A full stop and two parentheses and

An author in the first category.

Smith, M., & Scott, H. (2023). Distance education under oppression: the case of Palestinian higher education.

On the sixth day of Swotvac, my lecturer grade me on:

Six reminders to cap the first letter
Five word subtitle after colon
Four titles lower

Three or four whens

A full stop and two parentheses and

An author in the first category.

Smith, M., & Scott, H. (2023). Distance education under oppression: The case of Palestinian higher education.

On the seventh day of Swotvac, my lecturer grade me on:

Seven publications a-publishing
Six reminders to cap the first letter
Five word subtitle after colon
Four titles lower

Three or four whens

A full stop and two parentheses and

An author in the first category.

Smith, M., & Scott, H. (2023). Distance education under oppression: The case of Palestinian higher education. Education Science

On the eighth day of Swotvac, my lecturer grade me on:

Eight italics i-talisizing

Seven publications a-publishing
Six reminders to cap the first letter
Five word subtitle after colon
Four titles lower

Three or four whens

A full stop and two parentheses and

An author in the first category.

Smith, M., & Scott, H. (2023). Distance education under oppression: The case of Palestinian higher education. Education Science

On the ninth day of Swotvac, my lecturer grade me on:

Nine volumes dancing

Eight italics i-talisizing

Seven publications a-publishing
Six reminders to cap the first letter
Five word subtitle after colon
Four titles lower

Three or four whens

A full stop and two parentheses and

An author in the first category.

Smith, M., & Scott, H. (2023). Distance education under oppression: The case of Palestinian higher education. Education Science 13

On the tenth day of Swotvac, my lecturer grade me on:

(No breath!) Ten issues hugging (flick)

Nine volumes dancing

Eight italics i-talisizing

Seven publications a-publishing (flick)
Six reminders to cap the first letter
Five word subtitle after colon
Four titles lower

Three or four whens

A full stop and two parentheses and

An author in the first category.

Smith, M., & Scott, H. (2023). Distance education under oppression: The case of Palestinian higher education. Education Science 13(7),

*Please note, the issue, volume and page numbers have been altered for the purpose of the challenge.

On the eleventh day of Swotvac, my lecturer grade me on

Eleven pages* dashing (stop)

(No breath!) Ten issues hugging (flick)

Nine volumes dancing*

Eight italics i-talisizing

Seven publications a-publishing (flick)
Six reminders to cap the first letter (stop)
Five word subtitle after colon
Four titles lower

Three or four whens

A full stop and two parentheses and

An author in the first category.

Smith, M., & Scott, H. (2023). Distance education under oppression: The case of Palestinian higher education. Education Science 13(7), 729.

*Please note, the issue, volume and page numbers have been altered for the purpose of the challenge.

On the twelfth day of Swotvac, my lecturer graded me on:

A dozen ways to mess the DOI

Eleven pages en-dashing (stop)

Ten issues hugging (flick)

Nine volumes dancing

Eight italics i-talisizing

Seven publications a-publishing (flick)
Six reminders to cap the first letter (stop)
Five word subtitle after colon
Four titles lower

Three or four whens

A full stop and two parentheses and

An author in the first category.

Smith, M., & Scott, H. (2023). Distance education under oppression: The case of Palestinian higher education. Education Science 9(10), 11-12. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13070729

*Please note, the issue, volume and page numbers have been altered for the purpose of the challenge.

The correct reference is below.

Smith, M., & Scott, H. (2023). Distance education under oppression: The case of Palestinian higher education. Education Science 13(7), 729. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13070729

Well done for getting this far!!

Summary of activity. 

There may be more high tech ways to learn APA7 referencing, however I doubt any lecturers at La Trobe's School of Education have seen APA7 in song form, so why not start with something catchy?

The fact that it is different might make it inherently interesting, and the song itself it annoying enough to embed in your brain, which brings pros and cons, but let's focus on the cons for now.

The activity utilises critical forms of assessment, including pre-testing, formative testing and summative testing,  as well as self-testing. The entire activity is based around spaced retrieval and embedding the process into long term memory. 

It is multi-modal in that the task is both read and written. 

APA7 guidelines are rather dry in general and it's a headache to read the small text. Placing them on a piece of paper at the text size perfect for the user establishes a new relationship with the concept of referencing.