MAKE Tech Pedagogy

Individual task

This week, we did not have lecture or group work, but our individual task related to values and ethics in education. In the following section, I describe what I found about the topic.

What are values and ethics in vocational eduction?

Ethics and values in educational contexts can be applied to “all aspects of education which either explicitly or implicitly relate to ethical dimensions of life and are such that can be structured, regulated and monitored with appropriate educational methods and tools.” (Ćurko et al., 2015, p.6). I did not find exact components of ethics and values: what are included in ethics and values. Thus, I consider the following components as components of values and ethics, as mentioned in the competence goals in our Oulu University of Applied Science vocational teacher school’s curriculum: ethical principles, human rights, equality, active participation, and sustainable development.

What indicates (the presence of) competence in values and ethics in vocational teacher’s actions?

Ghiațău (2015) categorised teachers’ ethical competence into four: ethical knowledge, ethical skills, ethical values, and ethical attitudes.

Ethical knowledge

Ethical knowledge can be described as an intuitive, tacit, and experiential type of knowledge (Ghiațău, 2015), which enable teachers to make theoretical and practical links of ethical values. We as teachers, we should understand what to be considered in order to maintain values and ethics in educational contexts

Ethical skills

Ethical skills represents skills to implement elements of moral and ethical knowledge in teaching. Four elements of moral conduct include:
1) The receptiveness component: recognising a situation morally relevant issue.
2) The reasoning component: ethical judgement or moral judgement
3) The moral motivation component: giving priority to ethical action over other goals and needs.
4) The component of implementation: applying morally correct decisions into practice.
(Rest, 1994)

In order to apply ethical knowledge in practice, teachers should recognise the situation and make judgement based on understanding of values and ethics. Teachers should give priority to ethical action over other rules while making decisions or actions. Finally, teachers apply ethical knowledge in practice in teaching and learning (see section below: How are the values and ethics present in educational contexts?).

Ethical values and ethical attitudes

Seven core values in teaches’ ethical competence (Ghiațău, 2015) are as follows.
1) care
Caring is a way of building intellectual and emotional relationship with students rather than specific behaviour (e.g., giving smiles and hugs). Caring in school contexts includes, being available to students, respecting students as individuals, willing to give extra effort, welcoming questions in class, inviting discussion outside of class, getting to know students, wanting students to learn / succeed.
2) freedom
Making decision according to one’s own will with respect of and for the rules, such as, creating a space free communication, removing obstacles in expressing opinions, respecting for one’s decisions, avoiding external constraints in teaching and evaluation (no interference practices), developing and transmitting knowledge freely.
3) autonomy
Recognising limits and constraints, teachers and their work should not be intervened by authority.
4) justice
Justice in school contexts include, for example, non-discrimination, equal opportunity, avoiding conflicts of interest, and preventing corruption.
5) respect
Responding to others with gratitudes and overcoming egocentrism without neglecting oneself. Respect in school contexts includes, for instance, respecting students’ cultural and social background, respecting students’ knowledge and skills, and respecting other stakeholders (e.g., colleagues, principals, parents).
6) responsibility
Identifying rights and duties for teachers leads to establishing responsibilities as professionals. Professional responsibilities include, for example, responsibility in teaching, responsibility as a member of an institution (e.g., school), and responsibility as a member of a community.
7) integrity
Applying moral principles with honesty, courage and respect. It is most visible when teachers reflect on their own act in a situation involves feelings of anxiety and uncertainty.

Code of ethics

A code of ethics is a guideline for ethical behaviour in institutions including schools or other learning communities. It is “a systematically collected, well defined and clearly formulated set of criteria, policies and norms that apply to the practical arrangements for the proper conduct of individuals, describing patterns of exemplary behaviour and performance” (Ćurko et al., 2015, p.14). The structure of a code of ethics can be, for example, 1) preamble (an introduction with aims, rationale, scopes, and basic ethical values), 2) statement of core values, 3) guiding standard and basic principles, 4) description of expected conduct, 5) statements of rights, roles and/or responsibilities and 6) pledge (a first-person statement express an employee’s will to respect and follow the code of ethics) (Ethics Resource Center, 2001).

