Ethical Leadership, Research Paper Example

Weekly Journal – Task 1

The focus of this weeks learning was based upon concepts of ethical leadership.  The early beginnings of ethics being inspired by the philosopher Plato and his account of Socrates.  Socrates poisoned himself rather than forsake his belief of truth.  Within the School Administration setting ethics cover a diverse background of different cultural groupings.  Nevertheless, it is the final responsibility of the School Administrator to ensure that this works on a holistic basis across all of the school.  ISLLC standard 5 supports ethical guidelines to assist the Administrator in leadership qualities to support good governance and ethical responsibilities in School.

Ethics in school are considered the transformational grounds for students to learn the values of citizenship in a democratic society. The learning experience begins right here at  School.  It is important to understand proper adult behavioural considerations, this together with the consequences of the choices of our decisions and actions taken.  Moral philosophers consider that there are no definitive set of ethical guidelines for individuals. Nevertheless, all those entering a professions e.g. Doctors, Lawyers, Nurses, Accountants, Teachers etc  will be bound by the membership uniform code of conduct and professional ethics.  Continued membership of the chosen profession wlll depend upon compliance.

Ethics in the teaching profession are often put to the test between the School Administration and Unions representing teaching staff.  In the event of deadlocked dispute the teachers have the right to go on strike.   As such this often goes to arbitration and as a result the school has to adjust the budget in order to deal with the resulting financial implications.

We also examined the concept of Women’s rights in an Academic setting. A study concluded that in High School girls were under represented in the school curricula, this adding weight to improved performance by male students.  The study had significant consequences after a TV discussion and open debate in 2003. Since that time it is reported that girls are outperforming male students in virtually every sector of study.

Collaborative Learning Community – Task 2

Zero Tolerance:  The School has a zero-tolerance policy towards any member of staff or student carrying what is described as an offensive weapon  in this context that includes all brands of firearms, knives, and any instrument that potentially harm another member of the community.  Those found in possession of such weapons will be brought immediately before a school disciplinary board and may result in expulsion from the school.

The effect of the zero tolerance policy raised varying levels of concern amongst the different stakeholders representing the school.  Each person was consulted and prescribed a different view to the policy.  The different value sets are briefly summarized below:

Parents: The Parents were generally supportive of the policy but equally cautious given recent circumstances where rogue gunman have entered school sites and security proved to be inadequate  to deal with the circumstances.  The right of self defence should equally apply to students in addition to that of adults.  Nevertheless it was generally agreed that this is a dangerous precedent to set  and creates additional paranoia amongst the students and into their adult life.  The subject matter gave rise for  the opportunity to criticise, not only this school but schools in general,  over inadequate security measures.  It was further considered that there is a need for armed security guards in the school that should come under the overall jurisdiction and training of the State Police.  Such people should be properly trained in both the use of the weapons and the circumstances where these should be used.  The Security Guards to undergo formal psychological testing to determine that they are suitable for blending into a School Community.  The Guards would equally have the right to question any students considered to be carrying offensive weapons.  The duty being immediate confiscation of such weapons and reported to the Head of the School for subsequent disciplinary action.  The parents would like a School Study to be commissioned into the entire aspect of School Security and presented to the Board of Governors and State Governor for review and recommendation.

Teachers: Had similar views to the Parents but equally stated that whilst they had the responsibility for teaching and the general well being of the students, this did not extend to the responsibility of School Security. It was believed that this firmly resides in the hands of the School Administration, Board of Governors and the local Police.  Recent events shown Schools and College sites to be particularly vulnerable from both internal and external sources of threat.  The zero tolerance policy, whilst going some way towards elimination of this threat, would not altogether prevent the occurence of weapons being used in the School.  A different approach was required and this embodied looking at how security should be used in a school setting.  The Teachers were not in favour of armed security guards wandering around the school campus.  They felt this would model the school on some sort of concentration camp or prison setting.  It would project the wrong image and further create an atmosphere of fear amongst the student population.  Whilst recognizing the limitation of resources on the local police force, nevertheless it was felt that this falls much more closely into their area of jurisdiction and that exploration should be made with the Police in terms of overall security enhancements.  The Teachers felt that this has moral implications and part of the teaching process is to communicate to students the importance to remain within the bounds of the law.

School Board: Fully supported the zero tolerance policy. They did not want to spend large sums of money in enhancing the School security procedures.  They felt that this was a question of clear directives and policies which all students and staff members should obey. It was very clear that those who were disobedient to these rules and potentially endangered other members of the school community should be immediately expelled. This would set a clear example to others in the School and establish a regimen of discipline that was needed in order to prevent serous incidents in the School.  They acknowledged that there was always the possibility of an external event occuring. This could always happen at any time but this fell squarely into the control of the local and state law enforcement policies. The School Board were very adamant in their views and did not want to explore alternate avenues of approach.

The Students: Essentially split into two distinct camps 60% for the policy with reservations and 40% against it.  When gender was taken into consideration the female lobby was 85% for the policy and 15% against it.  The main arguments came from the male populace who felt that they needed the option of self-defense.  They did however support an outright ban on firearms being brought into the school. There was a general feeling against having armed security guards but felt the need for added security and protection in the school.  They suggested a compromise here in terms of the school having a locked armoury under strict supervision. This could be made available to the security guards in the event of an extreme emergency.  In general terms security guards could patrol the school with less offensive weapons. Perhaps adopting the European model of a baton.

School Administration: Supported the zero tolerance policy with certain proviso’s. They felt the security enhancement option was worth further investigation with possible alignment to the zero tolerance policy.  They recognized the limitation on school funding but suggested that this initiative was far deeper than just this school.  It should be explored in the context of both State and Federal policies.  It may be possible to obtain federal funding or state grants to assist in enhancing the overall security measures for the school.  They aligned with the parents for the need relative to a proper study and investigation to be carried out.  It was felt that the Board of Governors was being a little intransigent in their failure to consider alternate policies.

Recommendations for Reducing Conflict:

The main protagonist supporting the zero tolerance policy was from the School Board of Governors.  Examining all of the Stakeholder input a common theme emerged in driving a consensus state forward:

1. There was need for a further independent study to be carried out relative to security enhancement in the School;
2. Security Guards could be used to patrol the school but the preference being they were not armed guards;
3. Finance was a consideration but the ultimate burden should not fall upon the school. The report should include representation from both Federal and State Government to determine levels of funding support and equally how such a model might be adopted for other schools in the State.  This might include some inter school collaboration scheme;
4. The zero tolerance policy does not really stand alone as a single edict.  The issues are much broader and need to embrace an overall School security framework;

It is considered that the following plan of action will mitigate the School Board of Governors concerns and provide a viable way forward:

1. An independent security consultancy firm will be engaged to carry out a comprehensive review of the school security policies.  This will include the zero-tolerance option but placed into a broader context.
2. The report will first be discussed with Federal and State representatives in order to put forward a business case for enhancing  School Security.  This will take into consideration the financial concerns of the Board of Governors.
3. A final report and recommendations will be presented to the Board of Governors seeking endorsement and approval.  This will then be presented to all the major stakeholders together with a suggested implementation plan.

The recommendations comply with ISLLC standards.