Academic literature on the topic 'Ethics for School Leaders'

This research study explores the intersection of school leadership and ethics. This study used the hermeneutic phenomenological approach described by Max Van Manen (1990, 2014) to explore the question: How do school leaders experience ethical dilemmas in their role as school leaders? Hermeneutic phenomenology seeks to find the meaning of a phenomenon, which in this case is the experience of an ethical dilemma. Hermeneutic refers to the interpretive-reflective-analytical component and phenomenological refers to the descriptive concrete life-experience phenomenon component (Creswell, 2007; Van Manen, 1990, 2014; Vagle, 2014). This study looked at experiences recounted by four practicing school leaders and found that the experience of an ethical dilemma involves contemplating (cognition) the uncertainty (chance) about the moral merit (values conflict) of a situation and ones capacity (power) and opportunity (options) to act in response. The lived experience themes of time and being watched were also found to be of particular relevance. These hermeneutic themes were drawn from experiences that the school leaders who participated in the study shared during rounds of conversational and analytical interviews. 'Lived experience is the starting point and the end point of phenomenological research....[which] is to transform lived experience into a textual expression of its essence' (Van Manen 1990, p 36). The experiences include experiences of ethical dilemmas regarding student behavior, teacher supervision, program changes, decisions that other school leaders make, parents, and complex systems with multiple actors.<br>Ph. D.

This research study explores the intersection of school leadership and ethics. This study used the hermeneutic phenomenological approach described by Max Van Manen (1990, 2014) to explore the question: How do school leaders experience ethical dilemmas in their role as school leaders? Hermeneutic phenomenology seeks to find the meaning of a phenomenon, which in this case is the experience of an ethical dilemma. Hermeneutic refers to the interpretive-reflective-analytical component and phenomenological refers to the descriptive concrete life-experience phenomenon component (Creswell, 2007; Van Manen, 1990, 2014; Vagle, 2014). This study looked at experiences recounted by four practicing school leaders and found that the experience of an ethical dilemma involves contemplating (cognition) the uncertainty (chance) about the moral merit (values conflict) of a situation and ones capacity (power) and opportunity (options) to act in response. The lived experience themes of time and being watched were also found to be of particular relevance. These hermeneutic themes were drawn from experiences that the school leaders who participated in the study shared during rounds of conversational and analytical interviews. 'Lived experience is the starting point and the end point of phenomenological research....[which] is to transform lived experience into a textual expression of its essence' (Van Manen 1990, p 36). The experiences include experiences of ethical dilemmas regarding student behavior, teacher supervision, program changes, decisions that other school leaders make, parents, and complex systems with multiple actors.<br>Ph. D.

The qualitative approach used in this study captured and described ethical conflict experienced by a sample of practicing educational leaders. Narrative inquiry data were collected from 42 former and current doctoral students and additional data were captured through follow-up interviews with selected participants. The major findings of the study suggest that ethical conflict is inherent in the practice of educational leadership. Such conflict is most often experienced in relation to colleagues when the ethics of justice and care collide. Leaders’ ability to mitigate conflict that is often the result of institutional and external factors is promoted by varied background and contextual experiences. Educational leaders also felt that ethics and ethical competence is essential to the role of educational leader and that pre- and in-service preparation is important.

