The Moral Life of a Teacher

There are many questions and arguments that remain about the standard of care within schools. Should the current standard of care in relation to schools be increased or remain the same or be substantially reduced? Does law of torts make a teacher’s job too difficult? Should schools always be held liable when a student is injured? ‘A tort is a “civil wrong” and for someone to commit a tort they have to interfere with another person’s rights, or fail in their legal obligations to that person, and this causes the person to suffer.’ (Drew Hopkins, 2008) An example case of civil wrong is State of Victoria v Bryar [1970] 44 ALJR 174.

Mann also emphasized that teachers were moral role models for their students, and—as such—they were held accountable for their behavior both in and out of the schoolroom. This practice was considered to be an invasion of the teachers’

Some things change, some things stay the same. The National Education Association (NEA) adopted a code of ethics in 1975 (Strike & Soltis 2009, p. viii). While this code still upholds many concerns that educators face today, it is important to make sure that a code of ethics is a breathing document. It must adapt and change with the changing of time. Strike and Soltis (2009) reference the code of ethics quite regularly throughout the entire book. It is first introduced in full at the beginning of the book. Looking over the code, it is important to remember that much has changed since it was first adopted. While all of the code still applies, it is necessary to add to the code to make it acceptable for the twenty-first century.

The Alabama Code of Ethics explicitly describes the behavior of professional teachers. The content supplies a set of guidelines for moral conduct. The Code of Ethics are in place to protect students and teachers. Some modes of unethical conduct are highlighted throughout that warrant disciplinary action.

While reading Journal 1 of The Alternative and reflecting on the assignment giving, memories of teachers flooded through my mind. I am unabashed to admit that I believed some teachers to be poor at their job, and have more than once thought that perhaps this wasn’t the correct career path for them. One such teacher was my 7th and 8th grade science teacher, who believed public shaming to be the preferable way of teaching adolescents. When a student would answer a question wrong in class he couldn’t help but laugh as well as bring it up throughout the lesson, refusing to let the student move past their mistake. He chose to

This essay contemplates my individual development, skill acquisition and exploration of teaching approaches; throughout and beyond the International Teacher Training Organisation (ITTO) program. The problems I encountered will be discussed; and their relation to establishing where my wealth of primary teaching experience aligns with English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching approaches. For example; efforts to reduce my teacher talk time compared to primary school education was important, correcting pronunciation in an appropriate manner and correctly pacing both my speech and activities were areas of development that were observed, reflected on personally and subsequently acted upon.

The Code of Ethics for Educators is a group of standards that all educators, in the state of Georgia, must follow. These standard are put in place to ensure the well-being and safety of students, educators, and parents. As I reviewed the Code of Ethics for Educators, there were four ethical standards that I found most important; they are: Georgia Code of Ethics for Educators Standard 2: Conduct with Students, Georgia Code of Ethics for Educators Standard 3: Alcohol or Drugs, Georgia Code of Ethics for Educators Standard 6: Remunerative Conduct, and Georgia Code of Ethics for Educators Standard 7: Confidential Information. In this paper I will review each of these standards, and tell you why I found them important.

Based on my experience as a teacher, I’ve always strongly believed that learning cannot and will not take place without first having order and conduct in the learning environment. If and when misconduct occurs, due process

Perhaps the most unsettling thing about Bell v. Itawamba County School Board, regardless of the final decision in favor of Bell, is the shockingly little attention the courts gave to the allegations made in the song. However, it is fairly reasonable that the court did not address the misconduct, as it was not the action in question. Perhaps a more unsettling aspect of this case is the lack of school response to the allegations made about the coaches. Bell’s reasons for writing the song, as expressed in his testimony, were the complaints he had heard from female students at the school that they had been sexually harassed by the two coaches. Bell claimed that the reason he wrote a song rather than presenting this problem to administration was

Indeed, as with previous iterations of guidance, the legal policies of investigative practice can be difficult to implement outside of the formal judicial system: a lack of proper evidentiary handling and a fundamental misunderstanding of the process whereby facts are determined can prove impediments to a fair and impartial investigation. Moreover, the hearing process itself and the limitations imposed on the ability of both the Complainant and the Respondent to directly question and cross-examine one another make it difficult for an institution to adhere to the fundamental due process rights implied in the Letter under certain conditions: “Public and state-supported schools must provide due process to the alleged perpetrator.” Herein, another difficulty arises with respect to the ambiguity

The Alaska Code of Ethics for teachers contain many points that deal with normative and applied ethics. I drew this conclusion because many of the topics within the code lead to things that explain how things should be done or if situations arise, it explains how they should be handled. These more general ideas provide a framework, which grounds these ethics (Moral Philosophy, 2009). From there the Alaska Code of Ethics spirals down to more specific terms and situations. This is when the code gets into more applied ethics (Moral Philosophy, 2009). The Alaska Code of Ethics seems to speak to the personal values and morals of those for whom they are intended. This can be seen in many of the codes such as, ?The educator may not engage in physical abuse of a student or sexual conduct with a student and shall report to the commission knowledge of such an act by an educator? (Alaska Department of Education & Early Learning, 2000). This is just one example of how Alaska?s code asks educators to abide not only by the professional code of ethics, but to also base their actions and judgments on their personal values and ethics. Teachers, in their responsibility to society, must work in order to not betray that trust (Nelson, Palonsky, & McCarthy, 2010). The knowledge of this responsibility is obvious throughout the Alaska Code of Ethics.

However, the issue of ground rules within the Teaching Codes of Conduct and Practice for Registered Teachers can produce ethical dilemmas such as

The Code of Ethics is absolutely essential for every education major to have a strong understanding of. This code presents the main rules and regulations that apply to future teachers to ensure the best behavior and actions possible, inside and outside of the classroom. It is a clear guide of unethical activities that teachers may never indulge in without risking suspension, revocation, denial, or reprimand of any teaching certificate. The code is broken down into eleven different standards which are easy for educators to understand and abide by.

“Ethics are defined as a set of principles of right conducts; the rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession” ( Dictionary of the Human Language, 2000). Teachers are often put in situations that require more than just knowing the basic school rules. It is within these situations, that the ethical dilemmas occur. There is not always a right way to deal with many daily problems that face educators, but there are ways to handle situations that are better then others.

The educator is mindful that trust in the profession rest upon a standard of professional behavior and responsibility that is higher by law. This demands holding oneself and other educators to the same ethical ideals.