ETHIC AND DISPOSITION ESSAY 1

Ethics and Dispositions Essay

Hannah R. Garza

Wesleyan College
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For as long as I can remember there have been rules. I have been told to follow the rules and be

ethical. Of course as a child I did not know what being ethical meant. Ethics are moral principles

that govern a person or groups behavior. Everywhere you go and everything you do there are a

set of rules that must be followed. Classrooms, governments, and the Bible include sets of rules

to make life flow more smoothly. A society without rules will be destructive, unsuccessful, and

there will be no consequences, which would lead to a place with no remorse.

According to Wesleyan College Education Departments Conceptual Framework,

Wesleyan graduates will demonstrate knowledge, skills, and proficiencies. Wesleyan College is a

liberal arts college teaching basic skills like, math, history, science and humanities. In most

subjects we have rules to follow, such as in math we have procedures like PEMDAS to get the

correct answer. History tells us when and how governments and legislatures were form, like

American was created and runs on the constitution. The education department provides its

students with the knowledge they need to be ethical in the education profession. Providing us

with readings, classes, and projects that focus on why being ethical in the education profession is

important. We will be evaluated on ourselves in the classroom by portfolios, observations, and

student tasks.

Ethics on the education profession is very important because it is a place where children

learn ethics from the teachers. If teachers lack ethics the classroom will not run smoothly and the

children will not receive the full benefit of the classroom. Standard 1 of the Georgia Professional

Standards Commission Code of Ethics for Professional Educators states that teachers should

abide by federal, state, and local laws and statutes. Teachers cannot receive special treatment

when they are in the classroom. It seems like common sense but some teachers may not know the

difference between right and wrong. Ethics knowing right from wrong and each teacher must
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have those instincts or the children may not be in safe hands. Teachers cannot murder, sell drugs,

trafficking sales, or any other crime involving moral turpitude.

Teachers should never become too attached to their students or give some students special

treatments. Each student should be treated fairly and with respect. As a teacher I will treat each

student fairly and I know how hard that can be sometimes because some children can be

annoying at times. Teachers need to find the patience to give each student the full benefit of

being a student. Teachers need to realize that if there are feelings involved you are doing

something wrong. Students should not fear coming to school or nor have sexual feelings toward

the students. The revoking of the license will stop misconceptions like those feelings. It needs to

be solved immediately or it consequences will be involved. There have been multiple teachers

from my high school lose their jobs for misbehaving with students. They said the student wanted

to pull their grade up or they just were having fun. Both teachers have been fired and are not

allowed on Peach County property anymore.

As a child, I always was told that honesty is key. Honesty means everything especially if

you are looking for trust. In my opinion, trust is what runs the classroom. Children should be

able to talk to the teacher if anything is wrong or if the grade is declining the student should be

able to talk to the student about it to help bring it up. Honesty is important as a teacher because

there are numerous people counting on you. Whether it is for their childrens safety or for teacher

not to take school property home or resale it. Teachers have opportunities to receive money, such

as for field trips, fundraisers, and other public funding for the school. The ethical thing would be

to be honesty with the school, children, and faculty of the school. Being honest will also tie in

with standard 6 because if a parent offers you money you should never take it unless you are

allowed to do so. Teachers should not promote other businesses or their own business at school
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functions. It seems as if they are more concerned about other jobs than being an educator.

Children should be the number one priority.

As a teacher, children may go through difficulties, such as sickness, family issues, or

counseling. Teachers are required to provide student confidentiality. Teachers are not allowed to

release test scores of the students. As a teacher I will not release any kind of information that can

degrade a student or cause other students to tease other students because of their test scores or

sickness. I am not sure if they had this law in the 1980s when Ryan White was diagnosed with

AIDS and the schools would not allow him to be in the classroom or participate in school

activities. Students should be treated equally no matter the circumstances. It will be my goal to

make every child feel equal but important.

Each teacher has a job to do. Some teachers have more minor jobs than others. If you are

being paid to do something, I feel that you should do the job you are being paid for, especially if

it is in the contract you signed and were told to follow. If someone is given a contract and the

break it there should be contracts. A contract is like a promise and you should no break it. As a

teacher I will now my job and responsibilities and I will follow them. At times, there might be

situations where it would be easier to break the contract and do your own thing. Even if the

contract includes something you are not sure about you should at least show your concerns to the

person presenting the contract to you. They should have prior knowledge before you decide to

willing refuse the services of the contract.

A childs safety is the most important thing to me. I love to see children laughing and

playing and having such a great time. It breaks my heart to see a child hurt or crying. I want to

help children in every way I can and if I see a child hurt or scared I am immediately concerned.

If a child is missing a lot of school, coming in late, or has bruises on his or her arms it should be
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reported. Teachers should never ignore those signs because something could be happening at

home that may need to be stopped. Education is very important to children because it is the start

of their life and if something is putting a halt on that it need to be fixed to let the students to get

the education needed.

Each teacher should act professionally in the classroom. Teachers should not be friends to

the students but act friendly to them. Help them with school not with boyfriend or girlfriend

problems. Teachers need to know their place in the classroom and the students place in the class.

The teacher is there to educate and not to ask advice or have the student help make life decisions

for them. As a teacher, Of course games are fun and I will let them play some days but the games

will always be educational and will benefit the student in was of academically and teamwork so

they know they can trust each other.

Testing is very important in schools. In some schools teachers are paid by performance of

their students. Teacher who know they are being paid for performance may want to open tests to

see what to teach the students instead of going by the curriculum. The incident in Atlanta a

couple years back showed how you cannot trust some teachers, and those teacher may just be in

it for the pay and that is why they will cheat to get a higher pay.

I feel that if the teachers are in it for the pay they should just find another job. Teaching

requires you to you to put all of you in it because the money does not teach the students you do.

You need to be ethical because the students are observing you and your behavior. You do not

need to cheat or the students will cheat for the rest of their lives. Do what you think is right, and

maybe the students will do what they think is right having a better recognition to you.
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Citations:

Georgia Code of Ethics. (2009). Georgia Professional Standards Commission Code of Ethics for
Professional Educators.