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Teachers Council Code of Ethics Summit
Texts of the presentations to the SummitNotes on a code of Ethics for New Zealand Registered Teachers
Allan Hall 1. Teaching is a Moral Craft. Teaching in schools has long been considered a moral activity (Wilson, 1967; Tom, 1984; Goodlad, Soder and Sirotnik, 1990) largely because it is recognized that how teachers fulfil their public duties influences the lives of vulnerable young people. Indeed, some writers note that the compulsion for most children to attend schools (Soder, 1990[1]) and the fact that teachers unavoidably act as moral educators themselves (Howe, 1986) makes it especially impelling for them to conduct their affairs ethically and be held publicly accountable for their actions. It is for such reasons that New Zealand teachers must be registered by the New Zealand Teacher Registration Board, why candidates for pre-service teacher education are expected to pass through a selection system and why at the end of their pre-service studies, the Teacher Registration Board requires assurance that each candidate for registration is a person "of good character" who is deemed "fit to be a teacher" (New Zealand Teacher Registration Board, 1991: 12[2]). Thus, teaching in schools requires of every teacher both (a) accredited teaching knowledge and skill and (b) an ethical commitment to professional purpose. Both are required; being good at one can never compensate for shortcomings in the other. 2. A moral craft requires practitioners to share a moral code. A professional code of ethics is a public statement of ethical standards by the members of a profession, who fulfil public, rather than private responsibilities. In this regard, teachers in schools are what might be considered a community of practitioners who are given privileged information and powers which they are expected to employ ethically in fulfillment of their public duties. Thus, the professional autonomy of individual practitioners does not equate with individual freedom. As Soltis (1986) noted, becoming a member of a profession involves some surrender of individual freedom.
One is not a free individual when one accepts membership in a profession. The very act of becoming a professional commits one to the ethical principles and standards of membership in the community of that profession and to the service of its general purpose. (Soltis, 1986, p.4)[3] These statements of ethical standards are usually based upon a commitment to a set of core values such as client autonomy, justice, beneficence and the avoidance of harm. Various commentators have noted that such values, which are basic to most codes in bio-ethics (Beauchamp and Childress, 1997) are also relevant to a range of other helping professions, including teaching (Lovat, 1997). It seems noteworthy that they also overlap significantly with the set of principles for moral individuals identified by Snook and McGeorge (1978, p.16). However, this is not to say that these are the only values which are of significance, but as a group, they are widely acknowledged as providing a useful basis for a code. Codes of ethics also imply (and sometimes state) that practitioners will exhibit such virtues as integrity, fidelity, veracity, public-spiritedness, persistence and humility. Figure 1 is my attempt to depict visually the relationship between these basic values and virtues, the code of ethics of a community of practitioners and their professional purpose.
Based on the values and virtues discussed, most professional codes of ethics articulate general principles to guide practice. Seldom do they explicitly tell practitioners what to do (or not do) in particular circumstances. However, they usually identify parties to whom the practitioner has particular obligations (students, their families, professional colleagues and the wider public). The draft code of ethics developed by the 1999 Working Party was based upon the four values already mentioned, but a fifth (Honour ) was added because it seemed to encapsulate a number of the desired virtues. The draft statement (See Appendix D) followed the form of a number of Australian and American codes in that it was organized around the duties of teachers towards the main stakeholders (children and other learners, the profession and society). Since that time, I have come across other recent codes from Canada and other parts of Australia and the United States of America which are organized a little differently. A good example is the Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession of the Ontario College of Teachers (Ontario College of Teachers, 2000, p.1) which is more clearly focused on statements of principle (See Appendix E). With the advantage of hindsight, I wonder if this is not a more realistic form for New Zealand where a code for all registered teachers must cover the work of teachers at early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary levels and also accommodate a wide range of teaching and educational leadership functions. This leads me to believe that for such a code to be fully effective, it will need to be interpreted by practitioners at the various levels. In other words, various sub-groups will need to decide what the code means for them in their particular areas of practice. With this in mind, it seems that the simplest statement of principles is desirable. I hasten to add, however, that were the New Zealand Teacher Council to consider modelling its code the lines of the Ontario code, for example, its contents would need to be examined very carefully, and I think that we might want to reject some principles and possibly add others. 3. Some functions of codes of ethics. Codes of ethics which constrains all the members of a widespread and frequently diverse professional community, serve a number of different functions. The Ontario College of Teachers (2000) in its Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession, described those functions in this way:
