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Impact of ethical decision making
Importance of promoting equality in education
Impact of ethics on decision making
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The pursuit of creating equitable schools resides in the reality that to achieve this important goal, school leaders will confront complex dilemmas that call for the use of ethical and moral decision-making. Indeed, the connection of ethics and morality in school leadership exists because an ethical and moral individual willingly takes on the challenge of transforming inequities in their schools. Shields (2014), writes that engaging “in deep and meaningful ethical, transformative leadership, therefore requires that a leader have the courage to examine, challenge, and as necessary, correct situations and practices that promote inequity” (p. 33). With this in mind, Bell (2008) makes the following argument,
It is essential that the ethical
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Educational leadership researcher, Michael Fullan (2003, 2010), begins his argument of the “moral imperative” of school leaders with the assumption that selecting and supporting good leaders who can be critical in transforming the culture of schools. In fact, equity expert, Glenn Singleton (2015) agrees with Fullan’s premise of the moral imperative of school leaders being reducing educational gaps—hence equity. In the following statement, Fullan (2003) defines the moral purpose of schools:
Moral purpose of the highest order is having a system where all students learn, the gap between high and low performance becomes greatly reduced, and what people learn enables them to be successful citizens and workers in a morally based knowledge society. (p. 29)
With this comment Fullan argues that schools have a moral obligation to reduce educational disparities. The purposeful mission to reduce “gaps” is a major part of creating equitable schools. In regards to school principals, the moral imperative, “involves leading deep cultural change that mobilizes the passion and commitment of teachers, parents, and others to improve the learning of all students, including closing the achievement gap” (Fullan, 2008, p. 41). In short, the moral imperative of school leadership underlined by reducing the achievement gap aligns with the pursuit of equity in
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(p. 279)
From the above statement, we can assume that to meet the central challenge offered by Ferguson requires school leaders with the ethical and moral goal of equity. In fact, Ferguson affirms that leadership is a major component that determines whether teachers are receptive to strategies of equity and whether they work hard to make it successful.
The discussion of equity and excellence, then, suggest the need for a school movement that can effectively educate all students. Yet, Ferguson makes clear that a movement towards “excellence with equity”—a movement aimed relentlessly at high standards of achievement among children from all racial, ethic, and social class backgrounds—requires both the collaborative effort of parents and school reform. In his last argument about excellence with equity, Ferguson (2007) makes the following
The essay “Still Separate, Still Unequal”, by Jonathan Kozol, discusses the reality of inner-city public school systems, and the isolation and segregation of inequality that students are subjected to; as a result, to receive an education. Throughout the essay, Kozol proves evidence of the inequality that African American and Hispanic children face in the current school systems.
Mr. Kozol provides his own socially conscious and very informative view of the issues facing the children and educators in this poverty ravaged neighborhood. Those forces controlling public schools, Kozol points out, are the same ones perpetuating inequity and suffering elsewhere; pedagogic styles and shapes may change, but the basic parameters and purposes remain the same: desensitization, selective information, predetermined "options," indoctrination. In theory, the decision should have meant the end of school segregation, but in fact its legacy has proven far more muddled. While the principle of affirmative action under the trendy code word ''diversity'' has brought unparalleled integration into higher education, the military and corporate America, the sort of local school districts that Brown supposedly addressed have rarely become meaningfully integrated. In some respects, the black poor are more hopelessly concentrated in failing urban schools than ever, cut off not only from whites but from the flourishing black middle class.
Landsmen, Julie. (2004, November) Closing the Achievement Gap: Confronting the Racism of Low Expectations. Educational Leadership 62 (3).
Leading organizations of school administrators offer educators various opportunities to encourage educators to become leaders. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has mandated that leaders be better prepared for the task of providing quality education to all. NCLB “… is forcing all educational stakeholders to face the weakness of contemporary school leadership and is making it impossible to ignore the need for higher quality principals” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.1). It is believed that all educators can be and are leaders in their own right. A leader is a visionary and has the ability to inspire others to aspire to greatness. Of the numerous opportunities that are offered, those that are most beneficial include but are not limited to leadership training programs, professional development, and creating shared leadership opportunities for teachers to become leaders. The systems “…that produce our nation’s principals are complex and interrelated – and governed by the states. Each state establishes licensing, certification and re-certification” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.1). States use the ISLLC standards “…as the framework for preparation programs and in service professional development of school superintendents, principals, and other leaders” (Hale & Moorman, 2003, p.3).
After watching the Teach Us All documentary on Netflix, it opened my eyes to many of the issues regarding educational inequality. The study looked at schools in Little Rock, New York City, and Los Angeles to show us the current state of U.S. education and how far we have come since the school desegregation crisis. The thesis of this documentary is that since the efforts of the Little Rock Nine, our belief is that educational inequality has improved when in reality, it hasn’t improved and the actions of our country have had negative effects. Teach Us All emphasizes the need for unity and collective action to improve our education system for the kids in poor communities that are in the most need. Our country has devoted all the resources to the middle and upper class for education and are taking money away from where it needs to
The first issue that has been identified as a significant problem involved in the Achievement gap, is that it is partially the fault of America's educational system. Because of the suffering economy that has spurred the increasing lack of basic necessities in schools across America, there are an increasing number of children who are not being properly educated. Whether it is a deficiency in supplies, poor teacher selection, or administration and staff who are indifferent to the students at their sch...
