Ethics of teaching full document

The Ethics of Teaching
Kenneth A. Strike
Jonas F. Soltis

Code of Ethics of the
Education Profession
• Preamble: belief in the
worth/dignity of each
human, dedication to the
pursuit of truth, freedom to
teach/learn, equal
educational opportunity for
all; the code provides
something to live up to and
standards for judgement
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Adopted by the 1975 NEA Representative
Assembly
Principle 1
• Commitment to the Student
• Stimulate Inquiry
• Encourage Acquisition of
Knowledge and Understanding
• Provide for Independent Action,
Exposure to Various Points of
View
• Protecting Students from
Embarrassment or Unjust
Treatment
Principle 2
• Commitment to the Profession
• Recognize the Direct Influence
Education has on Our Nation
• Raise Professional Standards
• Exercise Professional Judgement
• Create a Climate that Attracts
the Best and Brightest to
Education

What’s the Difference?
Norms
Definition:
Examples:
Morals
Definition:
Examples:
Ethics
Definition:
Examples

Norms
Definition:
Standards of proper or
acceptable behavior.
Examples:
Morals
Definition:
Principles of right and
wrong in behavior.
Examples:
Ethics
Definition:
Rules of behavior based on
ideas about what is morally
good and bad.
Examples:

Norms
Definition:
Standards of proper or
acceptable behavior.
Examples:
It is a norm in the
classroom to listen while
others are speaking during
class discussions.
Morals
Definition:
Principles of right and
wrong in behavior.
Examples:
It is moral to help someone
in need.
Ethics
Definition:
Rules of behavior based on
ideas about what is morally
good and bad.
Examples:
Stealing is not ethical.

Norms, Morals, and Ethics
• Norms deal with standards of appropriate behavior. There is no
value judgement by the individual as there is with morals. Instead
society dictates what is acceptable.
• Morals involve value judgements and principles about right and
wrong behavior. They can be decided by individuals or society.
• Ethics are based upon rules of what is morally good or bad
behavior. Since ethics are rules, they are generally determined by
society.

Norms, Morals, and Ethics
• The terms are all similar in that they deal with right and wrong
behavior. They are different in that norms deal with societal
standards, morals involve value judgements by individuals or
society, and ethics are based upon rules (usually dictated by
society).
• Morals are the basis for the definition of ethics (rules based upon
morally good or bad behavior) and norms (appropriate behavior is
arguably, generally moral).

The Significance of Ethics and Ethics
Education in Everyday Life

Chapter 1: What is this book about?
“Develop better or worse answers to challenging
circumstances…cultivate ethical awareness…develop skills
needed to act ethically.”

Plagiarism Scenario
• Plagiarism: the practice of taking someone
else's work or ideas and passing them off as
one's own
• Consequences:
• Middle/High School – Failed Assignment,
Opportunity for Reassessment, Saturday
School, Detention
• College – Failed Class, Expulsion

Let’s Go Back to the NEA Code of Ethics:
Commitment to Student & Commitment to Profession
Consequentialist
• What are the consequences of
turning this student in?
• Immediate?
• Long Term?
Nonconsequentialist
• What is my duty as a teacher
at this institution?
• What are the rules?
• Who am I obligated to?

More to Consider…
•How does Respect
for Persons apply
to this scenario?

More to Consider…
•Can we achieve
Benefit
Maximization?

More to Consider…
• Facts (Describe) vs.
Ethics (Prescribe)
• So with all of this
in mind, what
would you do?
What should you
do? Are they
different?
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

Lying Scenario
• A student routinely
initiates fights at school
and their parent comes in
for a conference. At the
conference, the parent
displays extreme agitation
and smells of alcohol.
Fearing for the student,
the teacher lies about the
context of the fighting.
• What would you do? What
should you do?

Is It Ever Okay To Lie?
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed
under CC BY-SA

What Do You Think?
• Follow This Link To Let
Us Know When You
Think It’s Okay To Lie:
• Mentimeter Poll
• Follow This Link To Let
Us Know What You
Would Do In This
Situation:
• Padlet Response

Chapter 2
Punishment and Due Process

• The topics of this
chapter align with
ethics statements
targeting our
obligation to shield
students from harm
and avoid exposure
to embarrassment.

