Yetunde Bodude
Educational Foundations | Fa15
Ethical Dilemma Assignment
Case Study 1:
The school music teacher is a devout Christian. She tends to choose music that has a
Christian message, and the lyrics might occasionally refer to God or Jesus. A number of students
in the class are from diverse religious backgrounds and feel uncomfortable when singing these
lyrics. Should this teacher continue choosing Christian music as part of her music curriculum?
1.
Identify the ethical dilemma that the teacher must resolve.
An ethical dilemma is a complex situation that often involves an apparent mental conflict
between moral imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another,
(Wikipedia, 2015).
In this situation, the ethical dilemma, the dilemma the teacher must resolve is that of
conflict of religious interest.
2.
Specify the specific standard(s) in the Texas Code of Ethics to which this
dilemma relates (you can find it HERE or navigate the TEA website for the TX Code of Ethics
(link); How does it address the Code of Ethics adopted by the National Education Association
(NEA) in 1975 (link)?
I feel the following standards are related to the dilemma:
a. Standard 1.7: The educator shall comply with state regulations, written local
school board policies, and other state and federal laws (Texas.gov, 2015)
b. Standard 3.2: The educator shall not intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly treat
a student or minor in a manner that adversely affects or endangers the learning,
physical health, mental health, or safety of the student or minor (Texas.gov, 2015)
c. Standard 3.4: The educator shall not exclude a student from participation in a
program, deny benefits to a student, or grant an advantage to a student on the
basis of race, color, gender, disability, national origin, religion, family status, or
sexual orientation (Texas.gov, 2015).
d. NEA Principle 1, Commitment 1: Shall not unreasonably restrain the student
from independent action in the pursuit of learning (NEA, 2013).
e. NEA Principle 1, Commitment 3: Shall not deliberately suppress or distort
subject matter relevant to the student's progress (NEA, 2013).
f. NEA Principle 1, Commitment 5: Shall not intentionally expose the student to
embarrassment or disparagement (NEA, 2013).
g. NEA Principle 1, Commitment 6a: Exclude any student from participation in
any program (NEA, 2013).
3.
Identify the ethically relevant issue(s) to which the ethical dilemma relates (for
ex. religion in school, student’s rights, etc.).
a. Principally advocating or endorsement of a religious belief over another. This is
considered inappropriate under the NEA and Texas Codes of Ethics
b. Obedience and adherence to laws and regulations of the State, Federal and school
board. (NEA, 2013) (Texas.gov, 2015)
4.
Identify all persons or groups that need to be considered.
The groups to be considered here are
a. Students with a different religion
b. Student with no known religious affiliation
c. The teacher
This is because some student with no religious affiliation to the Christian song may find
its use for a class offensive, and an emotional trauma to them.
5.
Identify what information – or additional information – you need to be fully
informed.
a. The issues’ context should have stated if any of the students reported the incident
or that the Christian song was offensive.
b. It should also have mentioned if any parent had complained about it to the school
official(s)
6.
Develop several (at least 2) possible courses of action or alternatives.
Alternative 1: The most likely alternative is for the teacher to use a general song that is
acceptable to all and that which the students will be comfortable with.
Alternative 2: As a course of action, the teacher should be given a warning about the use
of religious songs for class work. He/She should also be made to go over the Code of Ethics and
the school’s regulation on religious activities as it relates to students and staff.
7.
For each alternative, identify the following:
Short-term consequences:
Alternative 1: The teacher may feel unduly reprimanded and also that his/her rights of
religious freedom is being questioned. The affected students may also feel uncomfortable
attending classes with the teacher.
Alternative 2: The teacher may feel he/she is being labeled incompetent or ignorant of the
rules and regulations. A parent may decide to sue the school for subjecting his/her child to an
emotional trauma of having to sing the Christian song.
On-going consequences:
Alternative 1: The teacher may become uncomfortable going forward with the
impression her conduct is being monitored and may be unnecessarily cautious of her choice of
“educational materials”.
Alternative 2: The teacher may feel under scrutiny of the school official and the parents
too, if at all the issue was reported by any of the students at home. Tendency is there for
parent(s) to want to always know if there was a repetition of the incident.
Long-term consequences:
Alternative 1: The teacher may feel under pressure to do what she feels violates her
rights to freedom of expression and religious preference.
Alternative 2: The teacher may also feel her job security is threatened as a result of the
incident, having been made to review the codes of conduct (an indication of incompetence or
violation of the code of ethics).
Psychological costs:
The affected students may feel mentally traumatized at being asked to participate in
doing something against their legal rights.
The teacher may also feel her rights were violated or that she was being picked on for her
religious belief.
Social costs:
Stigmatization: School may be cited as having encouraged the teacher’s behavior, or not
having reviewed classroom materials before they were used. The principal or lead teacher’s
integrity may be questioned at this point.
The teacher may also be exposed to unnecessary exposure and /or public condemnation
for the action if a legal action is taken against the school, its officials or the school district.