THE REVOLVING DOOR: HOW LEADERS PUSH TEACHER TURNOVER by Suzanne Kay Bryant Miller In today’s age of accountability leaders of schools cannot afford to lose quality teachers. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requiring schools to staff all classrooms with “highly qualified teachers” creates a major challenge. Today, more than ever, school systems need to retain their experienced and effective teachers. While many reasons have been attributed to the revolving-door phenomenon known as teacher turnover, this research suggests that school leaders’ behaviors play a major role in the issue. This qualitative inquiry focused on the perceptions of veteran teachers who have migrated from one school to another, having indicated that their primary reason for migrating was because of their leader’s behavior. The following research questions guided the study: • What were the perceptions of migrating teachers, regarding their previous leader’s behaviors, qualities and attributes, at his/her former school? • How did these perceptions influence the teacher’s desire to migrate to another school? • Was there anything that the leader could have done differently that would have made the migrating teacher stay? Data was gathered through individual interviews, emails, and focus group discussions. The data was then analyzed qualitatively using an interpretivist theory (LeCompte & Schensul, 1999) to address the research questions, and a constant comparative method to determine patterns and themes (Merriam, 2009). Trustworthiness was established through attention to credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The results of my study identified three main areas of leadership behaviors which teachers indicated directly influenced their decisions to migrate. These three areas were the leaders: (1) Lack of Knowledge of the Business of School-the leader’s lack of skills needed (a) to be supportive, (b) to make connections and build relationship, and (c) to transform school into an effective community; (2) Lack of Professionalism- the leader’s lack of (a) respect, (b) trust, and (c) consistent behavior; and (3) Lack of Personal Morals. While other studies on teacher turnover showed a link between leadership and teacher turnover (Barnett & Berry, 2002; Eggen, 2002; Gonzalez et al., 2008; Hirsch & Emerick, 2007; Thornton et al., 2007), my study revealed specific leadership behaviors that pushed teachers to migrate.

ABSTRACT There has been a renewed interest in the inclusion of ethics as part of educators' training and interest in understanding the moral and ethical dimensions of educational practice. This research was designed to study the types of dilemmas school level leaders face, the characteristics of typical dilemmas, and the implications for leader preparation, professional development, and practice. In documenting the lived experiences of former school level leaders, the grounded theory approach to qualitative inquiry and the critical incident technique (CIT) were employed. Data collected from interview sessions, dialogs, journals and reflections were used to analyze the types of dilemmas school level leaders faced, the characteristics of typical dilemmas, and the implications for leader preparation, professional development, and practice. This study confirmed the prevalence of ethical dilemmas for school level leadership. The critical incidents shared by the participants revealed that school leaders were guided by district policies and experienced dissonance or tension between their guiding ethical beliefs and policies or expectations of the district. The data determined that school level leaders sought to act in the best interests of students. Participants acknowledged that the core of their ethical and moral fiber was developed early in their youth and was reinforced by pivotal life experiences. This acknowledgement suggested that pivotal life experiences could influence an individual's ethical and moral fiber. The findings also indicated that professional development in ethics could be effective for school level leaders. Additionally, the data revealed a dichotomy around whether ethics could be taught. The findings were inconclusive in determining how race and/or gender played a significant role in the dilemmas that school level leaders face or the resolution of the dilemmas. Further research and study of this issue may be warranted in light of the changing demographics of our schools, communities, and school level leaders. Critical reflection proved to be a process that could benefit practicing and aspiring school level leaders. Exploring how this process could be implemented in school leader preparation and professional development programs is a phenomenon worthy of further research.

