Education is a novel pursuit, and imparting education is even more so. However, there are certainly ethical issues in education that must be considered and pondered from time to time to assess the real value added to society via the media of education.
TAGGED UNDER: Education Ethics
Education is simply a society’s soul as it passes from one generation to another. G. K. Chesterton Indeed, education is an ongoing process. We are always receiving and passing it on, adding something in the process, sometimes even taking certain things, impertinent from time to time, away from it while passing it on further. However, the education industry is serious, requiring well-defined ethics and values that are well-bound in visible legal outlines to regulate its exchange and distribution. Let us briefly examine some of the most common issues of ethics in education.
List of Ethical Issues in Education
The following are some of the most common moral, legal, and ethical concerns in education that are most often faced by the givers and receivers of education, educational institutes, and their management, and, sometimes, parents and guardians of students.
Educational Resources Concerning Special Education
The passing of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 by the Federal Government marked the first milestone in special education for children with disabilities. Before this act, disabled children had no other recourse but to attend general public schools and curriculum, which was not appropriate given their special requirements. Post this act, funds were given to states for the development of educational curricula for children with disabilities, and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 made available to all disabled children between 3 years and 21 years of age the right to a Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).
Choice of Teacher
The eternal contention between a principal and the parents regarding which teacher the child should be assigned to the following year is one of the major moral issues in education. There are two very predictable outcomes to this debate—either the principal uneasily resigns to parental logic, or the former evades the latter’s request by making a blanket statement saying it is not in school policy to honor parents’ opinion as far as the choice of teaching faculty goes.
Read More Article :
- Touching lives with her paintings in education
- Saudi Arabia set to scale down attempts to finance terrorism
- Basic Tips to Ensure Computer Security You’ll Find Useful
- An Age-Old Debate: Why Do We Need Education?
- Higher Education Notes: Army jazz band to offer unfastened
School Uniforms – Should They Be Made Compulsory?
As is generic to every controversy, this one also has two sides to it. Arguments in favor of imposing uniforms observe the lack of a uniform dress code done to school campuses nationwide – immodest piercings, provocative or too casual attire, outrageous hair colors, and styles. Advocates against imposing school uniforms argue that clothing does not affect education and that what one wears to school has no bearing on what is taught. Also, it states that not all students need to afford a uniform. Would they be denied education for wanting a uniform? A happy mid path between these two school uniform debates could enlist a strict dress code, enumerating what NOT to wear at school, failing to follow, which would invite fines or suspension. This is better than either imposing a complete compulsion on school uniforms in public schools or holding away too liberal a stance on what to wear at school.
Discipline Issues
In short, it is the age-old zero-tolerance policy vs. the give-em-another-chance policy. Both policies should work side-by-side in all educational or other institutes. Zero tolerance policies should be imposed upon aggressive, antisocial, and behavioral in-disciplinary actions such as bullying and carrying firearms to institutes. Second-chance policies may encourage better academic performance and instill the habit of trying harder the next time. The opportunities, however, should not be unlimited for the same default by the same individual. Giving second chances does not translate into a spare-the-rod-and-spoil-the-child attitude!
Addressing Diversity
With students from socially and ethnically diverse backgrounds seeking admission to schools today, the issue of whether or not to address diversity poses a serious question. Racial inequality and ethnic differences have been an issue in public schools since public schools were founded. The foremost step towards addressing school diversity should come from the curriculum itself. Involving different ethnic sports and multicultural festivals at schools would begin an attempt to combine students from diverse backgrounds into a bond of institutional unity. Moreover, including prominent historical annals derived from different ethnicities as part of a collective study of world history would encourage students to get familiar with each other’s racial, cultural, and ethnic differences.
Grading – Linking Parameters with Purpose
What do grades reflect? Rather, what should grades reflect? Should they cover the academics? Then again, what, in academics, should they reflect? Should grades be considered for assessing learning capabilities, information-grasping prowess, discipline in meeting academic deadlines, or all of these? Then again, should failure by a student to live up to these standards be considered laxity on the student’s part, or should it be blamed upon the incompetency of the teacher?
Should class participation be considered in overall grading? If so, wouldn’t that kill respecting the individuality of sheer or quieter students who may be equally good (maybe better) at academics than their more outgoing counterparts?
An unbiased standardization of the grading system would require careful consideration of all angles of these queries and dilemmas to arrive at an objective conclusion that leaves no room for ambiguity. Besides the above-mentioned ethical issues in education, there are other noteworthy issues – teacher evaluation, sex education, value education, tracking, and random drug tests on campuses – that prevail, surrounded by controversy. Each of these issues requires fine scrutiny and deep understanding, but even then, there would always be that “depends upon the situation” factor that would decide which way the verdict rests.