The United States places a great deal of importance on education and continuing to be a leader in the realm of education. If the United States wants to continue on this road it must take a good look at the achievement gap that has been created and growing. In a system where in high school 34% of black students are being held back, and are more likely to drop out before receiving a high school diploma it is essential to understand what has caused this gap and ways to help close it. When African Americans first came to this country becoming educated was not something they were allowed to do, they had to wait years and years to even learn how to write without there being consequences. When the opportunity did come along for African Americans to become educated and schools were created for them and by them, there have still being hurdles for them with chances of schools losing accreditation, and financial support for students. Policies, laws, and initiatives must really become priorities to help African Americans to ensure that they are allowed to succeed and achieve the same goals and lives as everyone else. Making sure there are able, understanding, and qualified teachers teaching students is also very important. Teachers play such a big role in the lives of students and helping them to succeed not primary and secondary school, but also continuing their journey’s into places of higher learning. This is a problem that can be fixed as long as we are serious about true equality and opportunities for
America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems of schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement. Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s problems. Most important, money cannot influence student, parent, teacher, and administrator perceptions of class and race. Nor can money improve test scores and make education relevant and practical in the lives of minority students.
Skiba, R., Simmons, A., Ritter, S., Gibb, A. Rausch, M.K., Cuadrado, J., & Chung, C.G. (2008). Achieving equity in schools: History, status and current challenges. Exceptional Children, 74(3), 264-288.
Kraft, M. (2007). Toward a school-wide model of teaching for social justice: An examination of the best practices of two small public schools. Equity & Excellence in Education, 40, 77–86.
School administrators are important in setting the path for a successful school (Glickman, et al., 2014). The principals could play a dynamic leadership depending on how they exercise their beliefs of the organizational and social environment (McNair, 2011). The principals are the primary facilitators for developing the foundations in learning that will last, to manage the student’s performance at schools, and seeking the improvement at school that will cause great impacts in school‘s education (Gordon,1989). In the recent years in the U.S., education has change in a more cultural diversity population, it is imperative that school supervisors, are trained to encounter this cultural issues, but also assisting others with the opportunities to develop appropriate abilities to deal with different cultures (Glickman, et al., 2014).
Most people don’t see public schools as an issue. Reading through these readings I see that unfortunately our schools are failing some of our students. When reading A Place Called School Goodlad states, “Jencks went so far as to conclude that school reform could do little to reduce the extent of cognitive inequality among students. And he saw differences in schools as irrelevant in explaining differences in attainment among individuals” (pg.5). Clearly it says in the reading how some schools are not prepared to teach students. All schools need to have “equal education for all” which means giving all students the same equal education they deserve no matter what race or color they are. Every single student should have the opportunity to know about all the resources there are available in a public school because there are a lot more than people may think. In relation to equal education having the proper and same attention from the teacher is also part of it not only how they are being treated. I hope to make a difference about this issue when I have my own classroom because I know that the slightest difference does make a
What does leadership mean in the context of educational leadership? Many definitions of leadership in education co-exist, attesting to the complexity and multi-faceted phenomena of the concept (Elwell & Elikofer, 2013). Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood organizational and psychological areas of study. Despite volumes of research and numerous theories, no one theory of leadership emerged as the sole predictor of the success of educational leaders. The current body of knowledge about leadership consists of narrow definitions of leader effectiveness that are disconnected from their context (Latham, 2014). Educational leadership influences and affects every dimension of the educational process from the
Thomas Sergiovanni (2015) describes three essential dimensions of leadership as “the heart, head, and hand of leadership.” The heart describes those characteristics within the school leader that reflect personal “beliefs, values, and dreams.” The head of leadership refers to the practice of teaching and educating. The hand of leadership reflects actions taken by school leaders with respect to management behaviors. (p. 5) Within these elements, there is room for personal choice in how leadership is practiced and it is incumbent on new principals to find an individual leadership style that responds to the uniqueness of each school.
Education is a very important aspect in the life of a child. The level of success a student has in the classroom is greatly influenced by their teachers. Students, as well as their parents, depend on the teachers to guide them through their education. But who guides a teacher to perform successfully in the classroom? Principals and teachers play an important role in schools. A good relationship among school leaders and teachers is necessary and play an important role in making improvements in the school. Leadership refers to the “process in which one person successfully exerts influence over others to reach desired objectives”. (Okoji, 2015) Good leadership involves honesty, vision, confidence and commitment. It is the ability to inspire a