A Case to Consider
• A Chemistry Teacher receives an emergency phone call during class so he leaves
to talk.
• While the teacher is out of the room a student uses supplies from the class to
create an explosion.
• Upon hearing the explosion the teacher returns to find everyone fine but is
unable to determine who caused the explosion.
• Further inquiry led the teacher to believe someone had broken into his supplies
to complete the prank.
• Since no one confesses or reveals any information the teacher punishes the
entire class – lunch detention for the quarter and a written assignment.

• As a result of the group
punishment, an anonymous
note identifies the guilty
party.
• The teacher responds by
ending the group
punishment and failing the
accused student.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC
Chemistry Case Continued

Dispute
What are the problems
and possibilities
associated with this
situation?

Concepts
• Due Process balances the power
of law of the land and protects
the individual person from it.
• Due process has also been
frequently interpreted as limiting
laws and legal proceedings so
that judges, instead of
legislators, may define and
guarantee fundamental fairness,
justice, and liberty.
• What does this look like in
schools?

Analysis
Consequentialist
• Have a high regard for Due
Process
• Three suggestions associated
with use of Due Process when
dealing with punishment
include: deterrence,
rehabilitation, separation
Nonconsequentialist
• Have a high regard for
retribution theory
• Includes the necessity of
determined guilt and
punishment that fits the crime
• This aligns with resect for
persons

Reflections on Method
• Neither view purely
works
• Not all moral dilemmas
are this complex
• Do we always have to
punish?
• Use reason and intution
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Application
Read the two case studies at the end
of Chapter 2 and respond to the
corresponding questions.
Read
Describe the case and prepare to
discuss the ethical dilemmas
present in the situation.
Describe &
Discuss
Incorporate ethics vocabulary
into your responses to
demonstrate an understanding of
the concepts covered this far.
Incorporate

Chapter 3
Intellectual Freedom

chapter align with
ethics statements
targeting our
obligation to
encourage pursuit of
learning, provide
access to different
points of view, and
deliver accurate
information.

A Case to Consider
• The advisor for a school publication has
an especially talented writer on staff.
• An article written by the student
presents as fictional while mirroring a
controversial situation that occurred at
the school.
• To make matters worse, the situations
involves sexual themes.
• After much deliberation the advisor
refuses to publish the article because of
the impact it would have on those
portrayed.

School News Continued
• The student was well
versed politically and
indicated that refusal to
publish would cause him
to invoke his rights, using
the judicial system if
necessary.

Dispute
•What are the
problems and
possibilities
associated with
this situation? This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Concepts
• Intellectual Freedom
encompasses the freedom to
hold, receive and disseminate
ideas without restriction.
• The American Library Association
(ALA) defines intellectual
freedom as "the right of every
individual to both seek and
receive information from all
points of view without
restriction.
• Freedom of Opinion is a theory
presented by John Stuart Mill
which states that exposure to
differing ideas provides an
avenue for growth.
• However, Mill does recognize that
students do not have the maturity
to express themselves without
adult guidance.
• Their freedom depends on
whether it serves their interests.

Analysis
Consequentialist
• Mill’s argument aligns with benefit
maximization, in that freedom serves
the greatest good to the greatest
number.
• But do we really know the
consequences?
• The exception for children opens the
door to many questions and
possibilities.
Nonconsequentialist
• Supports the central idea that people
have value because they are moral
agents.
• This supports freedom, particularly
the freedom to access information
and make a responsible choice
associated with respect for persons.
• However, the rule of universality
creates the need for a competence
exception which makes maturity a
relevant consideration.

Reflections on
Method
• Do we value freedom and human
growth over and above happiness?
• This debate can extend beyond
censorship and intellectual liberty
to the basic objectives of
education.
• Neither moral theory seems to
favor a resolution or choice.
• We have not resolved the
problem, but in discussing have
set the stage for intuitive and
reasonable reflection for future
ethical dilemmas.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

For Further Inquiry – Jigsaw Activity
Red Dry Erase Board
Read the case
summary for Bethel
v. Fraser and discuss
its relevance to this
chapter in your
group. Prepare to
share key
components with
the class.
Blue Dry Erase Board
Read the case
summary for
Hazelwood v.
Kuhlmeier and discuss
its relevance to this
chapter in your group.
Prepare to share key
components with the
class.
Black Dry Erase Board
Read the case
summary for Tinker
v. Des Moines and
discuss its relevance
to this chapter in
your group. Prepare
to share key
components with the
class.

