Ethics and Diversity in Education

Ethics and Diversity

Below is a video taken from www.youtube.com on how to be a culturally responsive teacher:

"Ethical issues are inherent in the teaching profession, and more specifically, in the classroom" (Cooper & Simonds, 2011).  Teachers must always be aware of ethical dilemmas, and should always strive to uphold correct morals and values when it comes to education.  All students should always be treated fairly, and should be made to feel safe and comfortable in the classroom regardless of their gender, race, culture, or abilities.  When a school sets ethical standards for their students, it motivates staff and students to strive for higher achievement and establishes a strong educational environment.

There are ethical guidelines that should be followed when trying to resolve certain issues.  The ethical guidelines are: audience analysis, political system, human nature, dialogical perspective, situational perspective, legal perspective, and personal code of ethics.  For audience analysis, the teacher should consider the gender, culture, values, and background of the students in her class.  In other words, she should analyze her audience.  The teacher should also consider political system of her class when thinking about ethical reasoning.  The teacher should also consider that human nature should be respected in the classroom.  This would mean that individual differences would be looked at within the political structure of the class.  The dialogical perspective means that the teacher should listen to all sides of the story when making an ethical decision.  The situational perspective means that ethical decisions are made depending upon the particular situation.  The legal perspective means that one would rely on what the legal ruling would be.  The final ethical guideline is the personal code of ethics, which is the teacher's own personal values which can be looked at after reflecting on the various approaches. (Cooper & Simonds, 2011)

One of the most important things that educators can do when it comes to ethics and diversity in the classroom, is to create a positive learning environment where every student is treated fairly.  In creating this positive, supportive environment, teachers are being proactive rather then reactive.  Teachers that foster that positive climate are attempting to minimize the probability of having ethical dilemmas.  In creating this positive environment, teachers should begin the year by: preparing and planning classroom rules and procedures, communicate classroom expectations clearly, establish routines, monitor student behavior, and provide feedback about academic performance and behavior.  Teachers must maintain this positive learning environment throughout the school year in order for it to be effective. (Cooper & Simonds, 2011)

There are several communication concerns when it comes to diversity in the classroom.  These are: sexism, ethnocentrism, classism, racism, and albeism.  Each of these concerns creates communication barriers in the classroom.  Teachers must be aware of these barriers, and work to overcome them in order to be an effective communicator.  Sexism is favoring one gender over the other.  To overcome this barrier, teachers must never favor boys over girls or vice versa.  Teachers must be as fair as possible, and make sure that both genders have equal opportunities in the classroom.  Ethnocentrism is thinking that one's own ethnicity is superior to others.  Teachers can overcome this by taking time to learn about the different cultures of her students, and making sure to let her students know that she welcomes everyone into her classroom regardless of their background.  Classism is making assumptions about someone based on their social class.  Teachers must be open-minded when it comes to social class.  Teachers must not stereotype students based on their family income level.  Racism is discrimination based on one's race.  Teachers must be very careful not to make judgements based on one's skin color.  Teachers should make all students feel cared for, regardless of what their race is.  Albeism is discrimination based on one's physical or mental abilities.  Teachers should be accepting of all students, even and especially of those who have disabilities.  Students that have disabilities should always be included in all classroom happenings.  (Cooper & Simonds, 2011)