Ethical Challenges in Teaching, Essay Example

Abstract

The paper discusses ethical challenges in teaching. The specific ethical challenges for a K-2ND teacher are discussed. The paper provides recommendations to help K-2ND teachers to resolve the most complicated ethical dilemmas.

Ethical Challenges 2

That ethical challenges have a marked impact on the quality of education is difficult to deny. Multiculturalism and diversity in the classroom challenge teachers’ professional status quo and require that teachers adjust their practices to the new ethical conditions of knowledge delivery in the classroom. Whether teachers are able to deliver their knowledge effectively depends on how well they can articulate their ethical vision and how willing they are to detect and resolve the emerging ethical conflicts.

One of the major goals of education is to provide students with an opportunity to articulate their social future and to use informed judgment as they are moving toward their goals (Heyer, 2009). Teachers are expected to exercise the proactive approach to knowledge delivery and to use a variety of “truth processes that might supplement individual and socially inherited commitments” (Heyer, 2009). Teachers in K-2ND classes must understand that self-expression and self-realization are the two central elements of productive teaching. Students must possess self-realization opportunities that do not violate the rights of other students. To create and maintain a balanced atmosphere in the classroom, teachers must evaluate students’ informed judgments through a variety of perspectives. Teachers must ensure that students have a clear idea of how their judgments influence other students and the process of teaching (Heyer, 2009). Today, the variety of judgments and the diversity of opinions are the definitive features of excellent teaching in K-2ND classes.

It should be noted, that the idea of teaching excellence in multicultural contexts is difficult to grasp. Diverse students re-interpret the meaning of teaching excellence in a variety of ways. The U.S. scholarship tradition is about student independence and cooperative educational practices, but teachers in K-2ND classrooms often fail to decide what cultural values will work for the benefit of multicultural students (Henderson, Antelo & Clair, 2010). Again, diversity poses a serious teaching challenge which professional teachers in K-2ND classrooms must meet. Here, teachers must begin with profound self-examination and investigate the diversity of values and principles in the multicultural classroom. Teachers must transform their practices to meet the needs of diverse students (Henderson, Antelo & Clair, 2010). These practices will help diverse students to express their opinions freely and to excel in their studies.

Freedom of expression and judgment cannot suffice to lead students to their goals. The lack of association between student realities and school curricula presents one of the most serious ethical issues. School curriculum leaves little or no room for teaching students the realities of life (Natale & Sora, 2010). More often than not, teachers in K-2ND classrooms avoid re-interpreting academic knowledge in real-life terms. In multicultural learning environments, K-2ND teachers must be ready to create a complex cycle of interdependencies between various disciplines (Natale & Sora, 2010). Students must have an opportunity to express their judgments and opinions based on what they learn from their daily lives. To avoid these ethical conflicts, teachers must treat K-2ND students as conscious beings, to let them link their life experiences to what they learn in the classroom.

Self-expression and life experiences are of particular importance, whenever teachers want to educate their K-2ND students about the benefits of technology. Unfortunately, teachers do not always know what technologies will benefit students and what effects they will produce on the quality of teaching. Teachers are to engage in cooperation with their IT and engineering colleagues, to be able to explore the social and ethical implications of these technologies and to educate students about them (McGregor & Wetmore, 2009). Teachers must re-interpret the benefits of the emerging technologies through a variety of perspectives and must be willing to link K-2ND technologies to student daily practices.

Conclusion

Teachers in K-2ND classrooms face a variety of ethical dilemmas. The growing diversity of students and perspectives imposes new requirements on teachers. Whether K-2ND teachers can deliver knowledge effectively depends on how well they can detect and resolve the emerging ethical dilemmas. Teachers must re-interpret curricula and knowledge through a variety of perspectives and link curriculum content to student realities. K-2ND teachers must engage in cooperation with engineers and IT professionals, to ensure that the technologies they use in the classroom benefit their students. Teachers must provide students with broad self-realization opportunities in ways that do not violate the rights of other students in the classroom. Ultimately, teachers must ensure that they can meet the needs of diverse students in K-2ND learning environments.

References

Henderson, R.L., Antelo, A. & Clair, N. (2010). Ethics and values in the context of teaching excellence in the changing world of education. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, 7(3): 5-11.

Heyer, K. (2009). Education as an affirmative invention: Alan Badiou and the purpose of teaching and curriculum. Educational Theory, 59(4): 441-463.

McGregor, J. & Wetmore, J.M. (2009). Researching and teaching the ethics and social implications of emerging technologies in the laboratory. Nanoethics, 3: 17-30.

Natale, S.M. & Sora, S.A. (2010). Exceeding our grasp: Curricular change and the challenge to the assumptive world. Journal of Business Ethics, 92: 79-85.