Why Ethics? Why Now?

Thoughts on the Moral Challenges Facing Educational Leaders

In their seminal 1982 book on the superintendency, David Tyack and Elizabeth Hansot describe those who fill this role as "managers of virtue." Embedded in their vivid metaphor is the idea that superintendents and, by extension, other educational leaders are expected to both embody and promote the dominant norms of communities they serve.

Using rich historical data, Tyack and Hansot point out that throughout most of the 20th century, the "virtues" associated with the superintendency were, for the most part, uncontested. Simply put, educational leaders were expected to embrace mainstream American cultural, social, and political values.

For a number of years, the expectation that superintendents were functioning as managers of virtue lulled us into complacency about the ethical dimensions of educational leadership. It was assumed that district and school officials possessed the qualities necessary to conduct themselves personally and professionally according to accepted moral standards. In recent years, such an assumption has become seriously flawed. For example, university-based training for educational administrators until recently typically ignored preparation for moral leadership. And all too often, school boards have appeared interested only in the technical and political qualifications of educational executives; the ability of a superintendent to recognize and respond to the ethical dimensions of schooling has been a non-issue.

Compelling Needs

No longer can we afford to be complacent about the ethical dimensions of educational leadership. We must wrestle with what it means to be moral leaders of school systems, individuals who embody justice and caring and demonstrate a genuine concern for the development of others and their communities.

At least four characteristics of our professional lives compel us to take seriously the challenges at hand, to enter into thoughtful and sustained conversations about the values we hold, and to construct appropriate ways to honor those values.

* The situations that challenge our moral reasoning are complex.

The demographics of many school districts have changed radically in recent years. More students than ever are living in poverty. The ethnic makeup of neighborhoods and schools has shifted. This, in turn, has spawned racial tensions and complex power struggles within and between schools and school boards. Superintendents must discover ways to manage the challenges accompanying such struggles.

On a personal level, they must honor all participants. On a professional level, they must create democratic spaces where all persons in conflict have a voice. At the same time, they must ensure that the rights of any individual or group do not infringe upon those of others.

Even as they are moving ahead in these areas, superintendents must continue to make day-to-day decisions to ensure that systems continue to operate and support high quality learning and teaching. They also must handle the crises that inevitably occur. And all too often, they must make and implement decisions while working with school board members and other government officials who carry specific political agendas that may not be in the best interest of schools.

The ethical sensitivity required in such situations is great. Leaders working with representatives of different cultures engaged in a power struggle must empathize with multiple, competing perspectives. They must honor those who hold such views but not necessarily yield to them. They must recognize both the power and political vulnerability in their position, but not allow the former to tempt them to misuse the latter.

In recent years, some superintendents have found themselves in other complicated situations, ones in which they had to craft a course of action that threaded a needle between competing good things. In several districts, the values associated with parental involvement, with honoring diverse religious commitments, and with democratic ideals inherent in shared decision-making have come squarely into conflict with values associated with culturally sensitive teaching and assessment, with what the superintendent perceives as quality pedagogy, and with respect for the decisions of educational professionals. Performance based assessments--strongly supported by many in the educational community--have been challenged by parents for a variety of reasons. Detracking, pushed by superintendents seeking more equitable ways of structuring classrooms, has met strong resistance. Efforts to acknowledge the multiple forms of family have been blasted by some who feel threats to the sanctity of their deeply held religious values.

Leadership in such cases requires far more than technical knowledge. Indeed, it requires more than legal knowledge. Superintendents today must have a strong sense of purpose, tremendous patience, and great wisdom as they seek to lead school districts through complex situations.

Inequitable Conditions

* The stakes are high in situations that challenge our moral reasoning.

Students attending schools today face situations different from those most of us faced in our youth. For many youngsters in urban areas, the possibility of being killed by a weapon brandished by another student is a very real one. Superintendents must craft strategies for ensuring this does not happen.

This task requires not just serious strategic planning, but also that leaders confront a number of ethical questions. They must ask themselves if a fundamental inequity exists in installing metal detectors and instituting locker checks in urban schools attended by high numbers of low-income, minority youngsters if similar devices are not placed in more affluent suburban schools. They must consider students' fundamental rights to privacy and decide when safety considerations override these basic rights. They and those with whom they work continually must examine themselves to ensure that appropriate security measures do not, in some way, degenerate into Gestapo tactics that ultimately do more to incite violence than to prevent it.

These are not easy issues to address, but they are ones the ethical superintendent cannot avoid. An ill-conceived policy or plan can lead to a genuine degradation of individuals and, perhaps, to a reaction on the part of students and communities that ultimately could result in greater numbers of weapons and higher levels of violence in our schools.

