Should Teachers Be Good People?

Should Teachers Be Good People?

When parents send their children to school each morning, they do so with the intent of their child going to an educational and ethical environment. But in recent years the moral value at our schools seems to be in sharp decline. Is it possible to expect our children to be ethical people when they are surrounded by unethical examples?

The National Council on the Accreditation of Teacher Education and many state education departments take temperament or disposition under consideration when recommending students for certification. (Imber, 2006) Because teachers have such a major influence in the lives of our children, they should be held responsible for their actions in and out of the classroom

The Supreme Court of 1925, in a case known as Pierce vs. Society of Sisters, decided that states were allowed to regulate any school, public or private. One of these regulations was a requirement that teachers be of good character. The standards of the National Council for Accreditation state:

Candidates work with students, families, and communities in ways that reflect the dispositions expected of professional educators as delineated in professional, state, and institutional standards. Candidates recognize when their own dispositions may need to be adjusted and are able to develop plans to do so. (NCATE, 2002, ¶ 3)

Historically, teachers were expected to be models of good behavior. They were the instructors of not only knowledge, but also morals and virtues. What chance did a school have of teaching its students not to drink if its teachers were seen at the local bar?

The most obvious way to teach is by example. Students imitate teachers they trust.

Anyone with access to the media has heard the name Mary Kay Letourneau; she is the 34-year-old teacher who became infamous in 1996 when she had sex with her then 12-year-old student. At the time the entire country was in complete shock and disbelief that such a relationship could develop within the halls of our schools. Now it seems to have become a phenomenon. Almost weekly one reads about teachers in our country seducing a student. Just this week The Cincinnati Enquire ran a story titled "Ex-Colerain teacher gets 4 years for sexual battery." The article states that the teacher attempted to have sex with his 17-year-old student (Coolidge, 2006).

Not only are teachers having sex with students but they are also having sex with other teachers at school. In a recent case in "Tampa, Florida, two middle school teachers resigned after students saw them having sex in a classroom. Frances J. Sepulveda, 30, and Bryant J. Wilburn, 29, said they had sex in the classroom during school hours on one or two occasions." (ABC NEWS, 2006, ¶ 2) This kind of blatant disrespect for the ethics code is becoming a trend in American schools.

The moral ethics of one teacher in New York has become the center of a very controversial case.

Michelle McCusker teaches at the St. Rose of Lima, a Catholic school in Rockaway Beach, New York. She is now 18 weeks pregnant and informed the principal that she hoped to carry the baby to term, but that her plans did not include marrying the baby's father. Two days later, the principal fired McCusker for violating the school's policy prohibiting pre-marital sex (Marshall, 2005, ¶ 2).

The Diocese of Brooklyn has pointed out that all teachers are "required to convey the teachings of the Catholic faith by his or her words and actions. McCusker simply cannot perform her key function as a role model and conveyor

of values to her very young charges while being visibly pregnant. She is, in this state, a walking, talking promotion for unwed motherhood" (Marshall, 2005, ¶ 3).

"Teachers are powerful role models whose conduct is crucial in determining which values are learned and accepted by students. Unwed motherhood, especially for teenagers, is potentially destructive behavior that parents, schools and teachers have an obligation to discourage" (Marshall, 2005, ¶ 1).

There has been a great deal of publicity lately concerning the quality of teachers in this country. Some school districts are adopting a form of peer review, which allows teachers to learn from one another. A teacher's character and everyday life are constantly under scrutiny by the community.

Teachers influence our society today like no other time before. We live in a world with an on-going war against terrorism, corporate fraud, and leadership exhibiting unethical behavior. In a student's early education, teachers shape future ethical behavior by telling students it is wrong to cheat. During the middle school years, teachers open the world to students, so students can begin to question and explore, thus laying the foundation for development of ideas, values, and ethics. As students attend higher education, teachers have the responsibility to build our future ethical leaders. "The future of our country depends on our ability to prepare ethical and moral leaders for the future. Teacher educators must address this critical issue" (Lehr, 2003, ¶ 11).

Elizabeth Campbell (2001) outlined some personal views regarding ethical teachers:

* Teachers must be aware that their actions and beliefs have a fundamentally moral and ethical influence on students and, therefore, they must be able to distinguish between good and bad effects on the basis of a sound understanding of right and wrong.

* Teachers must conduct themselves as responsible professionals at all times with honesty, integrity, fairness, impartiality and kindness.

* A teacher's first moral responsibility is to the students in his or her care.

The points above represent a professional who is interested in what is ethically correct. Many teaching organizations today produce a Code of Ethics to protect the institution itself and if