A code of conduct or code of ethics devised jointly by staff, parents and the students might create a valuable partnership that seems to be missing in many schools.
Iwas taking a class on ethical behavior for a group of early childhood students and one of my students made two pertinent comments that got me thinking about how a discussion on ethics and personal and professional values could help schools, teachers, parents and children. Firstly during class as we read the code of ethics booklet this student had remarked that actions speak louder than words, suddenly reminding me that it’s not what we say we do, it is what we actually do that counts. Her second epiphany came as she was about to leave for the day; “I guess ethics is about keeping your own morals and values to yourself, Miss!”
I love the subject of ethical behaviour because it opens up a broad and exciting world of colliding professional and personal values, moral judgments and principles that in daily life we hardly pause to consider. We merrily blast our horns at complete strangers who cut us up on the motorway, or berate someone’s apparently insane behavior with a supermarket trolley with little regard to the fact that as teachers we are bound by a pretty stringent code of ethics. The discussions I had with my students involved various scenarios that encouraged them to consider their personal values. One such scenario involved finding a large sum of money by a crowded bus stop – nobody notices you picking it up. The students then had four options to discuss with each other.
Which of the following would you do?
• Hand it in to the police
• Ask the people at the bus stop if anyone had dropped any money?
• Give it to a homeless person you see every day on the street corner nearby
• Pocket the money and tell no one.
As my students and I debated the ethical behaviour of teachers, it became clear that the fully ‘ethical teacher’ was in fact a creature of some stature who would indeed sit nicely alongside Jesus and Gandhi! All joking aside, pondering the code of ethics and the associated expectations, one has to question why do we not discuss ethics more openly in school? If teachers are expected to behave in an ethical manner, shouldn’t we be modelling and displaying this to our students in a more explicit fashion? I would hasten to add clear distinctions would need to be made between ethics and moral teaching so as not to be treading on parental ground, but surely this itself is an ethical dilemma – should we be teaching ethics?
Perhaps ethics could be discussed in relation to class and school governance, covering responsibilities and duties of parents and staff as well as fellow students and the wider school community. Having an individual school code of ethics could be an empowering vision for some schools where the sense of community and identity is lacking. The code of ethics could direct students and staff towards a more mature relationship that demonstrates mutual respect, rather than someone in power laying down the law. Going back to my student’s comment, actions speak louder than words, the behavior of both staff and students would come under scrutiny because everyone would be bound by the code and the focus on fairness and equity could balance out those perceived power issues. This would help provide staff with the much needed support for fostering responsibility and personal accountability in students that appears to have got lost in the ‘students have rights and we know it’ debate. The explicit teaching of ethics and having an agreed set of statements about values would possibly help establish standards of general behaviour, dress and social interactions that reflect a more real world context. It won’t solve all problems overnight but isn’t it worth considering a more structured approach to instilling accountability and standards in school, other than by force or creating yet more arbitrary rules?
We all know that by engaging people in any process that directly relates to them, generally we become more willing to adhere to and follow the agreed practice. Corporations and business owners have cottoned on to this fact and in doing so have generated increased sales and productivity and a more united work force; establishing a balance of power, shares in the company and feedback loops. Within education we still seem somewhat stuck in the hierarchical structure of governance and control that perhaps needs to be updated. A code of conduct or code of ethics devised jointly by staff, parents and the students might create a valuable partnership that seems to be missing in many schools. This lack of partnership frequently seems to be the cause of so many school dilemmas. Early Childhood Education has the valuable document Te Whaariki that appears to provide clear directions for parent/teacher partnership. Te Whaariki’s founding principles drive the partnership message home quite clearly in its principle of Family and Community and the strand Belonging. Perhaps all of us can learn from this document and it may help foster a direction for primary and secondary schools through teaching the subject of ethics and creating a partnership that starts within the school and radiates out to the community.
There are numerous studies that consider enrichment of environments and the effects on behaviour. Creating opportunities for choice and decision making within the field of disabilities has been explored by Cole and Levinson who also considered the role of the caregivers in providing opportunities for choice. One way to provide some form of choice is enabling people to exercise control over their environment. I would like to suggest that within mainstream schools this may well be something we need to consider more seriously. The development of a school code of ethics could also be the start of fostering a united approach to behaviour management.
A suggested approach might be:
• Developing acceptable standards of dress/ behaviour within the school
• Developing a school wide code of ethics concept that is presented to parents and the community
• Consulting with parents on a school code of conduct via a public meeting and/or feedback form
• Implementing a school code of conduct throughout the school following the consultation process with the school and wider community.
The interesting dilemma would be encouraging staff, parents and children to leave personal morals and values behind and consider a more global approach to ethical behaviour for the greater good! The consultation process would enable staff and students and parents to take ownership of the code and feel heard in the process, but the final product would need to reflect a shared set of values that transcend any one group’s personal beliefs or values.