Similarly, despite public information campaigns promoting abstinence and responsible sexual expression, young people are contracting the HIV virus in terrifyingly high numbers. Educational leaders nationwide are grappling with how to respond. Many school districts, in an effort to stem the tide of this disease, have begun sexuality education programs. The decision of whether to institute such a program poses another ethical quandary. School leaders must decide if any discussion of sexuality constitutes an intrusion into the spheres of the family and church. If they decide that the school has a responsibility in this area, they must grapple with the nature and content of the programs being offered. Should they merely provide factual information? If so, what should be included in the instruction and who should deliver it? Or should sexuality education programs actively promote certain values? Should they provide condoms or information about options in case a pregnancy occurs? Under what conditions should parents be involved? And who makes these decisions?

A poorly conceived plan can violate the rights of children or parents. It also can communicate a profound disrespect for deeply held values. Furthermore, the promotion of sexuality education programs that engender high levels of hostility from the public may mean political and professional disaster for educational administrators. However, a well-conceived plan might save a child's life or health. Thoughtful leaders, those who aspire to ethical practice, must seriously consider the impact of both their actions and their failure to act.

To the frustration of many educators, no easy answers exist in high-stakes, ethical dilemmas. Superintendents who fail to recognize this are naive. However, those who recognize the difficulty of their task and run from tough and troublesome decisions are equally naive. Students, their families, and even teachers within our schools--because they are real, vulnerable people--are at risk for all sorts of serious problems. They bring these risks with them every time they walk through the doors of our schools. We can pretend they do not exist, but such pretense does not make them disappear. In fact, it only tends to heighten the likelihood of tragedy occurring. We must respond to such circumstances with care, reflection, and a genuine awareness of the implications of our behaviors and decisions.

Far-Reaching Impact

* The impact of our moral decisions and actions is enormous.

Some ethical decisions and actions make an enormous difference in the lives of selected individuals. Many more have widespread and pervasive influence on the lives of many. Indeed, it could be argued that few institutions in our society have an ethical impact equal to that exerted by schools.

This point is beautifully made by Philip Jackson, Robert Boostrom, and David T. Hanson in their 1993 book, The Moral Life of Schools. After spending extensive amounts of time in educational settings, the authors conclude that the moral impact of schools extends far beyond didactic instruction on values and that ethical practice on the part of educators involves more than navigating moral dilemmas. Based on careful documentation of activities and interactions in schools and classes, the authors assert that "every detail of school life, from the interior of the principal's office to the way the school's cafeteria operates, from the schoolwide policy that governs the giving of grades to the rules that deal with the way students move through the halls" can and often does have moral significance.

Jackson, Boostrom, and Hanson argue that the fact that educational structures, policies, curriculum, and practices have a powerful impact on human lives places tremendous responsibility upon teachers and administrators. This responsibility requires educators to struggle with deeply held personal and professional beliefs and values. It asks teachers and administrators to reflect upon all they do and the ways their decisions and practices support or contradict moral ideals.

Such activities are not easy, but they must not be avoided. Failure to wrestle with the impact of our behavior does not negate the influence it has. It simply means that we run the risk of thoughtlessly shaping the lives of students and becoming careless professionals when it comes to our own moral development.

Aging Institutions

* Institutions that traditionally guided our moral reasoning are crumbling.

Brad Mitchell, in a compelling chapter that opens the 1991 yearbook for the National Society of Education, argues that this era is one of unprecedented loss for schools and those who inhabit them. He writes, "We face a world of splintered realities where attention spans are short and dreams are delimited. Nothing seems to be holding us together."

Mitchell argues that the institutions that once provided us with stable norms and values and with "a sense of identity, a sense of place, and a sense of worth" no longer exist. The loss of such institutions brings with it risks to students. It also imposes challenges upon educational leaders. In the absence of formal and informal organizations that in the past provided guidance in morally challenging situations, individual educators must look elsewhere for guidance. Ultimately, they must look within themselves to determine the right course of action in a given situation.

Organizations such as the American Association of School Administrators, committed to the preparation and professional growth of educational administrators, must find ways to develop and support moral competency in leaders of our schools. Giving lip service to the importance of moral leadership does little good if it is not backed by investments of time, money, energy, and intellectual engagement.

This issue of The School Administrator represents an important step in such an effort. It does so by devoting an entire issue to this topic. Articles in this issue provide important perspectives on the very real ethical challenges administrators face.

This issue also establishes an important resource base to help superintendents, principals, and others respond to the host of problems and dilemmas they face. Contributing authors raise key questions about leadership. Their ideas offer guidance for managing difficult situations, provide insights into ways to focus one's thinking and action, and prompt ongoing reflection and dialogue about the critical topic of ethical leadership.

The challenge for each of us is to take advantage of this resource and, indeed, of other sources of support and guidance and to continually consider the ethical impact of our decisions, actions, and policies upon the lives of those with whom we live and work.

Lynn Beck is the author of Reclaiming Educational Administration as a Caring Profession, Ethics in Educational Leadership Programs, and Ethics Teaching in Educational Administration: Emerging Models.

COPYRIGHT 1996 American Association of School Administrators
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group