Ethical Decision Making

We make so many decisions every day, most are rash and not thought about. We feel overwhelmed when it comes to making decisions. If we stop and use the seven steps to making ethical decisions. We end up with thought out decisions and feel less stress making these decision. Then seven steps are,
Stop and think, this is one of the most important ones. Stopping and thinking about how to act allows us time to gather important facts. We can better problem solve and find what resources are available to us.
Clarify goals, make sure you know the short and long term goals. Determine which wants and don’t wants are important. Sometimes fulfilling immediate wants can hurt our ultimate future goals.
Determine facts, gather adequate information to support choices. You can only make good decisions if you know all the facts.
Develop options, by now you know what you want to achieve. Make a list of options, this is a set of actions you could take to face the issue. You may need to talk to someone you can trust to come up with options that are fair.
Consider consequences, make sure to consider consequences of all options and to all persons involved. Filter your choices through each of the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship (Joseph).
Choose, make your informed decision as to what action you will take.
Monitor and modify, watch to see if your end result is producing the intended result. If not it is time to make new decisions.

SCENARIO 1: Randy, a 3rd grade teacher, and Marissa, the instructional assistant with whom he has worked for years, have had a major disagreement. Randy has taken a few days off as sick leave during “March Madness” when he actually went to basketball games. Marissa knows what he did and has informed Randy that she will not cover for him anymore. This has happened several times before.

Frequently Randy leaves the class during the day and allows Marissa to take over. When Maria voices her concerns, Randy tells Marissa that she is being disloyal and that other teachers leave their classroom and their instructional assistants in charge on a regular basis. Marissa feels it is bad for the classroom/students because she is not the teacher and she feels uncomfortable when Randy is not there. When Randy is absent for a day/s and a substitute teacher is called in, often the substitute is unfamiliar with the classroom and the students, so relies on Marissa for direction.

The first step Marissa needs to take is to stop and think before doing any rash actions. This is a very important step in Ethical decision making. If she makes a quick on the spot decision it could cause great regret later. When Marissa gathers all the facts and allows for thoughtful problem solving she will be able to come up with her resources and an ethical decision on how to go about the issue. Marissa’s issue is that Randy is very relaxed in leaving her in charge of the room when he leaves. Marissa is uncomfortable with this and that he takes off often to do fun things but used sick days. Marissa should think carefully and maybe write down her concerns about being alone in the classroom and the many days off where substitutes look to her to take charge of the classroom. She should write down the consequences of his actions. She is not trained to be the teacher, if something would happen she could be at fault. Policies indicate she should be under supervision of a lead her at all times. Writing down her thoughts will help make them clear and easy to remember if she gets nervous while talking to someone higher up. She should come up with some problem solving techniques she could do. Obviously, she has tried to discuss it with Randy who does not seem to take her concerns seriously and repeatedly leaves the room with her in it alone. Marissa should clarify her goals in the situation. Sometimes after clarifying the situation the problem disappears, sometimes they change drastically. This will give Marissa clear insight to the problem and its intensity. Before making any decision she needs to think about her short and long term goals. Will making a decision affect her future goals in a certain way? Marissa does not want to be in a room where she is left in charge. She also does not want to keep covering for the teacher when he takes off. Marissa needs to determine which of her wants and do not wants is affected by her decision. What affects does being left alone in the room have on her and the students. She does not want to be in the room alone, Marissa’s job description is to be working under the supervision of a teacher. When he constantly leaves the room she is left unsupervised. Marissa should write down the effects on herself and the students. Since she is not properly trained for this type of position. Now, Marissa needs to find facts to support her decision. Find the handbook and have it ready showing the area in it that states her job description. She should come up with a list of who she can go to about the situation. She can ask other assistants their feelings and if they are left in the room alone. Getting input from others may help make her own situation. She does not have to say her teacher is leaving her alone; she can bring it up in a conversation to find out if they are ever left to the classroom by the themselves and how they feel or would feel in that kind of situation. Marissa should seek out people to talk to whom she trusts and has good judgment. By now Marissa should have enough information to make an informed decision. She may have found out from talking to other assistants that they are not left alone in the room. Then again she may find out this is common practice in this school. No one feels it is a huge deal. This could influence her decision. She has information ready in her handbook stating her job description. If there is someone who Marissa trusts that she can confide in her should go to this person. Talking to someone may bring new ideas and help her broaden her perspective. After Marissa has developed options it is time to consider all consequences positive and negative. Who will they affect, in what way will they affect those people. Will she lose her trustworthiness and respect with other teachers, is she acting in a fair way? Marissa needs to really think about these aspects before approaching the issue. In a school she does not want to lose respect from the other staff, this would make her job even more difficult. Are her choices fair? Is she acting in a way that is only good for her, will her choice benefit the students and others? She will have to look at all her options, some of those could be talking to a higher position, or asking to be moved to another class. Are these options ethical and fair to all involved? This could affect the teacher because he would not have an assistant, or maybe the students will have to get use to another assistant in the classroom. In another room students will need to get use to Marissa. Marissa will feel more comfortable in a room where she is not left in control or where she does not have to cover for the teacher. Thus making her job more enjoyable for herself. It is proven that when you enjoy your job that shows in your work. So with this in mind, she would be putting more of an effort in her job. Now that Marissa has laid down all the ground work, has options on how to carry out her plan, decided on pros and cons of her decision she is ready to make a choice. Since she has talked to the teacher already it would be time to talk to someone higher up who can help. She should discuss her uncomforting feeling when left alone in the class. If Randy still will not change his actions after a higher authority has discussed Marissa’s issues with him she will need to seek other options. One options Marissa has is she could ask to switch rooms or even schools. That is a big step and all ethical decision making should be accounted for. Marissa will need to make calm rational decisions in regards to this matter. Understanding all parties involved and having people whom you trust to talk to will help her make her hard decision.