Morse v.
Frederick
A local school
sponsors a trip watch
the Olympic torch as
it passes through
town.
One student does not
attend school but
does attend the
torch relay in town.
The student unfurls a
sign that says “Bong
Hits 4 Jesus” as the
torch approaches.
Seeing the sign the
school principal takes
it from the student
and suspends him.
The student
considers this a
violation of his
freedom of speech
and sues.
Using the precedents
from the previous
cases and your
understanding of
ethics, who is right?

Chapter 4
Equal Opportunity and Democratic Community

chapter align with
ethics statements
targeting our obligation
to fair treatment
regardless of race,
color, creed, sex,
national origin, marital
status, political or
religious beliefs, family,
social or cultural
background or sexual
orientation.

A Case to Consider
• Parents request an exception to
place their child in Honors Algebra
even though he does not
technically meet the
requirements
• Successful completion of Algebra
is linked to overall success in high
school and likelihood to advance
to college
• The student’s parents make the
case that he would have been
more likely to qualify if he had
attended the other high
performing middle school

Algebra
Continued
The situation is complicated by race,
as the teacher has sympathy for her
African American students because
they typically attend the lower
performing school and thus have not
had the same chance to suceed.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND

Another Case to Consider
• Parents complain because a
blind student in their child’s
third grade class seems to
receive a disproportionate
amount of the primary
teacher’s attention even
though she has a dedicated
special education teacher.
• Additionally, they are
concerned that their children
are spending class time helping
the student, thus taking away
from their education.

Dispute
• Equal Opportunity – What
does that look like?
Treating people the same
unless a relevant
difference exists.
• Democratic Society –
What does that meant?
Equal value, equal
respect and dignity,
common good
• Inclusion

Concepts
• Interpretation – Based on Psychological
Theory or Democratic Community?
• Distribution of Scarce Resources
• Distributive Justice – Aristotle held that
Justice meant treating equals equally and
unequals unequally
• Relevant Characteristics – Needs, Interests,
Ability to Profit from Instruction
• Compensatory Justice – When an injustice
has been committed, a remedy restores the
victim to the position he would have
enjoyed if no injustice was committed.

Analysis
Consequentialist
• Consequences of each scenario?
• Benefit Maximization
• Inclusion and Attention Demand
Scarce Resources
• Inefficiency Occurs
• Used to Justify Tracking
• What About Individual Impact?
Nonconsequentialist
• Respect for persons – Autonomy
and choice
• Dignity and worth of all
• Rawls, solutions should benefit
the least advantaged
• Respect welfare of least
advantaged leads to benefit for
all

Reflections
• Both value equality of
opportunity
• Complex interaction between
facts and moral principles
• Difficult to tell the
difference between our two
focal theories,
consequentialist and
nonconsequentialist

For Further Inquiry – Jigsaw Activity
Red Dry Erase Board
Read the case
summary for Regents
of CA v. Bakke and
to this chapter in your
group. Prepare to
share key components
with the class.
Blue Dry Erase Board
Read the case
summary for Board of
Education v. Rowley
and discuss its
relevance to this
chapter in your group.
Prepare to share key
components with the
class.
Black Dry Erase Board
Read the case
summary for Parents
Involved in Community
Schools v. Seattle and
to this chapter in your
group. Prepare to
share key components
with the class.

Chapter 5
Diversity: Multiculturalism and Religion

A Case to Consider
• As part of the AP Biology
curriculum teachers must delve
deeply into natural selection.
• Religious students tend to react
skeptically.
• This year, that skepticism turns
to qualified responses and
challenging reactions.
• Eventually it comes out that a
local church has orchestrated
study sessions on creationism to
rebut what is taught in class.