The purpose of this study was to examine ethical responses to problematic school situations among public school superintendents nationwide. An additional goal was to compare responses of the proposed study with those of school superintendents in an earlier study (Fenstermaker, 1994) in order to determine whether there has been a significant change in the attitudes and ethical behavior of superintendents over the past 20 years. A pilot study was conducted in order to update and validate the current survey. Fenstermaker's survey, including his scenarios, were distributed to seven local school superintendents to determine if these scenarios are still valid and to suggest other possible scenarios that would address current educational issues that may or may not have existed 21 years ago. The response to the pilot study was that the scenarios are relevant to today's school superintendent. In the current survey. I used suggestions offered by current superintendents regarding dilemmas faced by today's superintendents. A survey instrument was randomly given to a sample of 419 superintendents who were members of the American Association of School Administrators.(AASA). A total of 297 surveys were returned, a response rate of 70.1%. The survey questions were updated from the survey questions originally used by Fenstermaker in his survey. The survey questions asked for answers to dilemmas that were of a borderline type. The 2007 AASA Code of Ethics were used to determine the correct responses. The current study examined whether superintendents' responses were an `actual' response (in other words, respondent is answering from the perspective of having been in this situation - or a similar one - prior) or a `hypothetical' response (respondent imagines being in the situation, but never actually experienced anything like it). In the current study, more of the ethical responses are indicated as hypothetical. Overall, non-ethical decisions appear to be made more by superintendents who had actually experienced the situation. The findings of research question one denote that there has not been much change since 1991. Fenstermaker recorded 1306 ethical responses out of a possible total of 2701, or an overall score of 47 percent. With equivalent criteria, the present study documented 1485 ethical replies out of a possible total of 2951, a total score of 49.8. The bulk of the responses to both surveys were unethical, with variation less than three percentage points from Fenstermaker's (1994) study to the present. The finding then would be that there has been no significant change since 1991. Overall, this study confirmed the results found in Fenstermaker's study. Fenstermaker did not examine race. Interestingly, this study found that Blacks scored consistently higher in correct ethical responses than Caucasians. In general, I conclude that ethics play a heavy role in the decision-making practice of superintendents. Preparation programs for superintendents should emphasize ethics training as well as legislative studies. Certainly, the consistent low scores indicate that there is a need for ethical training among superintendents and a need for more studies such as the one presented.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2004.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-206).<br>As corporate and government organizations move into the 21st Century, they face an environment of growing complexity. However, despite a number of recent and highly visible scandals, the moral and ethical culture associated with contemporary organizational life is not often discussed in either the academic literature or in the popular managerial writings. The intent of this thesis is to examine the challenge I believe moral relativism poses to older ethical tradition based on a belief in and commitment to absolute moral standards. This thesis discusses the moral values espoused and practiced by organizational leaders. My methods include reviewing several literatures, conducting interviews and building formal models. All serve the goal of examining the moral fabric (or lack thereof) that stands behind the actions of organizational leaders. In the end, recommendations are made for strengthening the ethics and moral competency of all organizational members.<br>by Donald P. Hilliard.<br>M.B.A.

<p> The chief aim of this study was to develop a grounded theory of ethical leadership with school leaders in Southern Nigeria, utilizing a qualitative constructivist paradigm and multiple case study design. There is growing interest in public service of ethics (Barberis, 2001). The study of ethics has been a part of the [school] leadership erudition and debate for centuries (Brown and Trevino, 2006; Tanner, Brugger, Van Schie and Lebherz, 2010), given that school leaders make many decisions daily, and at the heart of every one of them is the resolution of a moral dilemma because every decision carries with it the potential to restructure human life (Foster, 1986). Leaders in Nigeria have been engulfed in a crisis; which many indigenous Nigerian peoples believe is due to unethical practices and behaviors (Okechukwu, 2012). Yet, in the old African society, values and ethics education were the major instrument for evolving a peaceful society (Adekola, 2012). A constructivist approach to grounded theory reaffirms studying people in their natural settings and redirects qualitative research away from a positivist perspective (Charmaz, 2000). In this study, qualitative data was collected through in-person interviews, survey questionnaires, school observations, classroom visits and a focus group which occurred over an approximate period of two weeks in Delta State, Nigeria with nine school leaders, lead teachers, and classroom teachers working in three different publicly-funded primary schools. Theoretical sampling of artifacts and secondary data was achieved utilizing national education policies in Nigeria, archived research data, scholarly literature, and personal documents. Primary and secondary data sources were coded line-by-line and through focused coding techniques crucial to grounded theory methodology. Data trustworthiness was established through Creswell and Miller&rsquo;s (2000) verification procedures, including prolonged engagement, persistent observations, member checks, and triangulation. Through a two-step comparative method, four grounded theories of ethical leadership emerged: (1) Ethical Beliefs + Ethical Decisions = Ethical Actions, (2) &ldquo;No School or School leader is an Island,&rdquo; (3) Embody the Change You Want to See, and (4) Form and Finances before Function. Underlying tensions are discussed and strategic imperatives for actualizing ethical leadership in Southern Nigerian primary schools are offered.</p><p>