Standard 5: Acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner
An education leader promotes the success of every student by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.
Demonstrating Ethical Leadership
“Because school systems do not exist in a social vacuum, ethical conflicts are ever-present” (Hackmann, Oliver, & Tracy, pg. 158). Because this is true it is imperative for school leaders to make ethical decisions and create a school climate where the expectation is that everyone acts with honesty and integrity. When trust is present teamwork improves and there is less gossip, backbiting, and hard feelings amongst faculty and students. People truly care about each other, and think more about others then themselves. Mutually trust and support encourage cooperation where everyone feels nurtured and important. This results in everyone having opportunities to share their talents and gifts.
There are several strategies I would use as a school principal in order to build a healthy school climate with a strong ethical base. These strategies will build trust, teamwork, cooperation, and unity within my building. They will foster growth, and create a great working environment characterized by caring and understanding.
First of all, in today's wavering culture of deceit there is an ever-greater need for schools with strong codes of ethics. In such an organization the leaders will make decisions based on what is right and also listen to all parties involved and consider their opinions on each matter. Although there isn’t always a clear answer, the public deserves to know what decisions were made and why they were made. Ambiguity in decision-making can lead to a community that doesn’t trust their school leaders, and sometimes this occurs because they can’t understand why certain decisions were made. So this first strategy is for me to be such a leader that leads with integrity and expects it of everyone. I will be the one who needs to open discussion of important decisions to all stakeholders, consider their opinions, and share why decisions are made.
I would do a book read with my staff of Stephen Covey’s, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. As we go through the book we would have discussions about our personal code of ethics, writing personal mission statements, and how living with integrity will benefit our school, students, and community. In our book the authors state, “During the course of this critical self-examination, teachers and administrators should not be afraid to ask hard questions and answer them truthfully” (pg. 162). As a staff we would develop our code of ethics and discuss our sphere of influence and how we can have the greatest impact on each other and our students.
As those discussions continue I would plan and brainstorm with my staff ways that we could use songs, symbols, and ceremonies in our school to emphasize cooperation, teamwork, service, and caring (pg. 164). Our book quotes Sergiovanni as saying; “students learn virtue by being around virtuous people and by being part of social networks that represent webs of meaning with moral overtones” (pg. 164). I know that focusing directly on our influence and building our culture of integrity will have an impact on students.
Lastly, I would have my staff read The Leader In Me by Stephen Covey. This book describes schools that have implemented the 7 habits into their schools with great success. Although there are a lot of great programs out there to build school culture, I believe that focusing on our code of ethics and personal paradigms we can rise to a greater sense of what our contribution can be to our schools and society. I want to build a school culture that empowers students to do the same.
Hackmann, D., Oliver, D., & Tracy, J. (2002). The standards-based administrative internship: Putting the ISLLC standards into practice. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press.
Standard 5 - Reflections
Wow, what a month! I had a lot of great experiences that have been beneficial this month. First, we presented our mentor and induction plan and mentor handbook to our school staff. They accepted it really well. Then, during this month’s school board meeting my committee and I presented our Mentor and Induction plan and handbook to our school board. The board was very appreciative of all the effort we put into creating this program for our district and enthusiastic about how it will help and benefit new teachers. I learned how important it is to put systems in place to help new programs succeed. We requested the board to put us on their agendas for January and May of each year so the mentors can report on how the program is working. There are also systems in place to continually improve the program each year.
I got to deal with an issue that arose in a classroom with Mr. Gunderson and see first hand how he treated the individuals by following up with their worries and contacting teachers that were involved so they could tell their side of the story. This helped me to understand the importance of acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner. We can’t assume we know all the facts of a situation until we ask all the parties involved.
I took the time to complete activity 8 from our book and learned so much from my administrators’ experiences with acting ethically and fairly in tough situations. One person I talked to was our special education director, and she told me about how hard it can be. She said that she makes decisions she feels are right so at the end of the day she can have a clear conscience. Occasionally she calls the department of family services on parents and families because she knows it is the right thing to do. Parents get mad at her for that, but her responsibility is to the students. I also learned we need to separate our work from our personal beliefs. Once she felt strongly about needing to council one of her workers about life decisions, and asked to speak with her after work. When they met she told her employee that she wasn’t acting in her role as her boss, but talking to her as a friend and fellow human being. She said that this always allows her to work professionally but still reach out to people when she feels that she needs to.
The thing that was of most benefit to me this month has been taking the advice of Mr. Gunderson to search job opportunities and apply to some. I have been in contact with a bunch of HR directors and superintendents about administrative job openings. I’ve been able to explore my options and contemplate what I am looking for and where would be a good fit for me and my family. I have applied to several positions. The one that I am the most excited about is as an assistant middle school principal/alternative high school principal in Pinedale, WY. I also applied to an elementary principal position in Lyman, WY. As a point of interest I found that principal contracts in Wyoming range from as little as 174 days in places such as Lyman where students don’t attend school on Fridays, to 240 days in district such as Arapahoe, WY. The average number of contract days is about 210 for a principal in Wyoming. Getting my applications together, and responding to their intense questions was a lot of work, but worth the effort. I guess now it is just a waiting game.