Ethical Decision making (Post-test)

Ethical Decision-Making (Post-test)

 

     Much has been learned about ethical decision-making in this course.  Prior to taking the course I used ethics and morals interchangeably.  I no longer make that mistake.   Morals are the set of standards of right and wrong whereas ethics is the moral philosophy or code of civility of society.  We have studied intensely the ethics of leaders this semester.

     Ethical leadership has dated back to the philosophers of Western civilization from Socrates to Aristotle.   The same doctrines were used then and are have been updated to meet the needs of today’s society.  Ethical leaders must have integrity, compassion, and be trustworthy.  Gant states that ethical leaders should be transparent.  What I take that to mean is that ethical leaders should reveal their plan of action and be available to subordinates regardless their level.  Ethical leaders have the power to lead an organization to great heights or to destroy the organization.

     Frances Hester shared how ethical leadership can cross a very fine line.  Although actions of leaders are not intended to be unethical, it occurs.  She did a great job with ethics of the student and principal while both exhibit ethical principles.  She shared an article about a young girl in Florida who at the age of 12 has been charged with many felonies.  Some of the same actions in another school under another principal would have been handled in a different manner; however, this principal called the police each time the young student was disruptive.  I was appalled by the decision of the principal especially since the actions of the student were directly associated with her special education disability.  We had a great discussion in class regarding this article.  Remember ethics is the principles which governs society and abides within the legal system and policy and procedures of the organization.  According the school district, the principal was within the policy of the district; she did not break any laws.  By definition, she is acting in an ethical manner.  The question then arises how will felonies affect the progression of a 12 year old student and the future of this student?  Was the principal acting in the best interest of the student?  No, she was not but she was acting in the best interest of the other students and staff.  She had to protect the school and keep it a safe and civil learning environment. 

 

     Mathias Vairez gave us an in-depth and historical breakdown of ethics.  He gave us the philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. A vast amount of Western Civilization history was presented and the format of each of the philosophers and historians.   Mat described the four major branches of ethics.  They are:

• Meta-ethics - about the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions and how their truth values (if any) may be determined;
• Normative ethics - about the practical means of determining a moral course of action;
• Applied ethics - about how moral outcomes can be achieved in specific situations;
• Descriptive ethics - also known as comparative ethics, is the study of people's beliefs about morality             

 

                                    

     Ethical leadership must be maintained in business as well as in education.  We must ensure the safety of the stakeholders but must act for the betterment of the organization.  Power is the root of decline of many leaders who were once very ethical leaders.  The British historian Lord Acton states that absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Ethical leaders must remain focused on the big picture which is the organization.  Increasing the power of the leader and his team will increase the organization as a whole.  Increasing the power of only the leader will lead to discourse and possibly the demise of the organization if a leadership change does not occur.  Some major companies in the USA have fallen from grace because they did not change the leadership in a timely manner.  Some of these companies have not been able to recover.  Such companies as Enron and WorldCom have become the trademark companies to use in Ethics Courses at business schools. These companies had millions of people lose everything they own.  Some of the CEO’s and top directors were sent to prison.   The downfall of religious companies is more detrimental because of the breakdown of the religious communities.  Ted Haggart, Steven Flockhart, Jimmy Swaggart, and Jim Baker were pastors who left followers and in some instances the country in dismay.  Unethical actions began occurring after immorality entered the lives the ministers.  The power of the people is overwhelming and these great men fell just as Jeff Skilling, Kenneth Lay, and Bernard Madoff did when greed took over. 

                                                    

                    

     The Bible and an old Chinese proverb say that money is the root of all evil. Money seems to change the views of people especially when they are not from an economically stabled environment.  All ethical leaders do not change.  We all have a sense of spirituality.  Those leaders who are spiritually inclined and lead with integrity remain grounded and desire to see the company progress without disgrace.  Educational leaders are usually in this group.  It takes a special type of person to become an educator and to lead educators.  We must do what is good for the entire school, community and district.  Ethical leadership in education will create productive citizens and well rounded environment for students who might not learn social skills anywhere else.

 

    There was an incident that occurred that borders on ethical and unethical decisions.  A student received a poor grade from a teacher.  The student did not realize the grade was going to be unfavorable because the posted grades showed a high “C” average.  There were several grades not posted but the student knew he had done a great job on the assignments so he was sure he would complete the course with at least a “B” average.  He knew he had to maintain A’s and B’s in order to remain in advanced placement classes.  The semester ended and student was home for Christmas break when his parents received a letter.  The student had been dismissed from the Advanced Placement Center and was told to contact the school at the return from Christmas break to register in general education classes.  His parents wanted to contact the teacher but the student did not want any repercussion; he knew he would have to take the teacher again.  His parents agreed.  The student return to school but was given a schedule in advanced placement classes.  His counselor told him that his name had not been removed from her list of AP students so don’t worry about his letter.  The young man did very well that semester.  Unfortunately, he was not allowed to register for his AP classes for the next year.  He and his parents thought the school was enforcing the letter from the previous semester.  The principal would not meet with the student but his Upper Level Advisor explained the protocol.  The student was disappointed but did as directed.  He was re-instated for the following semester but lost AP credits which would have allowed him to graduate early.  Should the school have allowed the young man to continue on his path since the school had made a mistake by not removing his name?  Should the school have taken into account that the student could have done an extra credit assignment had he known his grades from the teacher?  Should instructors prolong the grading of assignments?

 

 

     In all we do we must remain ethical.  “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”    — Peter Drucker