Clark, Emma

EDUC 4338
Dr. Feger

Professional Code of Ethics

Throughout our time working with ethical standards, I realized that I had trouble putting
my thoughts into words and finding a way to list my standards in a way that accurately
represents what I’m trying to say. Although I still do not feel I have been completely able to do
this and am sure my list of ethics will change over the years, the following are ten ideas I’ve
decided upon so far. While some of them may intertwine (ex. I listed respect as well as
advocation even though some of the topics I mentioned advocating for is for coworkers/admin to
respect my students), I believe that each of the values I’ve selected are separate for me
personally and what they mean in the field. The ten words or phrases (which I will expand on
below) that currently define what I understand to be my ethical standards:
1. Genuineness/authenticity
2. Equity
3. Empathy
4. Advocation
5. Courage
6. Respect
7. Reliability/dependability
8. Collaboration
9. People-first thinking/acting
10. Remaining educated and aware
The first standard is about genuineness/authenticity. Both with my students and with my
colleagues, it is incredibly important to me that I say what I mean, practice what I preach, and
am my honest self in a professional way. I feel teachers can lose a chance to connect with their
students by lacking authenticity which the students can pick up on even if they don’t quite have
to words for it yet. I want to create genuine connections, meaningful and authentic lesson plans
for my students, and just be true to myself in the work place. If I find myself in a work place
where I have to cower, be pushed to silence, act or teach in a way that doesn’t align with who I
am, be told to “turn a blind” in different scenarios, or be something I’m not, I know that I
ethically would not feel okay continuing to work there.
Second on my list is equity. Especially as a special education teacher, providing each student
with what they individually need with proper accommodations and modifications is the only way
I feel I can see myself as an ethical teacher. Although this usually means more work for myself
as the teacher either in creating lessons, materials, or working with administration to ensure my
students are given the proper services/resources, failing to provide all students with quality,
equitable education based off of their needs is failing to be an ethical educator. Both legally and
within my own standards, ALL students have a right to being taught in a way that is
comprehensible for them.
 The next standard I have for myself is to be empathetic and actively engage in the practice of
having empathy for all of those I come into contact with in the work place. Finding ways to
empathize with all students (even ones that drive me crazy), their needs, and their families can
help me create better, more understanding relationships as well as be a more impactful and
effective teacher. Along the same lines, having empathy for my co-workers and the stresses they
might be under both inside and outside of the classroom to leave judgements at the door and
limit frustrations for both parties. I firmly believe that a majority of people are trying their best
and are kind at their soul, so taking actions I maybe disagree with and instead of judging the
person or placing a label, I can be empathetic and try to understand where they’re coming from
or why they’re acting the way they are. Then with that new found understanding, I can work to
find a solution or way to approach this person in a more effective, efficient, and respectful
manner.
Along those same lines comes my ethical standard of advocation. If you are able to
understand students and their needs, you are more adequately able to advocate for them in
various settings. As a special education teacher, being an advocate for my students in all school
settings, in meetings, and just in the community in general is extremely important to who I am as
an educator and as a person. Not everyone is going to understand my students, want to help
them, or respect them/their privacy the way I do, and I want to always be sure to speak up for
them in any way I can to assure my students are given the services/resources, respect, and
education they deserve. This could mean professionally stepping into and stopping a negative
conversation happening in the teacher’s lounge about one of my students, voicing my students’
needs to the administration, or simply working with teachers of other settings about how to
provide appropriate accommodations/modifications.
Another ethical standard of mine, having courage, goes somewhat goes hand-in-hand with
being an advocate as I want to be courageous enough to do things the right way which may also
be the hard way. This could be anything from standing up for my students and their needs
possibly against administration and other people who preside over me, professionally speaking
up for what it right with coworkers even if it makes me unpopular, or even having the courage to
leave a school if I’m being asked/pressured to go against my ethical standards like we discussed
in class. On a less intense level, this could also look like having the courage to try new
approaches or lesson plans in the classroom if I feel it will be beneficial for my students even if I
know it might look “messier” to anyone who walks past the classroom, is not what other teachers
do/are doing, or maybe is a bit off the normal path but could possibly be incredibly impactful for
my students.
The next standard I decided upon was respect. Although this seems like a very cliché ethical
standard, I feel it is only cliché and so commonly used because of how important it is at its’ core.
This extends across the board in that I want to continuously work to ensure that my students, my
students’ needs (emotionally and academically), their backgrounds, their privacy, and their
families are all being treated with respect. I also want to be sure to always act in a way that is
respectful to myself, my coworkers and their views/backgrounds, and the laws in place in our
field.
Similarly, another somewhat cliché yet important ethical standard of mine is
dependability/reliability. This covers everything from being prepared and ready to teach my
students, consistent with my work ethic and level of dedication, and simply someone that can be
counted on to follow through with what I say I will do. Although there will of course be times
that I make mistakes as I’m only human, doing everything in my power to stick to my word in
terms of actions and quality is something I feel is not only important in terms of being
professional, but also in being a role model and a form of familiarity/consistency for my students
so that no matter how crazy life gets outside of the classroom or what their other adult figures are
like, they know they can count on me.
As strange as it sounds, I feel collaboration is a strong ethical standard I have in this
profession. This means working with parents, general education teachers, specials teachers,
speech therapists, behavioral therapists, administration, and other special education teachers in
order to provide the best possible education team for my students. I have seen teachers just turn a
blind eye or say, “not my problem what happens when they leave my class” (I’m sure this is
from being overwhelmed and overworked but I digress) and the negative impact that has on
students can be incredibly detrimental in so many aspects. As teachers- especially those of us
that teach higher grades where students rotate classes more or those of us who teach in
resource/pull-out settings- we are only getting a glimpse at our students every day and thus only
have part of the picture. Gaining other perspectives, speaking with other teachers, and putting all
of the pieces together can help us as a team identify patterns, understand the student’s needs, and
collaborate to find creative solutions.
This next standard was difficult to label, and I feel I still haven’t done it accurately, but
people-first thinking/acting is the best way I could describe it. To me, this means acknowledging
and viewing my students as a whole before any labels that they have been given. Along those
same lines is teaching to them as individuals and as people, not as numbers in a classroom or
whatever diagnosis/labels they’ve been given. This can tie into respect and advocation as well
because with this standard in mind I want to be sure to spread this idea to co-workers especially
when we meet about specific students. For example, reminding colleagues to be mindful of
saying “Mark, who has autism, has been having trouble with…” or “my class has two students
with Autism” -which are both examples of people-first language- instead of saying things like
“The autistic boy we have in our class has been having trouble with…” or “We have two autistic
kids in our class this year”. Although to others it may seem like a small linguistic difference, it
changes the discussion to one of more empathy and viewing students as people rather than labels.
The last ethical standard I decided upon has a similar dilemma to the one above in terms
of being difficult to label. The best way I found to describe this standard was to always strive to
be “educated and aware”. To me, this means being knowing the current laws in my field,
knowing student’s rights, parent’s rights, and my own rights and being able to use this
knowledge to act in accordance with all of my above standards. Especially in the special
education field, there is an abundance of legislation that protects my students and their families
from inequity in education and mistreatment within the system. I cannot adequately advocate for
those rights without knowing what legal support I have to back me up. Another area where this
ethical standard comes into play is with my ability to teach my students in a way that
corresponds with the newest evidence-based data and using methods and approaches proven to
benefit their learning. Whether that data is focused on English language learners, students with
autism, or teaching students with emotional disturbances, I would not feel ethical in my teaching
practices if I was allowing myself to use ineffective methods simply because I remained unaware
or uneducated about what truly works.