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morality and ethical decisions
The important of Education
The important of Education
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Ethics and Education Ethics and Morals are two important words everyone knows, but which very few truly understand. Ethics is defined, in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, as the discipline dealing with what is good and what is bad. Morals are defined, in the same dictionary, as those principles of right and wrong in behavior. For Kozol in The Night Is Dark and I Am Far From Home, ethics and morals have similar definitions but extend to include a sense of compassion for others. I agree with his argument that the purpose of schooling is to educate an ethical human being: a person who not only lives his life by facts and knowledge but also by ethics and morals. The need for schools to address ethics and morals is important in the 1990s, Due to the emergence of the single-parent family. This new type of family, along with the family with two working parents, has caused the "latch key" child to become commonplace in many schools today. These children end up taking care of themselves since their only parent is still working when they are dismissed from school. As a result, they receive their own ethics and morals either through exceedingly, violent television programs, comic books, popular, (at times pornographic), magazines, and most often from other kids on the street. Such a situation results in children with a warped sense of reality, ethics, and morals, allowing them to easily become susceptible to delinquency. If a child were to have a correct sense of right and wrong, compassion, and self-worth then problems like violence and drugs would diminish in our society. While some believe that the only job of a school is to impart knowledge, schools have historically reinforced the sense of right and wrong that child... ... middle of paper ... ...aching him to be ethical and moral would be for naught since it would not be applied. If ethical and moral teachings are to be effective lessons it must be stressed that their lessons are to be practiced both inside and outside of the classroom. While this may be difficult for students to practice at first, depending on how terrible an area they live in, it should be stressed that ethical judgment is important to their becoming mature, capable adults. The need for ethics and morality in education is more important now than ever before. The emergence of the single and two working parent family have led to the rise of the "latch key" child: the child who basically raises himself due to the absence of parents. Ethics and morality are also necessary in our schools to create individuals who are compassionate towards one another and of the world surrounding them.
McNeel, S. (1994). College teaching and student moral development. In J. Rest, & D. Narvaez (Eds.), Moral development in the professions: Psychology and applied ethics (pp. 27-49). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Jonathon Kozol writes, "Public schools in the U.S. do not exist to educate an ethical human being…Schools do exist to educate defeated, unprovocative, well-balanced human beings…". This statement is certainly true, but should public schools be required to teach students ethics and morality? I would argue that an education devoid of ethics and morals is detrimental to our society. Scholar Joao Coutinho writes in the Harvard Educational Review, "Education is either for domestication or for freedom…There is no neutral education."
Most classrooms are made up of people of various religious and ethnic backgrounds. I t is impossible, therefore, to instill one set of beliefs into such a diverse group. Many people would argue that parents are away too much to raise their children to be moral beings. However, it is my belief that parents should be able to make time for instilling such beliefs. If you want to have a moral and ethical child, then you must work for it. Rather than sitting in front of the TV for 4 hours and then going to bed, parents must find time to speak to children about such issues.
Ethics are personal beliefs about certain topics and situations. If such empathetic thinking were to be taught within a classroom setting, it would force certain perspectives upon the students that would condition them into thinking a certain way. “Empathy is the ultimate quality that acknowledges our identity as members of one human family” (Ma 258) One should not be taught how to be a human and what kind of mindset a human should have. Human empathy and ethics are things that come through personal development. “I was forced, in effect, to learn. If this was the education of the future, it seemed vaguely fascistic” (Wood 507). Wood expresses the demanding atmosphere of the Minerva classroom. By being forced to learn he has to continually be engaged and absorb information. With this type of setting the process of educating students of empathetic topics and ethical type classes would cause the students to have whatever is being taught indented into their minds. If certain ethics are forced onto them, they may find themselves conforming to whatever they are learning. However, by allowing the student to develop it themselves on their own time and in their own natural way they will have their own opinions and ethics. They will be able to discover their own self and learn about the world in their own perspective instead of the curriculum 's
The goal of education is to develop the highest level of mental, moral and physical ability within students. Ethics are just as important as factual knowledge and physical well-being. Sadly, public schools in this country are against ethical expression of any kind. Ethics are a threat to the school system because they may encourage a need for change in the present standard of education, which is decidedly anti-ethical. In U.S. public schools, students are processed through a well-built machine designed to perpetuate the status quo. Any ethical conflict that a student might have is treated like a malfunction in need of repair. The present school systems prefers cold self-interest to any sense of compassion and I believe that self interest is not a form of morality that children should be taught.