SCENARIO 2: Becky is a first-year teacher and has never worked with an instructional assistant. Rachel, the instructional assistant assigned to her classroom, has 15 years of experience and is only a few credits from having earned her own bachelor’s degree in elementary education via a career ladder program at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Becky is somewhat in awe of Rachel and has essentially taken a backseat to her. Rachel has a dominant personality, knows the children, knows the school system, and does not hesitate to assume any responsibilities Becky might relinquish. The question to others, and especially to Becky’s induction year teaching mentor, is who is really teaching the class?

First Becky’s teaching mentor should examine the situation carefully. She should observe the behavior of both parties. This is to see what actions each is taking and make sure she sees what is fully going on. After knowing that the assistant is taking control of and the teacher is letting that happen she should determine all outcomes. She will need to think about how this affects Becky and what she is missing out on. Focusing on if the class is running smoothly and everyone is happy. Does she feel Becky is Missing out on teaching responsibilities in her first year that might be some wonderful learning experiences? The mentor should consider what the possible reasons Becky is letting this go on. Becky could just be taking in all that this assistant has to offer. Becky is unsure what her responsibilities are having never worked with an assistant before. This assistant is very knowledgeable in the room and has a lot to share with Becky. Is there truly an issue or is the assistant trying to be helpful? The assistant has been there a long time and may just be trying to help her into her new position. Becky might be welcoming the assistants input because she is new, or she might be too quiet to tell her the feelings she is having in this situation. What impact does this have on Becky’s future? The teachers mentor can go to other teachers who have worked with the assistant and see what they are seeing between Becky and the assistant. The mentor should get all the facts. What exactly is she seeing? Do others see the same attitudes happening? She can find out if this is typical of this assistant. The assistant may be a controlling person whom others have learned ways of dealing with her that may help Becky. What exactly is she seeing? She should write down some of things the assistant is doing that Becky should be doing herself Talk to a respected person to find solutions to the problem. They should come up with a few solutions to talk through. Together figure out the best one to implement. Go over the consequences of all actions. Offending the assistant could give Becky a hard time working with her. Never accuse the assistant of taking too much control. Be polite and offer gentle suggestions. Now is time to make a list of actions that could be implemented. One would be talking to Becky. Go over her responsibilities and the assistants. Talk to the assistant going over that same information. The mentor should always keep non-judgmental tone so the assistant is not offended. Offer suggestions to the assistant as to how to let Becky take over herself. After meeting with each separately, meet together and see how they think things are going. Offer suggestions for Becky to take more control. If after making that decision and there is not a change the mentor should come up with another option. The mentor could go to a higher position and discuss how the two do not function well together and another assistant may work better with Becky. If all seems to be going well after analyzing the situation leave it alone, it may be a learning experience. If Becky is feeling frustrated and wants more control the situation needs more options to implement. Keep monitoring and modifying the situation until a happy result is reached and everyone is comfortable with the situation.