Creation Continued
• This situation was exacerbated by the
fact that students attending the
church sessions developed and spread
the idea that the teacher was an
atheist who shared biased
information.
• The teacher went to his principal to
discuss the best course of action for
addressing the situation.
• His ideas included a direct discussion
in class, as well as hosting a series of
after school forums that included the
creationist group and instructor.
• The principal referred the situation
to the Board of Education attorney. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Another Case to Consider
• The superintendent asks the
Social Studies chair to
integrate Iroquois heritage into
the curriculum after a parent
from a nearby reservation
complained that their students
were being excluded.
• With a 20% Iroquois descendant
population, many of whom are
socioeconomically
disadvantaged, the Social
Studies chair agrees to
incorporate the topic, even
though they doubt that it will
improve the situation. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

The Iroquois Confederation
Continued
• While researching to prepare
the unit, the Social Studies
chair encounters a wide variety
of documents and resources,
they remain skeptical.
• To make matters worse,
members of the school board
contact the Social Studies chair
with concerns regarding the
Unit.
• Specifically, they feel that
highlighting different groups
only alienates, thus
exacerbating the situation. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Multiculturalism in the Modern World

Dispute
• Pluralism – a condition or system
in which two or more groups
coexist
• Current Events – Charlottesville
VA, Charleston SC, Baltimore MD
• Tolerance - allow the existence,
occurrence, or practice of
(something that one does not
necessarily like or agree with)
without interference

Concepts and Issues
• Religious Diversity
• Multiculturism
• Alienation
• Self-Identity
• Truth – Perception is Reality
• Dialogue
• Diversity
• Ethics of Modernity – there’s more
that unites us than divides us
• Postmodernists – there’s more
that divides us than unites us This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Radical Pluralism
• Free Exercise Clause and
Establishment Clause
• Slavery, Forced Assimilation
• Religion, Culture, Ethnicity Central
to Self-Understanding (Identity)
• Majority Rules, Minority Rights
• Majority – Those Who Have Power
• HIS-Story
• Truth is Relative to Theory
• We Control Our Own Truth
• Apply These Ideas to Our Two Case
Studies

In Defense of Diversity
Consequentialist
• Tolerance has a Consequence of
Promoting Experimentation
• Learning is Rooted in Trying New
Things and Exposure to New Ideas
• Diversity Contributes to Benefit
Maximization
• Differentiates Between Public
and Private
Nonconsequentialist
• Respect for Person
• Includes Respect for Choices,
Religion, Culture Because of
Belief in Equal Rights
• Duty to be Just
• Free to Pursue Own Concept of
Good Life

Pros and Cons
Consequentialist
• Value Pluralism as Much as
Diversity (Pro)
• How Do We Know if
Experimentation is Successful?
(Con)
• Cultural Relativism – People are
Equal Because Cultures Equal
(Pro)
• But Limits Legitimate Criticism
(Con)
Nonconsequentialist
• Respect for Persons – Value
Limited to Person, Not Self-
Identity (Con)
• Modest Relativism – Acknowledge
That We Are Shaped By Culture,
Education, Perception, Interests,
Bias (Pro)
• Dialogue and Argument Essential
to Discover Weaknesses and Bias

Persons as Citizens
• Qualifies People With Sense of
Justice
• Includes Due Process, Intellectual
Liberty, Equality
• Civic Ethic Depends on
Impartiality When Dealing With
Different Views, Interests and
Values
• Provide a Fair Chance to Pursue
Their Own Good

One More Case
• Ban Christmas???
• What Does Tolerance Look Like?
• How Do We Abide By Separation of Church and
State?
• Should This Extend Beyond the Holidays to
Curriculum?

Religious Holidays
In Public Schools
•Religious
Liberty –
Landmark
Supreme Court
Cases

Chapter 6
Democracy, Professionalism, and Teaching with Integrity

A Case to Consider
• A School System mandates
fraction mastery in 2nd Grade
complete with aligned
assessments.
• One teachers refuses and her
principal reacted with strongly
worded review of the
expectations.
• Parents become involved in
support of the teacher and try to
use the press to conjure
community support.

Fractions Continued
• The local newspaper drafts an
article with abbreviated
arguments of the teacher and
the district.
• It was ultimately not published
because of its complexity.
• Can anyone think of possible
alternative scenarios or
solutions or compromises?

