Professional Ethics and Professionalizing Education

Throughout this series, we've discussed what professional ethics mean for education. But what would happen if they became a way of life and a regular part of the working lives of teachers, the largest professional field in the United States?

At first, the changes would largely be structural - teachers would receive training on professional ethics in preparation programs, have discussions involving ethical issues with mentors as they navigate the early years of their careers, and ideally, continue to get refreshers in the form of regular professional development in which teams of teachers revisit the principles of professional ethics and are encouraged to discuss with each other how they apply to their own challenges in the classroom.

All of this would go a long way toward helping individual teachers navigate the complexities of their role and become more aware of the potential unintended consequences of the thousands of decisions they make on a daily basis. But over time, once the idea of professional ethics has become ingrained in the field as a whole - and as important to teaching and learning as content and pedagogy - the impact could be transformative.

Educators would avoid falling into the trap of assuming that misconduct is a discrete event and something that only happens to teachers who somehow lose sight of their personal moral compass. Instead, they would acknowledge the collective risk that all teachers face as a result of the demands of their overlapping roles and the intensely personal relationships they are expected to foster, and recognize the value of professional ethics as a governing principle to help them navigate these competing and highly nuanced tensions.

In turn, this understanding would give teachers permission to approach each other in candid, professional discussions about uncomfortable subjects - including how their actions might be misconstrued by students. Just as doctors and counselors are trained to discuss ethical dilemmas and their impact with one another, the framework that professional ethics provides can allow teachers to approach each other and acknowledge blind spots in a way that's focused on professional obligations, not personal judgment.

This kind of professional environment would allow teachers to self-regulate as a field, much as codes of ethics guide doctors, lawyers and other professionals. And the collective awareness of professional obligations fostered by this environment would allow many situations to be addressed before damage is done and teachers' reputations - and students' lives - face irrevocable harm. But that's just the beginning.

In light of professional standards that help educators govern themselves and their peers, district policies and education law could ultimately become far less complex and overly prescriptive. To revisit one example, there would be no need to explain in voluminous HR manuals why a $25 gift is unacceptable and a $24.99 one is perfectly fine if educators are trained to recognize the ethical challenges that receiving any gift present and address them in ways that reflect the unique nature of every situation. And where policies impact large numbers of teachers, the ability to collectively discuss them could help change them for the better.

If these kinds of conversations are brought to light in transparent ways, parents and the community as a whole also could understand the challenges teachers face in a richer way. In the short term, that could mean a parent wouldn't be offended when a teacher declines an invitation to a family event, but over time, this understanding could lead to a much deeper respect for teachers - and the profession as a whole.

And the profession itself could be strengthened in another way, by helping reduce the large numbers of teachers who leave the field, often early in their careers.

While there are many reasons that teachers leave the classroom, one of the most important ones is the sense of agency - the idea they often aren't trusted to draw on their training and experience to make decisions that are best for their students. Instead of being straightjacketed by the inflexible policies and procedures that have been put into place in the absence of established professional ethics, teachers could become far more empowered - and empowerment is one of the things that make people less likely to leave a job. The conversations that professional ethics help engender also could help shatter the sense of isolation that many new teachers feel as they navigate the beginnings of their careers.

I've written before about how education in this country evolved in ways that, unlike professions like medicine and the law, made assumptions rooted in our cultural expectations about parenting about how teachers should rely on their own engrained sense of personal values to guide them. Not only has that assumption left too many educators unprepared for the complexity of their role and the challenges of navigating their relationships with students and colleagues, I would argue that it also has ultimately diminished the profession. Now we have an opportunity to reconcile our expectations of teachers with a framework that holds them to a higher standard than policy or the law, while creating a collective network of support that protects individual educators, children and the profession. Perhaps more than anything, that's what professional ethics can bring to the field - a rethinking of teaching as a true profession, in the eyes of policymakers, the public, and most importantly, in the eyes of teachers themselves.