What is right or wrong? Who is responsible for making the decision on what is right or wrong? Valuable and reasonable questions when one is looking at ethics. Ethics can be vague and vary from person to person as well as situation to situation. The same goes with ethics in teaching. Teachers are individuals first and often times our individual ideas will reflect our ethical positions as a teacher. Most undergraduate teaching programs offer some classes on ethics, due to the litigation society we live in. To help future teachers realize their choices and decisions a teacher needs to be seen as justifiably and ethically sound. As teachers we work with people’s most valuable investment, their children. Teachers are held to a high ethical standard …show more content…
When looking at the definition of the word ethics you come across the words: morals, principles, respect, professional, and standards. When explaining ethics these words give us a good place to start. Morals are often personal ideas that reflect the thoughts and views of the individual, morals demonstrate an understanding of right and wrong. As teachers we battle on a daily basis what is right and wrong with a classroom of individuals who may not see things the same way we do. “Generally, questions of values turn on our choices: what we like, what we deem worth liking” (Strike, 1988). A teacher must take their choices of what they like and do not like and weigh it against the ethical standards of being a teacher. Principles and respect often coincide with our morals in how we treat people in relation to our views as well as our thoughts of people or situations where a decision is made by an individual. Teachers have a deciding primary principle to treat each student with respect and in a respectful manner. The use of the words professional and standards that relate to ethics can often be defined by a particular profession. The standards of the ethics that a particular profession holds their members …show more content…
What we see as right or wrong in our view will ethically determine how we justify the decisions we make as teachers. “Ethical Issues concern questions of right and wrong-our duties and obligations our rights and responsibilities” (Strike, 1988). As per definition to the ethics of teaching there is a lot of room for the individuality of the teacher, but also decisions are made in relation to the situation of the teaching experience. As Mr. Strike alluded to in his article each situation should be handle differently by individual teachers. However, no matter the different ethical reasons the teacher choses to handle each situation the way they did, their individual ethics allow them to justify the decision to themselves as well as to others. This loop hole in a sense makes the defining and explaining of ethics in teaching a somewhat elusive topic to explicitly define. Finally, when explaining the ethics of teaching you may find more specific and concrete explanation in relation to the actual profession of teaching. Instead of looking solely at the individual teacher with vague, broad, and individual aspects of ethics. Teachers need to be aware of the responsibility that comes with being a teacher and in a profession that is held to such a high degree of ethical
Through his article, the author builds his credibility with a considerable ethical appeal. Indeed, due to his background in education, including more than twenty years of teaching and his current pro-fessional status in higher
Caregivers and early childhood educators often deal with value-based decisions and encounter issues, frequently referred to as “ethical dilemmas,” daily. In fact, the ability of the early childhood teachers and the caregivers to promote professional ethics and adhere to moral values is becoming dire in the controversial society (Feeney, Freeman & NAEYC, 2012). However, it is apparent that most professional development sessions do not include either tackling of the relevant dilemmas or the instruction on professional ethics as part of the learning experience. The ethical dilemmas always require the caregivers and the early childhood educators to make tough and occasionally unpopular decisions (Feeney, Freeman & NAEYC, 2012).
Ethics is a doing and learning experience which causes us as humans to keep an open mind to change. Generally, ethics ask us to live mindfully, to think how we act and even how we feel or do things, which can change the outcome. Sometimes we go down certain roads, which may be harder or make things more complicated or complex instead of making an easier option we just take the easier way out, usually the way that calls for
This essay will provide a theoretical understanding of the four ethical frameworks: Consequentialism, Non- Consequentialism, Virtue Ethics and Care Ethics. When applied to a situation these frameworks help teachers to resolve and justify their decision making. The objective is to apply the four frameworks to the scenario Helping Molly, to establish the most ethical course of action. Finally, a recommended course of action will be justification. The overarching ethical issue present within the Helping Molly scenario is the community sponsorship and the alignment with school beliefs and initiatives.
