Introduction
Each profession presents the appropriate moral requirements for people who have chosen it and gives rise to specific moral choices. Professional ethics concretizes general moral norms and assessments that determine a person’s attitude to their professional duties and the people with whom they interact according to their occupation. There are certain types of human activity where extremely high moral requirements are imposed on the people who are professionally engaged in it, with the education sphere being one of them. In this paper, the case will be analyzed regarding the ethics of the profession outlined by Shapiro & Stefkovich and Freire’s oppressive social structures. Zack’s ideas of race ethics, social justice, and equality and Furman’s community ethics concept will also be discussed in the essay.
The Relevant Ethical Issues
The situation under consideration demands tough decisions from a school teacher, Ms. Smith, in conditions of the zero-tolerance policy traditionally established at her workplace. Shapiro & Stefkovich (2016) admit that the school leaders were trained in business and military practices in the past. Therefore, hierarchy, abiding by the laws and standards specific for these spheres were transmitted to the school functioning. It explains Mr. Jackson’s approach to discipline at North High School from the case (Burger & Levinson, 2016). The principal was guided by the ethics of law, rights, and justice in making moral decisions. However, these frames fail to assist in solving many ethical issues at school, where a synthesized approach is needed.
In this case, the zero-tolerance policy approved by Principal Jackson appears to spread injustice and has devastating consequences for students, as Wesley’s future now depends on Ms. Smith’s decision as a professional and a member of society. According to Shapiro & Stefkovich (2016), the professional ethics is the combination of ethics of critique, care, and justice. Thus, ethics of critique “enable all children, whatever their social; class, race, or gender, to have opportunities to grow, learn and achieve” (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2016, p. 15). The ethics of care suggests appealing to every ethical problem considering all the circumstances and lasting impact of a decision (Lindemann, 2019). From a care ethics point of view, love, support, and social ties can outweigh laws. Finally, justice is defined by Strike et al. (2005) as the realization of the principle of equal respect, which is to guarantee unconditional respect for every individual. All these aspects are advised to be born in mind while addressing ethical dilemmas at school.
Strict discipline policy adopted at school encourages racism by letting punish minority students unjustly and unethically for conduct that could be more successfully addressed with more humane methods. Hence, the ethics of race is also relevant to the case. Zack (2015) offers her approach to terminating unfair treatment of minorities with a set of requirements to society and government, one of the most important of which is to demand from every individual and institution to act so as to acknowledge every person’s life as valuable regardless the race and nationality (requirement 11). Additionally, Zack’s race ethics focuses strongly on individual rights free of oppression, regardless of race.
Thus, school is to educate children on social justice and prepare them for future achievements. Shapiro & Stefkivich (2016) support the theory of school being the model of society, inequities of which are replicated explicitly in educational facilities. Furthermore, Freire (1998) argues that the highest goal of education is to free a person from relations of oppression and injustice with the help of praxis – the transformation of the world. Thus, a school must be the starting point for promoting equality. Freire is concerned about the establishment of equal relations between the subjects of education. To solve pedagogical problems, teachers and students should cooperate and hold a dialogue (Freire, 1998). Thereby, resolving professional ethical problems demand resorting to the whole complex of ethical theories.
Making the Right Decision
The ethics of the profession implies finding a balance between personal and professional ethical standards. Thus, the actions of educators should be based on personal ethical values along with ethical codes of the organization with the only condition: student’s interests predominant while making decisions (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2015). Therefore, Ms. Smith should choose what would be best for her student. Due to this, imprisonment and stigmatization do not seem to be excellent perspectives for 17-year old adolescents. Moreover, Freire (1998) insists on fruitful teacher-student dialogue to resolve any problem appealing to their critical mind. Hence, the teacher should, first of all, initiate conversation and discuss the issue with the student. Guided by the ethics of care, Ms. Smith might inquire about the boy’s problem at home; detect his motives and grounds for acting this way. She needs to show compassion and her readiness to help, especially as her previous attempts to establish a connection with the troubled teenager using this approach proved successful. What is crucial in decision-making from a care ethics perspective is causing as little suffering or harm as possible (Hankivsky, 2014). Therefore, Ms. Smith might consider any other options first before deciding to report the disorderly conduct, for her wrongful decision will imperil Wesley’s well-being.
