What does education mean if ethics is sacrificed for academic gains? As Aristotle once said, “educating the mind without the heart is no education at all”. Not to mention, ethics is the key in shaping moral identities in people, especially students. This essay examines the importance of teaching ethics to students and the challenges that come with it. Educating students on ethics can minimize academic misconducts, guide students to become self-reliant in decision-making and attain wisdom. Yet, less experienced teachers, ignorance towards the importance of ethics and the increasing pressure on teachers regarding students’ academic standards have become inevitable challenges in the implementation of ethics in education.
Firstly, education on ethics can help to prevent academic dishonesty such as cheating. Prohaska (2012) states that students will be encouraged to behave ethically if teachers emphasize on the connection between their academic development and ethical behavior in school. By explaining the consequences of academic misconducts, students will always be reminded that their self-image will be affected if they behave dishonestly (Prohaska, 2012). In this way, students will abide by the rules and are less likely to commit an offense, for instance,
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By reflecting the importance and challenges of blending ethics in education, steps can be further taken to improve education in the future. Although it is tough to ensure that ethics is being taught completely to the students, but the efforts in teaching ethics still need to be taken seriously. Despite the challenges of infusing ethics in education, ethical education plays a part in developing well-rounded students, the building blocks of our nation. Last but not least, we hope that ethical education shapes a better
Christina H. Sommers describes ethics and its misperceived conception in the education system through her article Teaching the Virtues . Morality is defined through two concepts, social and self. Social morality is based on the social values and agreements set among the people. On the contrary, private morality originates from within us and is an example of decency, honesty, honor, etc. The education system lacks to discipline students on both aspects of ethics. One of examples given was a significant number of students who cheated on their finals
A foundation in ethics is a critical tool for any education administrator because of the necessity to make sound decisions which ultimately affect the lives of students. In their book, The Ethics of School Administration (2005), Strike, Haller, and Soltis provide a general overview of the various schools of ethical reasoning. They use engaging case studies to teach ethical reasoning concepts in a way to which every-day practitioners can relate. They then take their teachings a step further by presenting disputes of the issues from multiple perspectives, introducing critical concepts that are necessary to understand in order to process the situations presented in each case, and giving analyses of the cases. Strike, Haller, and Soltis’s methods are pertinent to educators because
Professors Bojan Borstner and Smiljana Gartner of the University of Maribor believe that ethical decision making through critical thinking is proven to be the best way for people to improve themselves as human beings. In fact, some ethics instructors want to teach their students how to project human nature itself, act in accordance with their moral beliefs, and use reasoning and thinking skills to analyze specific problems (Borstner 13). If these main class objectives could affect the curricula of educational institutions worldwide, a majority of students may have a better understanding of virtue, an expanded knowledge of human nature, and more effective communication skills for discussing any current issue. At any educational level, a typical ethics course requires students to enhance their persuasion skills by understanding and taking advanced steps to finding the right solutions to controversial issues. Reasoning skills are the most effective way to personally attain moral values because it enables people to view ethics as a critically reflective thinking process. It also helps individuals express their thoughts and reactions toward each ethical dilemma that they face in their lifetime, yet there are other steps beyond reasoning to successfully handle real-life situations. The most important of these steps are to use case studies and to interpersonally communicate often about the issues
Teaching children morals and ethics today is important because it shows someone with innocence how to care, listen, and reason without prejudice. In this teaching, it becomes obvious that we, as adults, have stopped listening, caring, and even reasoning; an act that, if performed, can change the world for the better.
Teachers need to take a course in ethics because they need to be aware of the inappropriate behavior that may exist in schools today. According to the article What Can an Ethics Course Really Do?, MacDonald (2014) mentioned that a course of ethics will allow people to understand the dangers of rationalization. Many times teachers are unaware of what behavior is appropriate and inappropriate because some people tell themselves that the behavior is not bad when in fact it is bad. When teachers are fully aware they are more likely to act in an ethical way in their profession. The ethics course also sheds light on the code of ethics for teachers. I was fully aware of the teacher handbook when I was employed, however, I cannot recall studying
Mentioning about business classes, students may think about finance, marketing, accounting, management and so on. However, ethics class is designed for all business students to understand about ethics and how to do moral business. The article Can We Teach Character? An Aristotelian Answer by Edwin M. Hartman explains the principle of ethics and how the schools can teach their business students good characters. The author emphasizes on the Aristotle’s principles of well-being and ethics and how to apply these principles to real life.
