A lot of ethical issues are plaguing schools and the educational system at large, causing moral dilemmas across the sector. These moral dilemmas and contemporary challenges faced by learners, teachers, and parents in schools have caused a lot of damages and it keeps getting worse by the day.
Ethics are set standard and guide that is applicable to a particular sector. It helps to moderate behaviour, inform discipline, project honesty, and integrity in the actions and inactions of the sector. Ethics in schools are guidelines set to influence behaviour and to run the school system smoothly. It sets standards that help to protect the interest of the learners, the teachers, the parents, and the entire school system. Each of the players in the system (learners, teachers, parents and school management) need to understand the importance of ethics within their jurisdiction and learn to act responsibly, to practice self discipline and uphold ethical practices for a significant outcome.
In the educational system, there’s usually a discordance between what schools believe to be right, what the learners need to do, what parents expect, what the policies dictate, and what government and law requires. These bring about many ethical issues that require interactive relationship and informed contributions from all the players in the sector, in order to ensure utmost academic fulfilment and social satisfaction of learners. Teachers should not only deliver knowledge but also embed social values in their teaching, guided by a code of ethics and unbiased behaviour.
Ethics in education are guided by principles. These include
- Do no harm.
- Make things better.
- Respect others.
- Be fair.
- Be loving.
Beyond these 5 major ethics, as stated by Weinstein, are many others, which are informed by the social and economic circumstance of a particular school. The main ethical issues in education are social diversity, social inequality, cheating, bullying, special treatment, exam grading, and so on. To tackle these issues, teachers and school administrators need to be aware and informed to employ necessary tactics needed to deal with them individually and collectively. An ethical framework needs to be formed using ethic-based model of learning in collaboration with all the players in the educational field.
Some basic ethical practices for teachers in schools are;
- Teachers shall provide professional teaching services in an equitable manner.
- Teachers shall make every necessary effort to protect pupils from harmful conditions and safeguard them in accordance with the safeguarding policies.
- According to the law, teachers shall disclose confidential information about learners only when there’s is a compelling need or when required by law. They must be very discreet and careful when it comes to giving information about any learner.
- Teacher shall take reasonable disciplinary steps when need be but not corporal punishment or inflicting injuries on pupils. A disciplinary measure should not affect the atmosphere of learning or make it uncondusive for learners
- Teachers shall be able to distinguish professional relationships with personal relationships when dealing with learners, parents, colleagues, and school management.
- Teachers shall not delegate authority of teaching responsibilities to non licensed personnel.
- Teachers shall not knowingly or unknowingly falsify or misrepresent facts/ records about their qualifications or any academic record they deal with.
- Teachers shall not intentionally make false or malicious statements about pupils, parents, colleagues, or the school management.
- Teachers shall uphold the vision, the core values, and the principles of the school they teach. They shall dedicate their time, talent, and energy to contribute to the growth of the school.
- Whether a teacher remains in the school or leaves the school, he or she must respect the schools principles or ideologies and not work against the school in a malicious manner.
Generally, school ethics demand that teachers treat learners equally irrespective of their background, grade their works fairly, shun bullying, and keep all these ethics at the heart of their practice. Teachers need lots of patience and understanding of the fact that each learner is different and requires different levels of attention and guidance. Teachers must be fair in judgement, be loving, compassionate, caring, respectful, cheerful, helpful, truthful, neat, responsible, and much more. They need to act as an individual, a group and a community in helping learners and people within their community. They must keep a balance on their emotions and not react unnecessarily. Being a teacher requires a lot of discipline and self-awareness. Sanctity of mind is paramount and decent and lovely appearance is also a necessity.
These ethic-based models can influence teaching habits and underpin valuable teaching practices, which would, in turn, encourage learners to develop good moral characters and promote social values for beneficial outcomes within and outside the school environment.
Amara Ann Unachukwu