The topic of this paper focuses on the battles school counselors face as the law and ethical standards collide. School counselors face a number of legal and ethical issues and recognizing a clear decision isn’t always easy. School counselors have to work with a large number of students, parents, and administrators while conforming to ethical codes, state laws, and school board guidelines. This topic is of great relevance to me as I will be going into the school counseling profession. It is also a meaningful topic to me because life-changing decisions are made every day in reference to legal and ethical issues. Researching this topic has shed some light on the difficulty for school counselors to fulfill both legal and ethical requirements. The main reason for this is that laws and ethical codes may sometimes provide differing and contradictory messages regarding the same subject. This can lead to legal ramifications, even while following ethical norms as we will look at in the example case of Woodlock v. Orange Ulster B.O.C.E.S. (2006/2008).
Teachers have moral obligations to self, to faculty, to parents and to students and not living up to this obligation creates challenges and is morally wrong. I will investigate two theories under what, if any, circumstances would it be acceptable for a teacher not to report cheating through analyzing two points of view. The first from Kant’s deontological ethics perspective and then from a virtue ethics
Ethics deals with actions with adequate standard of attitudes, behavior that is pleasing to the people or organizations. Every job has a code of ethical conduct that is supposed to be is followed. It is very necessary to understand that ethical rules must apply and obey with basis of what is right and wrong which is written in the law. That is why there are professions that have organizations or associations which have the method of ethical conducts or standard.
[1] Ethics is defined as “the code of moral principles and values that governs the behaviour of a person or a group with respect to what is right or wrong” (Samson and Daft, 2005, p.158)
One of main ethical teaching conflicts mentioned by the teachers is ‘protecting the students against harm’; this ethical conflict can influence the teacher’s decisions in telling the truth or confronting a situation if a student isn’t performing well or is having trouble at home. Also respecting
In terms of ethical considerations in my research, I believe it is very essential for all educators or any other professionals to show ethical considerations to other people because every individual should be protected by specific equal rights. According to Mertler (2014), the primary responsibility of an educator-researcher is to make sure that action research adheres to ethical standards. For instance, in my school, if any teacher wants to do a research study or video tape one of their classes, he or she needs to go to the office to get permission and complete school forms and give those forms to parents to discuss the research study. Later he or she needs to go through a school process to ensure that the study is done in such a manner as to protect the rights of the student. In one of the assigned readings, it is emphasized that when an educator is doing an action research, he or she must get permission not only from students but from parents also (Mertler, 2014).
“Ethics are defined as a set of principles of right conducts; the rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession” ( Dictionary of the Human Language, 2000). Teachers are often put in situations that require more than just knowing the basic school rules. It is within these situations, that the ethical dilemmas occur. There is not always a right way to deal with many daily problems that face educators, but there are ways to handle situations that are better then others.
To be compassionate about what their students are dealing with outside of school. Take the time to sit down with the student and talk to them, if there is an issue. Even though, the teacher and students schedules get occupied with the amount of work that needs to get done. There is still a way to reach out to a student or teacher if one of them is determined to do it can happen. Nowadays, it is easy to communicate between them both, so there should not be an excuse about not having the proper communication. Then, respect develops more between them. The teacher gives a clear act of respect toward the teacher; therefore, the student does the same for the teacher. There should not be special treatment or anything like that at all. All of these factors mentioned are descriptions of an effective teacher and good qualities that they must express while entering into the teaching profession; that is what makes a teacher
Ethics are moral principles or values that govern the conduct of an individual or a group.It is not a burden to bear, but a prudent and effective guide which furthers life and success. Ethics are important not only in business but in academics and society as well because it is an essential part of the foundation on which a civilized society is built.
A good teacher is one that motivates the students to always keep trying and do their best. However, an ethical and virtuous teacher is one who changes a student’s life forever and shapes their character into becoming a successful and respectful human being. Teachers have an important part in our lives and they impact us every day. Not only do they teach us something new each passing day, they also give us lessons that we will use in every decision we make in our lives. Luckily, I was able to have a teacher who pushed me beyond all my limits and always believed in me. That marvelous teacher was my fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Alvarado.
First, I realized that, teachers carry a lot of weight on their shoulders and have great responsibilities. They have to balance the curriculum, students, parents, lesson plans, common core, and upper management and still maintain a professional demeanor. Second, educators must follow a strong code of ethics. They must be professional at all times with students and colleagues, keep confidentiality, not have or show any prejudice or bias, maintain safe and positive learning environments, help students with problems, and hand out disciplines accordingly. Lastly, I found that when you’re a teacher, your education never stops. Teachers are always trying to improve their own education and professional growth, both for the benefit of their students and for the benefit of themselves.