Economic costs:
Cost of litigation to the teacher, school board and school district. If there is a libel suit
because of the teacher’s action, there will be legal costs incurred including huge sum that may be
claimed for “damages”.
8.
Name any Supreme Court cases and their rulings and/or legal terms that might
apply to the given situation.
Case: DOES v. Enfield Public Schools.
Issue: The Enfield Board of Education voted to hold the 2010 Enfield Public Schools’
high-school graduations on school property. But after months of aggressive lobbying by a
religious organization, the Board voted on April 13, 2010, to instead hold the graduations at the
First Cathedral, a Christian church. There, Enfield seniors are to receive their diplomas
underneath a large Christian cross and banners reading “Jesus Christ is Lord” and “I am GOD.”
Some parents challenged the decision in court, stating the school’s action in using the location
“coerces students and parents to receive the overwhelming religious message of the Cathedral as
the price of attending a seminal event in their lives; communicates a message of governmental
favoritism of the Christian religion; entails the use of public funds to support religion-infused
graduations; and excessively entangles the Schools with a religious institution”
Ruling: A federal judge declared that the Enfield Public Schools’ plan to hold high school
graduation ceremonies at a Christian church is unconstitutional, and ordered the school board to
find an alternative venue (ACLU, 2012)
Case: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
Issue: A group of students in Des Moines held a meeting to plan a public showing of their
support for a truce in the Vietnam War. They decided to wear black armbands throughout the
holiday season and to fast on December 16 and New Year's Eve. The principals of the Des
Moines school learned of the plan and met to create a policy that stated that any student wearing
an armband would be asked to remove it, with refusal to do so resulting in suspension.
Subsequently, Mary Beth Tinker, Christopher Eckhardt, and John Tinker were sent back home
for wearing the banned armband. Their parent sued the school for violation of freedom of
expression.
Ruling: The district court dismissed the case and held that the school district's actions
were reasonable to uphold school discipline. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
affirmed the decision without opinion (Oyez.com, 2015)
9.
Take action. Identify what action you would take.
As a school official, if there is a complaint about the issue, I will call a conference of
parties involved as a way to mitigate against any legal action. Of course, an apology has to be
tendered and I will make that mine and the involved teacher’s responsibility. I will also ensure
that I go over the Ethical coded of Conduct with the teacher and explain the legal implication of
such acts to her with detailed examples with the mutual understanding that even though he/she
has religious freedom, it is against the stated regulations to enforce or cajole any student into
using religious materials in whatever form for lesson. The teachers, school officials are state
representatives and are considered acting on behalf of State by their every conduct.
10.
Evaluate the action of the decision you have made and identify how it conforms
to the Texas Code of Ethics.
In relation to the Texas Code of Ethics, this line of action conforms to the Texas
Administrative Code rule §247.1 section (d) which states that:
As provided in §249.5 of this title (relating to Purpose), the primary goals the SBEC
seeks to achieve in educator disciplinary matters are:
(1) To protect the safety and welfare of Texas schoolchildren and school personnel;
(2) To ensure educators and applicants are morally fit and worthy to instruct or to
supervise the youth of the state; and
(3) To fairly and efficiently resolve educator disciplinary proceedings at the least
expense possible to the parties and the state (Texas.gov, 2015)
11.
Make a commitment statement that identifies how you will assume
responsibility for the consequences of the action you have decided to take.
Commitment Statement
As a state representative with the responsibility to protect the safety and welfare of Texas
schoolchildren and school personnel official, I commit to ensuring that the above conflict
resolution actions are observed. I commit to assume full responsibility to ensure a positive action
and subsequent good conduct of my teachers in compliance with the State, Federal and District
laws, rules and regulations.
12.
List what might be or could be the negative consequences of your action (if
applicable).
1.)
The line of action may fail to appease the parents of the students involved.
2.)
The teacher involved may feel unfairly treated. It is my responsibility to assure
him/her that this is in the best interest of the school children to whom we are responsible and old
liable for by law.
13.
Develop a plan about how you will correct any negative consequences or wrong
decision you may make.
If all things work well and all parties are agreeable, there should not be a negative
consequence to this line of action. If however, the parent fails to be appeased, the matter may be
referred to the school board for further attention.
Reference
ACLU. (2012, July 19). DOES V. Enfiled public schools - Complaint. Retrieved from American
Civil Liberties Union: https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/does-v-enfield-publicschools-complaint
NEA. (2013). Code of ethics of the education profession. Retrieved from The National Education
Association: http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/2013-NEA-Handbook-Code-of-Ethics.pdf
Oyez.com. (2015, Oct 15). Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District.
Retrieved from https://www.oyez.org/cases/1968/21
Texas.gov. (2015, Oct). Educators' Code of Ethics. Retrieved from Texas Administrative Code Education:
http://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&
p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=7&ch=247&rl=2
Wikipedia. (2015, Oct 6). Ethical dilemma. Retrieved from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_dilemma