Ethical Philosophy in Education
In this session, dive into the realms of morals, values, and ethics to understand their impact on decision-making as a principal. Explore the five ethical paradigms and analyze scenarios to enhance your ethical awareness. Embrace diverse backgrounds and societal shifts to navigate the complexities of modern education.
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Presentation Transcript
First Task On the sheet you received when you walked in finish the following sentence: My ethical philosophy of education is....... You have 2 minutes. GO!
Goal for This Session To identify the difference between morals, values and ethics and explore if they play a role in your decision making as a principal. Is there a bias? To understand the role of the five ethical paradigms (Justice, Care, Critique, Community, Profession) we encounter in our role as Principals Run through a few scenarios and test yourself on your ethical awareness.
Why This Topic? Each of us has a different background which may have an impact on what we do as principals Our schools are becoming more pluralistic (England, 1992) Is a society in which members of diverse ethnic, racial, religious and social groups maintain participation in and development of their traditions and special interests while cooperatively working toward the interdependence needed for a nation s unity. (p. 1) There is a higher level of public accountability than ever before
What Are Morals, Values, and Ethics? What s the Difference? . School Community Need Personal Values Detrimental or Beneficial? Can have direct impact School Principal and Decision- Making Process Ethical Paradigms of Justice, Care, Critique, Community, Profession Ethical Philosophy in Education Morals Detrimental or Beneficial? Can have direct impact Individual Student Need Professional Values
Ethics Eyal et al. (2011) described ethics as an individuals personal belief regarding right and wrong, good and bad. Calabrese (1988) posited ethics as the respect for all members of society, tolerance for alternative opinions, culture and equitable resource allocation (p. 2). Frick (2011) explained ethics as the thinking and reasoning and separates out the actions as morality.
Values Gill (2003) described values, as principles held dear in people s hearts by which they live (and sometimes die) (p. 313). Begley and Johansson (2008) were equally succinct in their definition of values as those conceptions of the desirable that motivate individual and collective groups to act in particular ways to achieve particular ends (p. 421).
Morals Morals as posited by Hughes and Jones (2010) begins at this point of knowledge of natural law, a use varying with the active system of dispositions and desires (p. 54). In other words, the morals one uses are derived by the knowledge one has through lived experiences and used in context of the situation.
Morals and Values Regulations/ Policies Personal Experience or Trauma Law- Local, State, Federal Education Level Personal Values Professional Organizations Professional Political Affiliation History of School/ Past Practices Home/ Family Other Other
Second Task Write down in the spaces on your work sheet those personal morals and values that define who you are. How many of you had morals and values which came from: your parents, your religious belief, your education, an event in your life?
Ethical Paradigms: Justice, Care, Critique, Community, Profession Where Do You Make Most of Your Decisions? Ethical Paradigms Decisions Decisions Decisions Decisions Decisions Care Critique Community Profession Justice Deep reflection and questioning. Is this best for students and community? Decisions for community through different codes of moral belief No hero leader. Democracy in school leadership No universality. Laws/regulations may be disregarded Universality of decisions Practice and Policy aligned to the community Understanding of the beliefs, values and desires of the community Student Individual Need Policies, Law, Regulations, Practice Personal code vs. professional code Eyal et al. (2011), Frick (2011), Furman (2012), Garrett-Staib and Maninger (2012), Langlois and Lapointe (2007), Shapiro (2006), Shapiro and Gross (2013), Shapiro and Stefkovich (2011), and Vokey (2005).
Task Three On your work sheet think of decisions you have made for your school and place them on the ethical paradigm which might fit best.
Scenarios #1 DUI Following big win, your football coaching staff goes out to celebrate. On the way home from the celebration, the head coach is pulled over for excessive lane changes. During the stop, the officer makes the determination to administer a field sobriety test. The assistant coach is found to be above the legal limit and is arrested, cited, and released to a relative. The following morning at the film session with his players, the coach shares the incident and apologizes. The following Monday the coaches mugshot is featured in the local paper. You decide to put him on leave from his coaching duties until you can investigate. On Tuesday, you begin to receive messages from the parents of the players urging you to not take action against the coach. What action do you take? What ethical paradigm would you employ?
Scenarios #2 Immigration During your PTA meeting a prominent parent begins to voice her displeasure with class sizes. She goes on to say that if it weren t for all of the illegal immigrants in the classroom, the class size would be much smaller. Do you respond to this comment, if so, how? What ethical paradigms would you place your decisions?
Scenarios #3 Affair You learn that one of your principals is having an affair with a teacher that he supervises. As you investigate, you find that this has been going on for the past six months and have information that substantiates that he has given the teacher permission to leave early from work on several occasions in order to meet him for a rendezvous. How does this impact the employment status of the participants? What ethical paradigms would you employ?
Scenarios #4 FamilyBelief One of your sixth grade teachers comes to your office after school during a homework club she runs. She has one of her male students with her and a folder piece of paper. She explains that during homework club she caught one of her students printing photographs of nude men. The student admits doing this but explains that you cannot call his parents, especially his father. The student explains he is gay and that his father will hurt him. The student has violated board policy and school rules. You have had run-ins with this parent before who has made disparaging comments toward other cultures. What do you do? What ethical paradigms will you employ?
Questions/Comments? Keep in mind a few things: There are no right or wrong answers All morals, values, and ethics are personal and different Find out what is expected of you by your students, parents, community, staff, and superintendent
References Begley, P., & Johansson, O. (2008). The values of school administration: Preferences, ethics, and conflicts. Journal of School Leadership, 18, 421-444. Calabrese, R. L. (1998). Ethical leadership: A prerequisite for effective schools. National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin, 72(512), 1-4. Frick, W. (2011). Practicing a professional ethic: Leading for students best interests. American Journal of Education, 117, 527-562. England, J. T. (1992). Pluralism and education: Its meaning and method. Ann Arbor, MI: ERIC Clearinghouse. Eyal, O., Berkovich, I., & Schwartz, T. (2011). Making the right choices: Ethical judgments among educational leaders. Journal of Educational Administration, 49(4), 396-413. Furman, G. (2012). Social justice leadership as praxis: Developing capacities through preparation programs. Educational Administration Quarterly, 48(2), 191-229. Garrett-Staib, J., & Maninger, R. (2012). Ethical leadership in the principalship: A qualitative analysis. National Forum of Educational Administration and Supervision Journal, 29(2), 23-39. Gill, R. (2003). Change management or change leadership? Journal of Change Management, 3(4), 307-318.
References Continued Hughes, C., & Jones, D. (2010). A relationship among public school leadership, ethics, and student achievement. National Forum of Educational Administration and Supervision, 27(2), 50-73. Langlois, L., & Lapointe, C. (2007). Ethical leadership in Canadian school organizations: Tensions and possibilities. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 35(2), 247-260. Shapiro, J. (2006). Ethics and social justice within the new DEEL: Addressing the paradox of control/democracy. International Electronic Journal for Leadership in Learning, 10(33), 1-8 Shapiro, J. P., & Gross, S. J. (2013). Ethical educational leadership in turbulent times: (Re)solving moral dilemmas (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. Shapiro, J. P., & Stefkovich, J. (2011). Ethical leadership and decision making in education (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge Vokey, D. (2005). Teaching professional ethics to educators: Assessing the multiple ethical languages approach. Philosophy of Education Yearbook, 7(1),125-133.
Contact Information Mike Scott, Superintendent, Hillsboro School District, 503-844-1500, scottm@hsd.k12.or.us Jon Pede, Principal, Poynter Middle School, Hillsboro School District, 503-844-1580, pedej@hsd.k12.or.us