Moreover, according to race ethics, Ms. Smith could have avoided biased assumptions and thought that the boy had stolen the mobile until it is proven and allowed for the possibility that the phone was mislaid, inform authorities, and again, allow her student to rehabilitate if he is guilty and receive a lesson from it. If her colleague, Ms. Hampton, informs against her or Wesley, Ms. Smith might appeal to the values Mr. Jackson appreciates the most – justice and law, saying that boy is considered innocent until proven guilty. Her career will not be ruined as she was not willing to convict the pupil groundlessly. Thus, the teachers’ global mission should be to avoid unfairness and inequality in the workplace.
The main issue to solve in this case, however, is the head of the school’s principles that should be contravened. It is highlighted by Shapiro & Stefkovich (2016) that modern school leaders need to abandon the “hierarchical model” of making decisions and pay attention to “relationship and connection” ( p. 17). He should understand that fear and terror are no method of progress. Ms. Smith alone cannot fight the counterproductive zero-tolerance approach at schools. However, united, the teachers of North High School may influence the administration’s decisions.
Other Perspectives
There are always numerous paradigms to take into consideration while discussing the case. It is missing from the discussion, that Ms. Smith should not make decisions on her own only, for she is a part of the big teachers’ community. “Frustrated teachers” and their worries about the administration policy are mentioned in the case (Burger & Levinson, 2016, p. 74). Accordingly, teachers can be the power, which can change their organization’s status quo and establish an ethical school.
Community ethics outlined by Furman (2004) expands and adds to the ethics of profession, justice, critique, and care frameworks applied to education nowadays. The scholar admits that the four frames do not fully correspond to the specifications of the educational sphere. It is stated that only united the oppressed can combat the system’s inequity. Community ethics addresses the idea that ethical concepts establish not in isolation but develop in the community by its members. Furman (2004) suggests “focus on the processes of community than to think of community as a final product or entity” (p. 4). Hence, the community in Furman’s paradigm is the collaboration of administration, entire school staff, students, and parents who feel a moral responsibility to contribute to their small society and face challenges together. It should be noted that the ethics of community does not contradict individual ethical practices but complements them. Together, North High School teachers can transform the existing system and overcome problems for the sake of the student’s well-being.
Conclusion
To conclude, making moral decisions requires applying all possible ethics frames, including profession, justice, care, critique, and community. Schools can develop their own principles considering their context. However, these principles should be based on ethical grounds with collective values not contradicting individual rights. Thus, decision-making at schools nowadays should involve not only administration but teachers, students, parents, and other subjects of the education system. Simultaneously, it must be aimed at giving the students the best opportunity to strive and achieve. Besides, educational institutions being the model of the whole society, need to be free of racial bias, oppression, inequity, and authoritarian leadership.
References
Burger, K. & Levinson, M. (2016). Stolen trust: Cell phone theft in a zero-tolerance high school. In M. Levinson & J. Fay (Eds.), Dilemmas of educational ethics: Cases and commentaries (pp. 73-105). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Freire, P. (1998). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy, and civic courage. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Furman, G. C. (2004). The ethic of community. Journal of Educational Administration, 42(7), 215-235.
Hankivsky, O. (2014). Rethinking care ethics: On the promise and potential of an intersectional analysis. American Political Science Review, 108(2), 252–264. Web.
Lindemann, H. (2019). An invitation to feminist ethics (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Shapiro, J. P., & Stefkovich, J. A. (2016). Ethical leadership and decision making in education : applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas (4th ed.). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Strike, K. A., Haller, E. J., & Soltis, J. F. (2005). The ethics of school administration. Teachers College Press.
Zack, N. (2015). The ethics and mores of race : Equality after the history of philosophy. Rowman & Littlefield.