Early Childhood Educators Act

 define professional misconduct in a manner that could include conduct 

related to videotaping in the classroom. The definition under both Regulations includes unauthorized 
disclosure of personal information, disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional act or omissions, 
or conduct unbecoming a member, any of which could be triggered as a result of videotaping in the 
classroom. 

Board Policies / Protocols 

Education staff should be aware of policies their school boards have in place concerning privacy of 
personal information and what they require in terms of the collection, use, storage, disclosure, and 
destruction of personal information concerning students, teachers, and others. Failure to comply may 
lead to disciplinary consequences. 

ETFO’s policy on information and communication technology reinforces many of the issues addressed in 
this publication. It can be found on the ETFO website. 

Recommendations 

In light of the many sources of obligations around protecting the privacy of personal information of 
students, teachers, and others, ETFO recommends avoiding the practice of members videotaping 
themselves, colleagues, or teacher candidates in the classroom. However, if it is a common practice at 
your board, ETFO recommends the following best practices:

O familiarize yourself with the policies governing your workplace;

O treat all information about students, teachers, and others as personal information deserving of 

protection under the network of applicable legislation;

O be aware that school boards are likely to consider any information education staff create in the 

performance of their duties to be the property of the board, not the member. Videos should 
be deleted after they have been reviewed or should be maintained in a way to ensure privacy 
and limited access. Members should be prepared for the possibility that access to such videos 
likely will be granted to students or their parents if requested, or to other adults who have been 
videotaped; 

O if you are unsure about anything to do with videotaping, seek direction from your school 

administration. If you have concerns about the direction you have been given, consult your ETFO 
local office or staff in PRS; and 

O consider whether there should be a request for training of staff more generally on these issues 

from the school administrator or the school board’s information and privacy officer. 

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