Chapter 8: What are the Ethical and Legal Issues Facing Teachers? by Coral Tigert

As the English poet John Donne once said, “No man is an island”; therefore everyone on this planet has some kind of connection with his or her fellow humans. The systems of ethics and laws are a critical part of these connections. Ethics, the code of morality by a specific group or person, and laws, written rules that members of a society must follow, make civilized society and coexistence between people possible. It is a teacher’s responsibility to convey to their students the essential moral message that we are all legally and ethically bound to each other. Ethics and legal obligations are incorporated into teachers’ work every day.

In dealing with issues involving ethical judgment, teachers need to demonstrate six characteristics: appreciation for moral deliberation, empathy, knowledge, reasoning, courage, and interpersonal skills. With appreciation for moral deliberation, the teacher needs to see the complex moral dimensions of the problem and appreciate that care must be taken to protect the legal rights of all parties. The teacher also needs to be empathetic by feeling what the others in an ethically troublesome situation are feeling. A teacher needs to have impeccable knowledge to effectively deal with ethical issues; meaning he/she needs to be able to formulate reasonable approaches to the problem and from experience, anticipate the consequences of each approach. To go along with knowledge, the teacher needs to have sufficient reasoning skills to reflect systematically on an issue. In reasoning, the teacher will move through the issue step by step and compare a specific event or action with some moral principle and come to a conclusion. To act on ethical issues, a teacher needs to be courageous. Anyone can feel, know, and reason but it takes courage to take action on those feelings, knowledge, and reasons. Finally, the teacher needs to be able to use interpersonal communication skills to act with sensitivity.

These six characteristics are vital for every teacher because not be a day will pass in our teaching careers where we will not be faced with ethic and legal setbacks.