We experience many ethical issues throughout our lives, sometimes on a daily basis. Some teach us how to act, while others teach us how not to act. Despite seeing them so often, many of us fail to acknowledge them. Although, sometimes we do and we retain them for the rest of our lives. One ethical issue I have experienced is the treatment and opportunities students at Cookeville High School receive, compared to those of Upperman High School.
To me, ethics cannot really be taught though it can be initiated. People who do not have some ethics in them can be helped to incorporate it in their daily activities. This can be
In the journal "Ethics and Morality: What should be taught in business law" by Tabetha Hazels elaborates on Ethics and Morality of. According to the author Morality and Ethics should be taught appropriately in a Business and Law course. The journal review takes a deeper approach by differentiating Morality and Ethics by providing the readers with models of theories on the two. The author of this journal who is also a professor argues that students and educators do not know the difference between morality and ethics. Furthermore, she argues that ethics and morality should be taught together because they work "inevitably" together. The author goes on to state "even though students and educators do not know the difference between the two they can have a strong sense of their morals but
“Treat a child as if he already is the person he is capable of becoming.” - Haim Ginott How do we help young people become ethical leaders? This is an important question because our long-term future depends on how well we prepare young people to make positive ethical choices and honor multiple dimensions of ethical responsibility. We can help our young people build scaffolding for thinking through ethical challenges. We can help them learn that ethics is about positive actions, not the ethical mistakes often covered in the news. Helping them interpret what’s going on in the world according to positive ethical values helps them make ethical choices. Another important role parents and teachers play is encouraging young people to reach for their potential and to become their best selves. This support requires a growth mindset, not expecting perfection, but encouraging their
“It might be impossible for Harvard to teach ethics,” was what Chuck Colson, a former lawyer, a politician and devout Christian, noted after discovering reports on one of the school’s ethics classes. A businessman who had taken an ethics class at Harvard University, described it as “practical pointers.” However, Mr. Colson argued, in an article, that Harvard’s philosophical relativism makes it impossible for them to teach “real ethics.” Upon discovering this article, Harvard Business school invited Mr. Colson to deeper describe his opinion during a “Distinguished Lecture series.” Mr. Colson spoke to a class packed with students, and expected to be booed, and drilled with questions. However, instead of receiving tough questions, he only received calm comments.
An ongoing problem in the United States and other countries are issues dealing with ethics. Many philosophers throughout the centuries have created works and theories on ethics, among them Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Ethics may generally be defined as the study of morality (Cohen, p. 17). Aristotle on Nicomachean Ethics said Virtue… being of two kinds, intellectual and moral, intellectual virtue in the main owes both its birth and its growth to teaching (for which reason it requires experience and time), while moral virtue comes about as a result of habit. (Cohen, p. 79) I feel that these ideas serve as the groundwork for Ethics in general but as society has progressed it was and is necessary to adapt different types of Ethics. I
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.
Chen, Dalton, and Crosby begin by discussing how, “moral and religious values were a centerpiece of institutional mission” (Chen). But these authors discuss as years pass, the value of ethical/moral education has changed. Chen, Dalton, and Crosby state, “By the 1960s, most colleges and universities in the United States, including many historically faith oriented institutions, had adopted a secular orientation that relegated matters of faith and religion to the private realm of students’ lives and increasingly to the periphery of academic life” (Chen). In the 1960s, ethics and morals were not as prominent in students’ education, as it had been in earlier years. “Over the past twenty years, concern has grown that American higher education is failing its legacy and responsibility for encouraging moral and civic capacities so critical in a democratic society”(Chen). Chen, Dalton, and Crosby are demonstrating why they believe that schools are responsible for creating ethical individuals. Chen, Dalton, and Crosby have heard “College officials [from schools where ethics courses are not required] are now reporting greater student interest and participation in campus organizations and activities that have a spiritual and ethical focus” (Chen). This example demonstrates that ethics are acquired before the individual enters a college and
In all ages, education is the most important thing for people and promotes the development of society. Parents expect high quality education for their children and hope their children become successful in the future. However, student should not only study formal knowledges and skills. It is also essential to learn ethics. Ethics is the study of how to recognize what is wrong and what is right. (Gülcan, 2015, p1) Education teaches people how to be a good worker, but ethics teaches people how to respect and be respected by others. Unfortunately, only few of people get ethics education during their study time. When they grow up, most of them have the ability to deal with the questions on textbook, but do not know how to face the problems about ethics. This essay illustrates the importance of teaching student ethics. At the same time, ethics study is always filled with challenge.