EthicsIn teaching, ethics means putting the

satisfaction of the needs and goods of the students before those of anyone else

The first rule of ethical teaching is to do no harm to students◦ The abuse of authority, which can take many

forms, such as prejudice, favoritism, and intimacy, is especially threatening to students’ welfare

◦ Teachers take upon themselves responsibilities akin to the responsibilities of parents for their children

Ethics

Ethical teaching requires exclusive attention to students’ welfare◦ Teaching requires an unusual degree of sacrifice,

of extension of self◦ Teachers are obliged, as professionals, to defend

their students’ interests --- among the chief of which is a search for truth

◦ Teachers must not involve students in their own professional conflicts

Ethics

Ethical teaching means setting high standards and expectations and inspiring students to meet them◦ Despite resistance and resentment◦ Must not react by lowering expectations◦ “We won’t give up,” should be the motto.

Ethics

Ethical teaching means embodying the principles of teaching◦ Good examples of mature behavior◦ And of devotion to learning, discipline, and

service to others

Ethics

Ethical teaching means teaching ethics◦ Teachers exemplify the worth of knowledge,

service to others, and compassion◦ Must iterate and reiterate the priorities of truth,

honesty, and fairness◦ Must instruct their students about the costs of

plagiarism and cheating, including self-injury

Ethics

Ethical teaching requires consideration of students’ differing but tenable viewpoints◦ Teachers must distinguish facts from fiction,

hypotheses from theories, the possible from the probable, and the wise from the foolish

◦ Teachers must actively encourage their students to discover and justify their own views

◦ Teachers must ask for evidence, logic, and honest self-examination

Ethics

A difficult task◦ Gains a certain clarity by virtue of its unwavering

focus on students’ welfare◦ Holding the long view of what is in the students’

best interests --- learning, moral development, and aspiring to do more and better

Ethics