The overall purposes of ethical standards statements are: Thus, a professional code is a statement of aspiration which encourages practitioners to enhance their practice by attending to professional purpose and ethical obligation. But it also likely to be used as a regulatory yardstick to judge ethical practices when these are called into question. The latter function is made easier if the code focuses more on detailed "bottom line" requirements, although that usually appears to be achieved at the expense of length and loss of aspirational value. There is an important tension between these two functions. One articulates the lofty standards of professional conduct to which the community of practitioners aspires and sees ethical behaviour as enhancing professional practice. The other focuses upon minimal requirements which must be fulfilled for a practitioner to avoid risking professional impeachment, thereby identifying what is required to stay out of trouble. An American writer (Fullinwider, 1995) noted that professional communities usually include some individuals who observe ethical requirements for reasons of what he called "enlightened self-interest", rather than a commitment to high ethical standards so that the profession requires both an aspirational code and a regulatory yardstick. I suggest that the sensible approach for the Teacher Council would be to first develop a succinct aspirational code, and then use that as the basis from which to develop a supplementary set of "bottom line requirements". In other words, the aspirational code would need to be interpreted for this purpose. It should be possible for the various principles to be interpreted by asking: "What does this mean for regulatory purposes?" Of course, in time, the examination of specific cases will also provide "case law" benchmarks, when the behaviour of individuals is questioned. which will need to be communicated to the profession. Of course, if this line is followed, the demands (both initial and on-going) will need to be anticipated and resourced. 4. Some Other Issues It is easy to expect too much of what is likely to be achieved by simply developing a written code of ethics. Firstly, how the code is developed will be important. Practitioners are more likely to "own" and use a code if they play a part in shaping it. That was a clear understanding of the 1999 Working Party which is amply supported by the literature on institutional change. The Working Party developed a draft statement which it intended to be the basis of widespread consultation prior to adoption. Of course such a course of action requires resources, which include time. Secondly, when agreement is reached, practitioners still need to be encouraged to interpret what it means for their practice. A code for all registered teachers which will necessarily be broad in scope and general in its statements must be interpreted to arrive at what it will mean for teachers at particular school levels and also what it will mean for the practice of teachers who fulfil different functions such as Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour, whose work is in some ways different from that of classroom practitioners in early childhood, primary and secondary settings. Similarly, some applications for senior teachers and principals, whose dealings may be more with staff than with students, will require exploration. It is possible that some groups may choose to develop their own statements of standards which are consistent with the overall code but spell out the relevance of that code to their particular practice. It is possible that the staff of a school might choose to do that. In general, codes of ethics seldom tell practitioners how to deal with ethical problems. At best, they point to where problems lie, but seldom do they tell the practitioner faced with the problem what he or she should do. Often the problem is not simply about choosing between right and wrong. Practitioners may be required to choose between desirable courses of action, or perhaps between undesirable alternatives (where the best outcome may be simply to minimize harm). This suggests to me that not only should teachers consider what the code means for their practice but that they should also practice applying it to ethical problems. And that is most successfully achieved via collegial discussion. More than 20 years ago, Judith Warren Little suggested that two important conditions for school improvement were that professional teachers should engage in frequent, continuous and increasingly concrete and precise talk about teaching practice, and teach each other the practice of teaching (Little, 1981). In my view, the further development of ethical capability by professional teachers in New Zealand requires precisely that with a focus on professional ethics. This means that a code of ethics is more likely to influence practice if teachers regularly refer to it in professional discussions, possibly using case problems and a set of broad guidelines (For examples see Kipnis, 1987; Haynes, 1998; Hall, 2001). Ultimately, what matters is not so much what is codified, but what happens in professional practice. Thus, the proclamation of a code of ethics for all New Zealand Registered Teachers must be seen as the start, rather than the end of an important journey for the profession, at a time when its members do not have a lot of spare time! That will require both leadership and resolve at many levels together with the commitment of resources. Questions for discussion:
