Ethics of Teaching

What do ethics mean to you? Most would agree that ethics is a standard of behavior that is acceptable to society as a whole. Ethics go hand in hand with our legal system and our basic understanding of right and wrong. As a future teacher in the great state of Alabama what will ethics mean to me and what should it mean to all teachers?

Let’s look at the Alabama Educator Code of Ethics. As teachers, we should be held to a much higher standard than other professions. It is as a teacher that you are directly responsible for shaping the minds of children on a daily basis. Every state has its own code of ethics and Alabama’s code is similar. The Alabama Educator Code of Ethics contains a total of nine standards. Those standards are as follows: Professional Conduct, Trustworthiness, Unlawful Acts, Teacher/Student Relationship, Alcohol/Drug/Tobacco Use or Possession, Public Funds & Property, Remunerative Conduct, Maintenance of Confidentiality, and Abandonment of Contract. The code wraps itself up with disciplinary actions if a teacher is found in violation of any of these standards. Living in our media infused, politically correct, and lawsuit engulfed society; ethical standards such as these are pretty well understood but are they adhered to? From a multicultural aspect, most of these standards seem to be met on a daily basis. There is one standard in the code of ethics that I believe is not being upheld. The Teacher/Student Relationship standard states:

Standard 4: Teacher/Student Relationship
An educator should always maintain a professional relationship with all students, both in and outside the classroom.
Ethical conduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Fulfilling the roles of trusted confidante, mentor, and advocate for students’ growth.

• Nurturing the intellectual, physical, emotional, social, and civic potential of all students.

• Providing an environment that does not needlessly expose students to unnecessary embarrassment or disparagement.

• Creating, supporting, and maintaining a challenging learning environment for all students.

Unethical conduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Committing any act of child abuse, including physical or verbal abuse.

• Committing any act of cruelty to children or any act of child endangerment.

• Committing or soliciting any unlawful sexual act.

• Engaging in harassing behavior on the basis of race, gender, national origin, religion, or disability.

• Soliciting, encouraging, or consummating an inappropriate written, verbal, or

physical relationship with a student.

• Furnishing tobacco, alcohol, or illegal/unauthorized drugs to any student or

allowing a student to consume alcohol or illegal/unauthorized drugs.

If you read carefully you will notice the part about basis of race, gender, religion etc. I was in a local school for an observation for my elementary music class and I witnessed two white teachers verbally assaulting a young male student in the hallway outside of the class. Was this necessary? Did it really take two teachers to handle a discipline problem? There were also other students coming in and out of the classroom and moving up and down the hall. I looked at that young man and saw the humility in his eyes. It was demeaning and unethical to treat that student that way yet this is a common occurrence at our public schools.
We must strive to be ethical in everything we do as teachers. I also beleive that we should aslo hold each other accountable. I did nothing to stop those two teachers. As a student myself and a visitor in thier school maybe I did not have the right to interfer but maybe I should have looked towards the greater good and stepped in. Hopefully I will have enough courage to do so in the future. I beleive that we have to work together to work toward the future.