Elizabeth Campbell develops the case that the moral agency of teachers is not just the inevitable state of affairs, "but instead a professional quality exemplifying ethically good practice". According to Campbell, the basis for a renewed sense of professionalism in teaching will come out of teachers individually taking responsibility and developing explicit ethical knowledge. Based on empirical research, she offers vignettes of teachers who struggle to reflect on their teaching practices and how their efforts impact students.
She spends considerable effort describing the principle-based role of moral agency and she is critical of the relativism of some current ethicists. A teacher standing before students day in and day out brings with them their character and sensibilities, often without knowing the moral impact they have on their students; this cannot be avoided. However, Campbell's challenge to the teaching profession is to bring to the forefront explicit professional, ethical knowledge.
Campbell cites B.A. Sichel to describe the professional teacher as one who takes on the moral responsibility of ensuring a just and humane school. It is here I part company with the author because schools are governed by provincial authorities along with local advisory councils (depending on the latest fashion), not teachers. The employers of teachers have a role to play in ensuring just and humane schools.
Teachers have very little control of their workplace as discussed in Richard Ingersoll's Who Controls Teachers' Work?: Power and Accountability in America's Schools. They have so little control that it is necessary for teachers to unionize in order to avoid arbitrary action by the employer in many realms. Campbell claims that unionization is "the single most significant hindrance to ethical professionalism". To Campbell, unions reinforce the norm of teacher collegiality often at the expense of students.
The employers of teachers (though some may claim they do not want unions) also need unions/federations in order to control the schoolhouse. Campbell recommends individual teachers have the courage and commitment to challenge and correct teachers whose unethical conduct harms students, but such action may not be agreeable to the employer because it may disrupt the smooth running of the school. A collective agreement affords the employer the means to moderate the behavior of these individual professional teachers. Collectivized teachers are as much a benefit to the employer as to teachers, which results in good public order.
I would love to see a great writer such as Campbell develop a comprehensive description of the ethical teacher in light of the collective reality of teachers. Other professionals such as doctors, lawyers and engineers are, for the most part, self-employed. Collectivizing is a natural outcome of having the same employer.
Dr. John Merks
Teacher
Riverview High School
Riverview, New Brunswick
Canada
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- Dr. John MerksReviewed in the United States on 15 June 2011
A Good Start!
Verified Purchase - E HartleyReviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 August 2017
Three Stars
Verified Purchase - German SabioReviewed in the United States on 18 November 2023
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY.
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