References: Beauchamp, T.L. and Childress, J.F. (1997). Principles of biomedical ethics (4th edition). New York: Oxford University Press. Fullinwider, R. (1995). Professional codes and moral understanding. Res Publica 4(2), 1-6. Goodlad, J.I., Soder, R. and Sirotnik, K.A. (eds) (1990). The moral dimensions of teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Hall, A. (2001). Professionalism and teacher ethics. In McGee, C. and Fraser, D. (eds) The Professional practice of teaching (2nd edition), pages 273-300. Palmerston North: Dunmore Press. Haynes, F. (1998). The ethical school. London & New York: Routledge. Howe, K.R. (1986). A conceptual basis for ethics in teacher education. Journal of teacher education, 37(3), 5-12. Kipnis, K. (1987, May). How to discuss professional ethics. Young children, 26-30. Little, J. (1981). The power of organizational setting: school norms and staff development. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Los Angeles. Lovat, T. (1997). Ethics and ethics education: Professional and curricular best practice. Paper presented at the Biennial Conference of the Australian Curriculum Studies Association, the University of Sydney, July 1997. New Zealand Teacher Registration Board (1991). The registration of teachers in New Zealand. Wellington: NZTRB. Snook, I. and McGeorge, C. (1978). More than talk: Current Issues in education 5. Wellington. Department of Education. Soder, R. (1990). The rhetoric of teacher professionalization. In Goodlad, J.I., Soder, R. & Sirotnik, K. (Eds.) The moral dimensions of teaching (pp.35-86). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Soltis, J.F. (1986). Teaching professional ethics. Journal of teacher education, 37(3), 2-4. Teacher Ethics Working Party (Online). 30 March, 2001 (Not Available) . Tom, A. (1984). Teaching as a moral craft. New York: Longman. Wilson, J. (1967). What is moral education? Part 1. In Wilson, J., Williams, N. and Sugarman, B. (Eds.), Introduction to moral education. Baltimore: Penguin Books Appendix A ON THE ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF TEACHERS Parents are required by law to send their children to school. Those parents with necessary resources can send their children to private schools; those with resources and time can opt for home schooling. For the great majority of parents, however, public schools represent the only means to comply with the law. In general, then, there is equality of surrender. Equality of surrender, I would argue, should imply equality of treatment. That is to say children should not be subjected to differential responses because of differences in social class, ethnicity, gender, or other factors over which children have no control. It has long been recognized that there is, in fact, inequality of treatment (and inequality of outcomes, for that matter). But the existence of inequality does not justify inequality. Equality of surrender must imply equality of treatment. Therefore, those responsible for the treatment of children in schools have a moral obligation to ensure equality of treatment. Children by nature are defenseless. Children by tradition are taught to distrust strangers. But parents, in complying with compulsory schooling laws, turn their defenseless children over to virtual strangers. (Consider the amount of information most parents seek in selecting a baby-sitter versus the amount of information those same parents have about public school educators.) The surrendering of children to the state's schools thus represents a considerable act of trust. The state claims that surrender is for the general good; the parent accepts the claim but demands in return a guarantee that the child will be kept free from physical and mental harm. Those responsible for the physical and mental health of children in schools have a moral obligation to ensure that children are kept from harm. (p.73).
Soder, R. (1990). The rhetoric of teacher professionalization. In Goodlad, J.I., Soder, R. & Sirotnik, K. (Eds.) The moral dimensions of teaching (pp.35-86). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. CRITERIA FOR REGISTRATION AS A TEACHER The New Zealand Teacher Registration Board has four criteria for registration as a teacher. Registration in any category requires that a teacher . . .
New Zealand Teacher Registration Board (1991). The Registration of Teachers in New Zealand. Wellington: NZTRB. Appendix C PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATION When one becomes a member of a profession, he or she joins an historical community of practice with a telos, a general purpose, that one must be committed to in order to be a professional. In medicine, the general purpose is to promote health, and in education it is to promote learning. The clients, in these cases patients or pupils, put their trust in the professional's honest commitment to the purpose. There is thus built into the form of the practice itself a moral obligation on the part of the practitioners. To breach that obligation is to act unprofessionally. Likewise, in the tradition of a practice like teaching, certain standards of conduct and of manner develop in support of the telos and become recognised as a desirable part of the moral climate of the practice. In the treatment of students, of subject matter, and of colleagues, honesty, truth and justice become central virtues of the practice. (Soltis, 1986, p.2) One is not a free individual when one accepts membership in a profession. The very act of becoming a professional commits one to the ethical principles and standards of membership in the community of that profession and to the service of its general purpose. (Soltis, 1986, p.4)
Soltis, J.A. (1986). Teaching professional ethics, Journal of teacher education, 37 (3), 2-4. Appendix DAn Ethics Framework for New Zealand Registered Teachers
Appendix E Ontario College of Teachers Ordre des enseignantes et des enseignants de Ontario ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR THE TEACHING PROFESSION The teaching profession fosters the growth of dedicated and competent educators. Members of the profession uphold the dignity and honour of the profession through their practice. Members of the Ontario College of Teachers in their positions of trust and influence:
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