Possible Perspectives At This Point
• Another unresolvable situation
• An opportunity to examine our
ultimate responsibility and
who decides.
• Highlight discussion
surrounding ethical issues.
• No matter what…MORE
DIALOGUE is required!!! This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

Reflective Equilibrium
• Ethics can be studied and
applied, but it is not at precise
as math or science.
• The purpose of ethics is not to
describe what IS but what
SHOULD BE.
• Reflective Equilibrium is a tool
used to deliberate positions
and achieve a resolution that
respects all involved parties.

• Requires
• Sensitivity
• Rationality
• Development of moral
intuition
• IDENTIFY, DESCRIBE,
EVALUATE
• Your opinion can change based
on experience, circumstance,
or additional information

• After analyzing a
dilemma one can reach
decision that is
consistent and
justifiable.
• In order for reflective
equilibrium to be
achieved one must:
• Be Sensitive
• Check Motivation

Reflective Equilibrium Cautions
• Not everyone
subscribes to the same
moral theories.
• When we speak in
absolute truths, right
or wrong, we are just
trying to force our
views on others.
This Photo by Unknown AutCC BY

Reflective Equilibrium Requires
• Reasoning, Empathy,
Justification
• Choosing – Picking a
Side
• If you never decide you
never consider or
expose yourself to
alternatives and
therefore limit growth. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

The Questions of Sovereignty
• Who has the right to decide?
• Must separate rightness from
legitimacy.
• We often associate sovereignty
with a process like voting and
thus sovereignty can be seen
as the majority.
• But what else can we use to
achieve a sense of legitimacy? This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Sovereignty and Legitimacy
• Professionalism – close to or familiar
with the situation and an expert on
the topic
• Democratic decisions – requires all
groups/every person with a stake in
the outcome is provided an
opportunity to weigh in
• Professional Organizations – expert in
the field with knowledge and
experience but no direct ties to the
situation
• Professionals are often in
competition with democratic
decision makers This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Professionalism and
Teaching With Integrity
• Requires Objectivity and Measure
• Involves deciding using:
• Collective experience
• Educational research
• Professional organization
endorsement
• Is NOT:
• Deciding solely based on personal
experience(s) or feelings

Integrity in Conflicted
Circumstances
• Accommodate
Expectations
• Productively
Advocate
• Be Imaginative
• Resign (only if
nothing else works)
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND

Ethical
Deliberation
• Engaging in Dialogue to serve
the Values of Community and
Values of Rationality
• When stakeholders participate
in a reasoned exchange of
ideas and information.
• Strengthens the community by
making members feel valued
and providing clarity,
• Creates a positive and
productive school
climate/culture.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

Ethical Deliberation Includes
• Reciprocity
• Willing and able to both
speak and listen
• Open, Undominated
Dialogue
• Opportunity to investigate
• Evidence of reflective
equilibrium

Ethical Deliberation Caution
• While teachers generally
work alone in their
classroom, their actions and
their impacts are not in
isolation.
• Being alone can prevent the
necessary dialogue.
• Ethical deliberation is, by
nature, a social activity
which allows teachers to
put circumstances in
context.

Reflecting on Fractions
• What would you do if
you were the teacher?
The principal?
• Consider all theories
and principles of ethics
in education, with a
focus on democracy,
professionalism, and
teaching with integrity.

Additional Cases
Silence Is Not Golden
• Summarize the situation.
• Identify all relevant theories
and principles.
• Analyze the most applicable
theories and principles in
context.
• Evaluate the options.
Five Is Not Enough
• Summarize the situation.
• Identify all relevant theories
and principles.
• Analyze the most applicable
theories and principles in
context.
• Evaluate the options.

Chapter 7
Conclusions and Postscript

Ethics in Education
• Primarily our discussions have been framed around
consequentialism and conconsequentialism but neither in
isolations does justice to true ethical dilemmas.
• “A viable ethical theory will embed a concern for
consequences within a framework of nonconsequentialist
ideals.”
• Growth as a moral agent is key to ethics from an education
perspective:
• Responsibility for one’s actions and decisions
• Dialogue that achieves commonality
• Shared concern for the group

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