Examples of code of ethics

University of Oulu: Code of conduct for the prevention and processing of misconduct in studies at University of Oulu
Oulu University of Applied Sciences: Academic/professional conduct and ethical guidelines
Aalto University: Aalto University Code of Academic Integrity and Handling Violations Thereof

How are the values and ethics present in educational contexts?

Planning

Teachers should respect students’ culture (e.g., ethnicity, race, gender, economic status) while planning lessons. Teachers should first understand and respect students’ culture and background. Lessons should be designed and implemented appropriately, in accordance with the students’ background and cultural differences. (see also my blog about international and multicultural competence).

Assessment and feedback

Teachers should assess students learning outcomes fairly without any bias. Teachers should prepare assessment and feedback methods flexibly so that every students are able to demonstrate competence in a comfortable way. In addition, teachers should be aware of possible misconducts in assessment (e.g., cheating in exam, plagiarism in thesis or report) and deal with issues professionally following institution’s guideline, when misconducts are found.

Teaching and guiding methods

Teaching and guiding methods should be developed based on respect for the students’ psychological characteristics (e.g., cognitive skills, social skills, language abilities). For instance, when there are students who do not speak local language, teaching materials should be prepared also in other language (e.g., English). In the lesson, teachers should interact with students fairly without any favour or disfavour.

Special needs education

Ethics in teachers work is contextual. While in some situations, fairness means that all students have the same opportunities, in other situations, fairness means treating students differently because they have different educational needs (Ghiațău, 2015). Especially in special needs education, teachers should provide support or prepare materials which meet students’ needs (see also my blog about special pedagogy).

Legal issues

Teachers should make decision and actions following the laws and amendments, such as Finlex Universities Act (558/2009). For instance, teachers should not disclose information of students to others without any specific reasons, such as colleagues (see my blog about Law and amendment).

Intercultural and international issues

Teachers should understand students’ diverse cultural background, and prepare safe and respectful environments where everyone can express opinions without discriminating other students and different culture. As role model, teachers should take active role in deepening understanding of cultural differences, for instance, through collaboration in international educational settings. (see also my blog about international and multicultural competence)

Reflection

Through this individual task, I developed conceptual and practical understanding towards values and ethics in different aspects in teachers’ job. The most remarkable finding is that teachers should be role models for students. I realised that we, as teachers, have big role and responsibility in developing students’ morals, values and ethics. As Ghiațău (2015) noted, teachers’ ethics and moral are most visible when we face a situation which requires ethical judgement and action. Such situations are different in every time and often complicated involve¥ing multiple perspectives and aspects. Thus, teachers should prepare as much as possible (e.g., by familiarising ourselves with institution’s code of ethics or being aware of students’ different background), and act professionally considering which aspects to be prioritised.

References

Ćurko, B., Feiner, F., Gerjolj, S., Juhant, J., Kreß, K., Mazzoni, V., Mortari, L., Pokorny, S., Schlenk, E., & Strahovnik, V.,(2015). Ethics and Values Education - Manual for Teachers and Educators. ETHIKA - Ethics and values education in schools and kindergartens. Retrieved 20 December 2019 from http://www.ethics-education.eu/resources/ManualTeachers_EN.pdf
Ethics Resource Center. (2001). A Guide to Developing Your Organization’s Code of Ethics. Retrieved 20 December 2019 from https://www.shrm.org/about-shrm/Documents/organization-coe.pdf
Ghiațău, R. M. (2015). Ethical Competence for Teachers: A Possible Model. Symposion, 2(3), 387-403.
Rest, J. (1986). Moral Development. Advances in Research and Theory. New York: Praeger.

(Last update: 21.12.2019)