As Philosophy Basics describes, “Ethics is concerned with questions of how people ought to act, and the search for a definition of right conduct”. Ethics is very important in life. A child’s early stages of learning is essential for their future. Knowing what is right vs wrong is a way to be able to interact with others. A way to make smart decisions for themselves. My first grade teacher had a poster on the wall with little fish. The top had a good amount of fish as the bottom only had one. It stated, “Only because the majority does it, doesn’t mean it’s right, and just because one person does it doesn’t mean it’s wrong.” The image always stuck with me. Ethics is not something that is just learned in a classroom but something that is implied in daily usage with one another or just
“The moral quality of education is inevitably affected by the moral character of educational institutions.
To explain ethics you must define ethics while placing it into the profession of teaching. Ethics in teaching, in my opinion, would be to uphold high morals as well as make sound decisions that demonstrate a commitment to the students as well as the profession of teaching. When looking at the definition of the word ethics you come across the words: morals, principles, respect, professional, and
People struggle which ethics because they see it as strictly “black or white” when in fact to put an end to this idea is by gaining a wider exposure to ethical dilemmas so then they will have a better chance of dealing with them. This method allows one to personally develop ethical behavior that can be used when faced with a situation in which it is needed. Engagement also makes ethical thinking more common and usual. Teaching Ethical Decision Making: Helping Students Reconcile Personal and Professional Values (2014), details one educators experience teaching students ethical decision making and its effects on themselves. The educator records his observations as students struggle with their view of ethical as black/white or right/wrong. After the class, the educator received anonymous statements from his students telling him that their skills in making ethical decisions improved as well as their understanding of ethics. In conclusion, the educator found that engaging with the students and organizing the class in groups for discussion helped them fully grasp key concepts such as principle ethics and value ethics. Students were being emotionally and socially engaged. The end results show tolerance for ambiguity, awareness of the relationship between values and ethics, and emphasis on the client’s wellbeing. Another study conducted in on an Australian campus showed that only when students are exposed to situations that require ethical action will they be able to acquire ethical behaviors that will become second nature (Jonson, 2015). Only full integration of the importance of ethical decision making within the mainstream curriculum will result in ethical concerns being seriously considered and applied. These are only two of the many cases in where engaging students to truly use their skills to solve or discuss ethical dilemmas prove to have evident and lasting
Teachers should follow and refer to a code of ethics to help teach in the most appropriate and ethical way; as well as a guide to help deal with dilemmas.
sure that one's child does not hurt him or her self or others, and that
It seems as if the typical middle class citizen is practiced in the custom of ignoring the root cause of any educational issue today. The question of integrating moral and ethical components into the school structure is virtually taboo. The national standard is to escape all topics surrounding morality (i.e. religion, racial issues, and homosexuality etc…). As American citizens attempt to be politically correct all the time. It would be too risqué to start incorporating personal concepts into public institutions. Many would argue that as a country America has come incredibly far in terms of open mindedness in the past several decades. It is true that since Kozol's book was published, there have been tremendous advances in many aspects of social issues. However, resulting from this progress is the overall hesitancy to delve into any aspects of morality on an educational level. This hesitancy directly hinders the educated person from truly thinking as an individual.
South, Jeff (2004 August). Ethics in the classroom. The Quill. 4pgs. Retrieved April 25th, 2005, from National Newspaper/ Proquest.
Ethics are known as understanding what is right and wrong. It means more than just abiding the laws, which include lists of ‘to do’ and ‘not to do’. Every individual responds differently towards ethical behavior. It depends on one’s personal core values to shape their self-identity. (Kerns 2011) With the set of morals and values, it serves as a motivational guide in life, helping one to differentiate what are the appropriate actions to be taken in dealing with ethical issues. In this society, people are often influenced by temptations around them; this applies even to an ethical individual.
Pratt, L and Weiss, K (2007). The Ethical Educator: Integrating Ethics Within the Context of Teaching and Teacher Research. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing Inc