The Ethics of Teaching

by Jonas F. Soltis, Jonas F. Soltis

148 pages Teachers College Pr; 3rd edition (August 1998) English 080773666X 978-0807736661 Product 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches Shipping 9.4 ounces

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 28, 1992

Reviews

[Naomi]

I would like to imagine eating sidewalk chalk is something like reading the textbooks for education ethics classes (read: Naomi is all about soft and interpersonal skills training)

[Michael L]

This book introduces current and future K-12 teachers to ethical issues in teaching, though it could also benefit teachers in higher education. The authors write clearly for readers who are not philosophers. Each chapter opens with a vignette that poses a dilemma in which there are good arguments on both sides, with no obvious way to resolve the conflict. The chapter on multiculturalism and religion guides the reader through complex arguments about diversity in the classroom. The chapter on democracy and professionalism concludes, "That an ethical decision results from an open . . . discussion may be a factor that actually contributes to its being a right decision. . . . Ethical deliberation should be thought of as a social activity conducted cooperatively." I agree.

[Random Scholar]

This book focuses on the psychological underpinnings of morality. If you are looking for easy answers, you won't find them here. Strike and Soltis instead focus on consequentialist and nonconsequentialist perspectives regarding real-world scenarios that require moral decisions for educators to make. The main issue I had with this book is that it focused too much on philosophy and not enough on law when we're taking ethical dilemmas into account. I would have wanted to know more about how current educational law plays into ethical issues everyday teachers may encounter. Then again, that's just my personal preference.

[Salamah]

Excellent book about important points to consider as a teacher. For example, should the blind student receive more services than the other students in her class, should the African American who scored a few points lower on a math test be enrolled in AP classes which has 95 percent white students enrolled? Strike does an excellent job at examining the moral dilemmas and gives recommendations on how to look at the different cases in the text.

[Neil Doherty]

I read this book to understand the ethical problems a grade school teacher deals with, so that I could try to convince him that I have been treated unfairly in Fantasy Football. He is the commissioner. I am a doctor. My suspicion that the concerns and values of teachers are different than thoae of doctors was borne out. Nonetheless, I learned the way he might look at my concerns.

[Sandra Pepos]

There was quite a lot to this book, but at the core is that ethics in teaching needs to be understood at every level and building wide. We must do better in being decent in the school environment to our students and to our colleagues.

[Jamie]

This was one of the required books for a graduate class on ethical leadership in education. Each chapter introduces a point of contention within education with several short cases, then lays out an ethical framework for evaluating what would be fair, provides a dialog between two opposing views, an finishes with several more cases and probing questions. Strike and Soltis do not try to push a moral viewpoint, and none of the cases are resolved. The point is for the reader to learn different ways to pursue an ethical discussion as difficulties arise in educational settings. This book not only introduced me to some interesting ethical and philosophical content, but also helped me more closely identify how I currently approach ethical dilemmas and find ways I can improve conversations to reach some sort of agreement.

And it has a completely whimsical ending!

[Allan Starkey]

Excellent and Rare Resource

This text provides future or current teachers a set of materials for exploring an important dimension professionalism. The ethics of working with young people in the classroom needs a much closer examination than has been a part of teacher preparation programs. I look forward to the next update of this historically significant text.

[Heidi]

This was a required text for my Social & Ethical Issues in Education class.

[Kirstin DeGeer]

I actually own the 3rd edition.