ETHICS AND VIRTUES IN PERSONAL AND
PROFESSIONAL LIFE OF THE TEACHERS
From
rules to responsablity….
By dr. prof. Italo Bassotto – AIMC Italia
It’s a general point of view among the researchers in
sociological matters, that teaching is no more a job like other work
activities, but a “profession” and that the teachers belong to the “reflective
practitioner category” of workers. It means that teachers are involved in a
particular kind of relationship’s system, whose most important characteristics
to be absolutely free (and for this reason, responsible) of their own attitudes
in respect of students, parents and society.
Man
could argue that responsibility is a characteristic of every job in this time,
when the Taylor stand Fordism[1] principles of scientific division of work have been
abandoned and the production systems are more and more entrusted to the
individual (or of small groups) competence.
But the specific characteristic of the teaching work is that consists in
establishing and manage human relationships, and particularly thatching of
human relations called “take care”, not only in a physical sense (security,
health, ), but also spiritually (psychological, moral and social well-being).
This kind of responsibility requires not only a lot of technical skills (in
the entire spectrum of the human sciences) that must be constant updated, owing
to the steady development of knowledge in this area of science research; but
also (and especially, in my opinion) a deep and safe personal and professional
identity. In Italy we have a university professor (Elio Damiano) who published
in 2008 an in-depth study, using materials of American and
English scientist and researchers. He called his book “The ethic teacher”, and identified the main
characteristics of the moral heritage of the teachers in:
·
justice and impartiality
·
heartedness and
moral integrity
·
kindness
and care of the others
·
empathy
and respect for human beings
Obviously
these are four general features of the moral qualities in a “good teacher”, so
that on the basis of them, it will be possible sketch profile of the teachers
and particularly adapt them to the different situation and cultures in which
the teachers conduct their own activities.
In
Italy the National Association of Catholic Teachers (AIMC) promoted a research
about a possible ETHICAL CODE for the Teachers and the Heads: the promoters of
the study were convinced that it was necessary sketch the professional profile
of the two most important responsible of the school education, with the objective
of ensuring transparency and fairness in
the social control of these delicate professional activities, and also of
helping the actors to reflect on their professional activities in order to
improve them.
Summing
the results of the studies of Professor Campbell (2003) and Damiano (2008) and
the documents and evidence collected by AIMC, is possible to profile the Ethic
Teacher (ET) in these eight steps:
1. ET
isn’t the perfect teacher, but he (she)
is open and careful of ethical knowledge for him(her)self and his(her)
workfellows;
2. There
isn’t just one an general model of ET: every teacher must interpret the profile
according to the different situations and contests: they refer to the same
principles (justice, respect, kindness and care), but they need to be
contextualized;
3. ET
is impartial with all the students, and
particularly with those who are wrong. He (she) is empathic and encourages,
communicating attention and respect…
4. ET protects
his (her) students from the trouble they can feel in front of their class mate
sowing to physical handicaps or school failures. Respects the privacy, the
students’ and families’ dignity; doesn’t tolerate any kind of pettiness and
calls the students to respect and take care of their schoolfellows and of the
school personnel
5. ET
considers a sign of respect to the students: to correct carefully, to evaluate
objective land to return steady lithe
class works, with his(her) comments and judgements, because he (she) gives respect to the works and
efforts of the student said they were his (her) own labours
6. ET
examine and puts in charge,
conscientiously and regularly, the needs of every student and the general
well-being of the whole group of them. He (she) applies criteria of equality and fairness, excluding any form of
privilege and ensuring that every pupil is followed with the same care of the
other ones
7. ET
feels the moral need to avoid any form of
deceit and gallery not only in the interpersonal relationships, but also in the
students’ evaluation and in teaching the school subjects. He (she) chooses
with great care educational supplies looking forward to their moral value and
educational capacity; he (she looks from imposing personal opinions to the
students about political or ideological debates and never abuses them in conflicts
involving (for example) the interests of the school workers
8.
ET sees the
schools a community, where all the people share the same values and takes the
responsibility of testify them in face of the colleagues and the staff of the
school. He (she) never ignores neither hides the worst practices of the
colleague stewards the students; besides he (she) always discusses with the
teachers of the school about the moral
dilemma arising during the teaching activities and tries to study with them
alternative solutions in order to improve the educational agreements and the
collegial management of the school.
As
you can see, there are no rules in this kind of profile of the ET, but an
essential reference to the “ethic of responsibility” that must be continuously
adapted to the various contexts and negotiated with all the stakeholders of the
education system. For this reason I
think that ill is very important (essential, daresay!) the role of the
Professional Association, and I would be very happy if our Catholic Association
(the UMEC-WUCT)
succeed in the attempt to
prepare the draft of a Universal ETHICAL CODE, that could be left to every
school community in al the nations of the world in order to be improved and adapted to the
tradition and needs of every country….
Thank you for your
understanding and good luck to you all for the success of the meeting.
Italo Bassotto
[1] Fordism describes modern economic and social systems based on industrialized,
standardized mass production and mass consumption. The concept (named for Henry Ford) is used in social, economic, and management theory about production, working conditions, consumption, and related phenomena, especially
regarding the 20th century.
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