The Role of the Teacher

• From the kindergarten teacher to the college professor, the teacher's role is one of authority and power in the classroom. A teacher has multiple responsibilities, such as evaluating students' academic and personal behavior, providing academic guidance, and serving as a model and mentor for students. The teacher's words, actions, insights and opinions may have a strong influence on the students in the classroom.
  
  The teacher's power position raises a number of ethical questions. Is it appropriate for a teacher to offer personal advice to a student, or should a teacher's advice and mentoring be limited to academics? Should private conversations between teachers and students be protected by an expectation of confidentiality? To what degree is a personal relationship with a student appropriate? Is asking a student for a favor an abuse of power?
  
  

The College Classroom

• The college classroom is a context in which ethical conflicts and scenarios become intensified. Ideally a college classroom should be an open forum for the exchange and discussion of ideas with no limits or restrictions. The idea of academic freedom protects the professor or instructor in the classroom. College instructors and professors use a variety of pedagogical techniques and strategies to motivate and inspire students to think critically.
  
  However, academic freedom raises ethical issues in the classroom. Should a professor avoid offensive or intentionally confrontational language? Should the college teacher try to be neutral or impartial in presenting ideas? Does he have an obligation to present all sides of an issue equally? Is the professor under an obligation to restrict classroom discussion to the course topic rather than to political commentary about unrelated events?
  
  

Managing a Classroom

• All teachers are faced with managing the classroom, interacting with students and colleagues, and dealing with ethical issues and ambiguous situations that call for thoughtful responses. Ethical issues confronted in the classroom and in the teacher-student relationship include how to ensure fair and unbiased grading for students who have intentionally angered or provoked you; how to handle and discipline unruly students; and how to intervene in conflicts between students in the classroom.
  
  

Ethical Situations and the Novice Teacher

• The beginning or novice teacher may encounter more ethical issues and scenarios in the classroom because of her lack of experience. Author Patricia Melo, in a study titled "Ethical Conflicts in Teaching: The Novice Teacher's Experience," draws four conclusions: 1. The novice teacher sees teaching as a moral endeavor. 2. The novice teacher's values are a major factor in the way she teaches. 3. Most ethical conflicts confronted by the novice teacher concern relationships with students rather than colleagues or administrators. 4. The most common moral framework used by the novice teacher is rule utilitarianism, which evaluates moral and ethical actions in terms of consequences rather than intentions.