Teacher Leaders: Demonstrating the Ethic of the Profession
Genre
Thesis/DissertationDate
2009Author
Renehan, Cynthia LeeAdvisor
Shapiro, Joan PolinerCommittee member
Caldwell, Corrinne A.Schifter, Catherine
DuCette, Joseph P.
Partlow, Michelle Chaplin, 1941-
Department
Educational AdministrationSubject
Education, AdministrationClashes Between Codes
Codes of Ethics
Ethic of the Profession
Ethical Decision-making
Ethical Paradigms
Teacher Leadership
Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/2229Metadata
Show full item recordDOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/2211Abstract
This case study investigated the ethic of the profession, one of the four ethical frameworks used for ethical decision-making in education. Typically, this line of research is applied to school administrators; however, this investigation extended this research to teacher leaders by examining their daily practice. Out of a pool of thirty-six respondents, nine teachers were chosen to participate in the study. These teacher leaders were employed in urban, exurban, and suburban school districts, with experience levels varying from three to thirty-three years. Participants were required to complete the following: the Self-Assessment to Assess Readiness for Leadership, creation of personal code of ethics, and the creation of professional code of ethics. An in-depth interview to discuss the codes, and clashes between codes was conducted, as well as a second interview to address an ethical dilemma identified by the participants. Categorical analysis was used to recognize recurring themes. A conceptual model of the decision-making process was developed to explain the phenomena observed in these data. In addition, recurring themes were identified through analysis of the interview data. Themes included a prevailing concern for fairness, student welfare, educational equality, safety, and student discipline. When responding to critical events that triggered ethical dilemmas, these participants habitually used their personal and professional codes of ethics to determine a course of action. Participants exhibited a sophisticated decision-making approach which moved participants past the reliance on one ethical frame of justice, critique, or care, into the use of multiple paradigms to solve ethical dilemmas. In the final analyses, the ethic of the profession was demonstrated by these nine teacher leaders through reflection and reliance on personal and professional codes of ethics, and by placing students at the center of the ethical decision-making process.ADA compliance
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