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Code of Ethics Paper

Wesleyan College

Courtney McCoy

Author’s Note

This paper was prepared for EDU 201, taught by Mrs. Hamm.
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When I was younger, I was taught to have good morals, character, and values. This was

important because it shaped my presence when entering into the world around me. The code of

ethics and moral turpitude should be applied in our everyday lives so that when the time comes

to make a decision in regards to ethics, it will not be difficult to make the right decision.

Teachers carry great power within in the room on moral and ethical beliefs and situations. A

good and moral educator should naturally follow the Code of Ethics and possess characteristics

that mirror it. Although the Code of Ethics may seem strict at times, it is up to the educator to

always put the children’s best interest first. Unfortunately, the code of ethics had to be written

because someone did not abide by these rules, therefore, it is necessary to establish a code of

ethics that defines what is considered morally right and wrong.

The Legal Compliance standard was created for the Code of Ethics. The standard requires

all educators to abide by all federal, state, and local laws, as well as to uphold ethical conduct.

Unethical conduct includes any crime that involves moral turpitude or any offense relating to the

distribution, possession, or manufacturing of a controlled substance or marijuana (Code of

Ethics, p. 2). In my opinion, if a teacher cannot follow even the simplest law, let alone major

laws, then that teacher has no right being in this profession. When it comes to a child’s safety,

there must be trusted adults in the school environment.

Moral turpitude includes, in a legal sense, “…everything contrary to justice, honesty,

modesty or good morals…” (Davis, 2000, p. 2). For example, categorized as moral turpitude are

fraud, larceny, and murder. This seems fitting, yet along with these crimes is also a pattern of

failing to file tax returns (Davis, 2000, p. 2). This seems strange, especially when child

abandonment and driving under the influence are not deemed moral turpitude. One of the

standards that directly relates to child safety is Conduct with Students. This standard explicitly
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states educators to always maintain a professional relationship with all students. Violations of

this standard include physical and verbal abuse, sexual harassment or abuse, furnishing drugs or

alcohol to a student, or failing to prevent the use of the latter by students (Code of Ethics, page

2). This standard is the most important to me because a school should be a safe place for students

to go, where they should never feel uncomfortable or in danger. While a teacher must develop a

relationship with students in the classroom, it should always be appropriate.

Along with Conduct with Students, Alcohol and Drugs and Professional Conduct are two

standards from the Code of Ethics that plays directly into the safety of children. The Alcohol and

Drugs standard states, that an educator should not possess or consume alcohol or drugs on school

premises or during functions. Similar to this, the Professional Conduct standard calls for

all educators to behave in a professional manner and “preserve the dignity and integrity of the

teaching profession” (Code of Ethics, p. 4). This includes any conduct that would impair the

educator’s ability to function professionally or that would put students at risk. These two

standards are extremely important because not only is it tremendously dishonorable to the

teaching profession, it could potentially put the students in danger or affect the morals of the

students.

The Honesty standard in the Code, which deems educators responsible for not “falsifying,

misrepresenting, or omitting” personal information such as criminal history, college degrees, and

reasons for absences. The standard also requires educators to be honest about students’

evaluation or testing information (Code of Ethics, p. 2-3). All employers, not to mention parents,

want their employees to be honest, especially when it comes to qualifications or if there is a

questionable criminal history. It is important to know what kind of person you will be hiring and

having teach children.

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Public Funds and Property and Remunerative Conduct are two standards that corresponds

to the honesty standard. These standards explicitly describe the conditions in which a teacher can

deal with money. While Public Funds and Property deals with an educator being entrusted and

correctly using school funds, school property, and money from students or parents for school

related purchases, Remunerative Conduct has teachers maintain integrity when accepting gifts,

gratuities, or favors from students, parents, or businesses (Code of Ethics p. 3).This includes

tutoring or coaching that involves the teacher being paid in some way.

That is why the Confidential Information standard was created, to protect students from

their information being released. The only people allowed to know this sensitive information

about a child is the student, the parents, administrators, and any other teacher that works with the

student. Everyone else does not need to be aware of the information. The Abandonment of

Contract standard protects the students because, if a teacher would have left in the middle of the

year without any warning and abandoned contract, she would be leaving the students without a

teacher, or at least without a competent teacher. This would affect the children greatly, both

emotionally and academically. When a teacher is abandoning contract, she is also abandoning

her students. To do what is best for students, a teacher must carry out her contract to the end.

Testing is the last standard that the Code of Ethics states, and it is the most recently

added. That is because testing, especially standardized testing, and has become a huge form of

evaluating students. Like everything else, somebody goes and oversteps their authority.

Consequently, the Testing standard was created to make sure that educators were ethically

administering tests and avoiding anything that might compromise the testing environment or the

tests themselves. Most definitely, it is beyond important to make sure that the testing

environment and the tests themselves are treated seriously and fairly.
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Ethics are defined as a set of principles of right conducts; the rules or standards

governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession. Teachers are often put in

situations that require more than just knowing the basic school rules. It is within these situations

that the ethical dilemmas occur. There is not always a right way to deal with many daily

problems that face educators, but there are ways to handle situations that are better than

others. Teachers should follow and refer to a code of ethics to help teach in the most appropriate

and ethical way; as well as a guide to help deal with dilemmas.

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Reference

Davis. “Moral Turpitude” taken from Handbook of Criminal Evidence, 2000 edition.

The Code of Ethics for Educators. (June 15, 2015). Association of American Educators.

Raji Codell, Esme. (1999). Educating Esme. New York, NY: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

“Wesleyan College Education Department’s Conceptual Framework.” Wesleyan College. 2016.