Instructions for this section:
Embedded Files
Read through each of the below sections. Use the following questions for discussion:
Does the teaching profession have a universally accepted code of ethics such as the ones that exist for doctors and lawyers?
What would you say is the greatest ethical obligation a teacher faces?
Should teacher candidates be held to the same ethical standards as licensed teachers?
Introduction
Introduction
As a prospective teacher, you will be learning about the ethical responsibilities and legal obligations embedded in the work of the teacher. Teachers have an enormous responsibility to build the moral character of their students and be an example of that character as well.
In the article section “What Professional Ethics Mean” Dr. Troy Hutchings (2016) states:
“The misperceptions blurring the lines between personal and professional ethics become even more difficult to address when we think about the ethics of education. I personally believe the reasons why these misperceptions exist go back to the roots of public education in this country. We’ve long thought of teaching as being an extension of parenting — a moral good that has seemingly obvious guidelines for what should be done in any situation. As a result, teachers, like parents, are expected — and expect themselves — to follow their own personal morality and life experience as they make decisions. We’re often expected to innately know the best way to address any problem that involves the children we serve. “From preschool to high school teachers have an enormous impact on students. At the heart of the matter, a teacher’s relationship to a student is a special kind of power. Because of this power, there can be the potential abuse of power. It is not hard to find news headlines of this “abuse” of power and generally, once we see these headlines, they consist of stories that are not only violations of ethical standards that are occurring, but now illegal behaviors.
What Are Ethics?
What Are Ethics?
Ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose the reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud. Ethics can be defined as a system or code of morality embraced by a person or group.
Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of honesty, compassion, and loyalty; as well as including standards relating to rights, such as the right to life, the right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy.
Ethics applies as much to the behavior of the atheist as to that of the devout religious person. Religion can set high ethical standards and can provide intense motivations for ethical behavior. Ethics, however, cannot be confined to religion nor is it the same as religion. Ethics differ from laws in that laws are written, formal, must be followed. Ethical norms tend to be broader and more informal than laws. Although most societies use laws to enforce widely accepted moral standards and ethical and legal rules use similar concepts, ethics and law are not the same. An action may be legal but unethical or illegal but ethical.
Howe (1986) specifically mentions that teachers' ethical judgement consists of six characteristics: appreciation for moral deliberation, empathy, knowledge, reasoning, courage and interpersonal skills. As a prospective teacher, you may be thinking that is great – I possess those characteristics (most of the time) so I should be fine! The problem with this line of thinking becomes reliance solely on a teacher’s personal code of ethics that may rely on many varying moral standards. Ryan, Cooper, Bollick (2016) clarified the need to have written codes of ethics for teachers by stating this: “some people’s codes of ethics are like a beacon and some are a dim light in a dark room” and that having an established guiding code of ethics can reduce the need for teachers to rely on their personal codes of ethics, mitigate their risk in the classroom and ultimately protect students. A formal code of ethics can assist a teacher in making those "on the spot" decisions that they frequently make a thousand times a day.
What You Need To Know
What You Need To Know
Some short strides have been made with NEA (National Education Association) and NASDTEC (National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification). Most states rely on their own individual codes or teachers adhere to district policy on behavior, often in the form of codes of conduct where there are disciplinary actions if there is a violation of those codes of conduct.
The Arkansas Professional Licensure Standards Board (PLSB) was created by Act 846 of 2007. The board established a code of ethics for administrators and teachers in educational environments for students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The Code of Ethics is administered by a five-member Ethics Subcommittee composed of PLSB members. The code of ethics is governed by Ark. Code Ann.§ 6-17-428 and the administrative rules adopted by the SBE set forth the procedures for receiving, considering, and investigating complaints regarding the unethical behavior of licensed school personnel. While districts can discipline teachers and employees for violations of policy and or ethics violations, the PLSB makes decisions on licensure only with regard to complaints or allegations of unethical behavior.
As a University of Arkansas teacher candidate, it is important for you to understand how the information in this module applies to you. Arkansas law mandates that every person with a valid Arkansas teaching license, pre-service teachers, and all educators teaching under an Act 1240 waiver are required to abide by the Code of Ethics for Arkansas Educators. Allegations of unethical behavior as a teacher candidate can have implication on your ability to proceed in your teacher preparation program as well as your ability to obtain licensure in the state of Arkansas.
In this website, you will find not only the Arkansas Code of Ethics with guidance and discussion for each section of the code but we have included the NASDTEC Model Code of Ethics with related video segments and discussion questions.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse