Issues regarding ethical and unethical practices are all around us and exist in all walks of life. The issue that I have selected for this paper regards the ethical behavior of teachers at their workplaces. Teaching is a dignified profession because it helps in developing the future generations, and it plays an important role in the character building of an individual during his early years. Scholar Richard Rothstein recently gave a speech at the graduation ceremony of the Bank Street Graduate School of Education in New York (Strauss). It brought to notice the way statistics are tampered and is negatively impacting the educational system.
Children who are unable to cope up with the educational system are simply left out rather than teachers making an extra effort to help these individuals. Teachers give these students grace marks only because either they pity their situation for instance; if the child is from a disturbed household, or they give them a passing grade as they cannot cope up with the child any longer, and want them to move to the next grade/class.
The issue arises if the teachers are behaving in an ethical manner by manipulating the marks of the student that do not reflect the true potential. The people to be held accountable are the school management and the teachers both. The management should have random checks on teacher’s performance to ensure that they are fulfilling their responsibility for the integrity and care as this profession deserves. The case Rothstein has drawn attention towards is specifically schools of Atlanta. The educational authorities overlooking schools should be proactive in identifying teachers who are not fulfilling their duties professionally and in line with ethics.
Work Cited
Strauss, Valerie. "The Hard Ethical Challenges That Confront Teachers Today." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 4 June 2015. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/06/04/the-hard-ethical-challenges-that-confront-teachers-today/>.
