The Ethical Nature of a Teacher's Work

The relationship between science and ethics as follows: (But) science has closed its boundaries as regards values, consideration of the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the truthfulness and the dishonesty. Science is not fitted to lead the way in ethical matters, science does not develop ethical consciousness. It closes that outside and misleads into believing that is does not e ist. This statement of !alas"a has often occupied my mind when ma"ing research and as a trainer of teachers. Is that so, and if it is, what is the reason# !y own view is that this necessarily needs not be the case, it ought not to be, or even it were, not allowed to be so $it is of such an importance what ethical issues mean to human growth and development. I concentrated on %uestions connected with ethics especially when I was writing my doctoral thesis &The Teacher Searching for 'thics( The developing process of the study passage on the teacher)s ethics as an action research in teacher education&. In the following I concentrate to study, on the basis of my doctoral thesis, three main fields: (*) definition of ethics, (+) connections between ethics and the teacher)s wor", and (,) ethical education. DEFINING ETHICS -hat in the first place does the word &ethics& mean and how it differs from the conception of morals. It could be argued that those two words belong to conceptions which have been most needlessly used and wrongly understood in the world. They are used carelessly and they often are dominated by emotion without defining them $ and thus it leads to a situation where differing things are discussed. . cynic could also state that it must be a %uestion of a misunderstanding when the conflict between words and deeds is so evident in ethical %uestions. The definition of words has not been easy even for the specialists in the field: the use of conceptions and the derivatives from them has varied during different time periods, in the conceptual systems of different researchers and schools. I give here some e amples of /innish definitions: !artti 0ind%vist has stated that morals usually means the choices people ma"e and the views connected with values which are the basis for them. 'thics on the other hand is according to his view theory and research of morals. Thus morals is something that founds e pression in practical life and is committed as regards its point of view, whereas ethics strives for universal applicability, impartiality and theoretical 1ustifiability (0ind%vist *234, ,3). 5rpo 6arva represents a conception which is near 0ind%vist)s view when he states that morals is life, ma"ing solutions in the real life, whereas ethics means research of morals, thin"ing. .ccording to him, the basic difference between morals and ethics is that in the former the %uestion is about practical solutions, in the latter about a reflecting attitude (6arva *237, *,). .nni"a Ta"ala also comes to the same "ind of result (*28492, +:) and complains that part of people do not assess their own and the society)s morals at the level of ethics, in which case also the moral education may only aim at implanting the morals, but not teaching the ethical criteria above it. In practice it is, however, e tremely difficult to differentiate these two conceptions.

The multiplicity of conceptions is still increased by the fact that, when professional morals is concerned, the internationally generali;ed custom is to use the concept ethics. This has been 1ustified, among others, by the argument that an individual is not in his wor" only a private person but with the profession are connected tradition and responsibility, and the idea of the tas" of the 1ob. In the following, I have in the first place resulted in the use of the words ethics, ethical way of thin"ing and ethical. I avoid the word morals and words derivated from it if there is no special reason for their use. These "ind of reasons are that the word in %uestion has been used in a citated te t or it occurs in a certain established term, as for e ample in the word moral consciousness. In addition to this, I have used the words morals or moral if the %uestion is of following a custom, or of an activity which is not connected with thin"ing, considering or assessing. To the <ree"$based derivates I have ended up in other cases for various reasons: /irstly, in connection with professions it has become general to "eep to the term ethics and the derivates from it. Secondly, I have avoided the use of the word morals and the derivates from it because they very generally are connected to the connotation of moralism and morali;ing. Besides, I have wanted to emphasi;e that when teacher education is concerned, it is not possible to limit it to the teaching of norms, customs and habits connected with the profession but the target is also to consider and assess the values and practices of the profession $ to study on which ethical principles the practices are based or whether they on the whole are based on a responsible view of good life and human growth. .ira"sinen states in his !oral philosophy (*233) that ethics is sailing li"e between S"ylla and =harybdis. In one direction there are blind pre1udice and moralism threatening it, in the other snobbish mental acrobatics in official 1argon. There is reason to be conscious of both dangers when planning the education of ethics. The most covering %uestion of ethics concerns each of us: -hat is a good life li"e and what are the preconditions for it# The %uestion is often divided into two sub%uestions:

-hat is valuable, i.e. which values does a good life contain# -hat has to be done and from which to "eep aloof from, i.e. which norms shall an individual follow in his life# (>f. e.g. .ira"sinen ? =uusela *232, +2( @eters *287, 2,$2A( Stri"e ? Soltis *23:, 8.)

6ence, to the research field of ethics belong such conceptions as the good and the bad, the right and the wrong, the rights, duties, responsibilities, values and norms. Bne of the derivates of the conception ethics is also the idea ethical way of thin"ing which, too, is defined in many ways $ if there on the whole has been a desire to present any final description. In the definitions have in some cases been emphasi;ed sense, in some feeling or action. -illiam =ay)s (*28:) definition of the ethical way of thin"ing is one of the most interesting. 6e has in his boo" !oral education (*28:) prophesied that human"ind has entered into a new phase in its cultural evolution where it is compelled (it is even a vital necessity for it) to advance also in the field of ethical way of thin"ing. .s preconditions he has set four %ualities: autonomity, rationality, altruism and responsibility. .utonomity is essential since such a thing which is done under compulsion is not considered to be ethical in the real sense of the word. .nd in general independence is essential if the ruling practice is going to be changed.

.utonomy connected with the ethical way of thin"ing cannot, however, be any "ind of spontaneousity or independence but it has to be put under the scrutiny of intelligence. In addition, since our action and solutions affect other people, they involve as an essential part that people put themselves into another)s position and ta"e care of their welfare. That is the matter especially in the teacher)s wor". .lberoni and Ceca (*227, :A$::) have e pressed the idea in this way: Intelligence without altruism is empty and cold, but altruism without intelligence is blind. -hen they are connected together they bring forth ethical action which is not only based on duty but also on 1oy and the desire to act for the good of another person. A TEACHER'S WORK AND ETHICS . teacher)s profession and wor" have been understood in different ways at different times, and the ruling conceptions have in many ways been analysed. The wor" of a teacher has among other things been studied as a s"ill, an art, adapted science, ethical profession, as an approach of a teacher as a researcher of his own wor". It is also partly for this reason that teacher education has been understood in many ways (e.g. 0iston ? Deichner *22*( Tom *23A ? *238, Deichner *23,). In this conte t it has been considered whether the %uestion is of )teacher training), i.e. becoming limitedly competent for the profession or )teacher education) which is lin"ed with a cultural ideal and widening of consciousness (Beyer *234, ,8$A*( >ase et al. *234, ,2). It has been as"ed whether a teacher is merely a transmitter of culture or also a person who cherishes and assesses it. Is a teacher an officer who implements the things which authorities and the teaching plan obligate or has he courage and %ualifications also to assess and %uestion the ruling structures in case the rights and growth of the child re%uire it# Is it also his vision to aim at ma"ing the world for children and future generations a better place to live in# In my doctoral thesis I have thus studied a teacher)s wor" as an ethical profession and considered that ethics essentially belongs to the essence of education, to a teacher)s wor" and thus to teacher education. This has been argued among other things as follows:

Teaching and education are activities which are strongly tied with values since the idea is to ma"e things better: growth, development, culture. The connection with values can at the school be seen from target %uestions to the last detail, such as how many hours at the school are used for each sub1ect. The role of a teacher and autonomy in the educational and development process of the school can be outlined in many ways. The pedagogic freedom of a teacher is, however, considered to be relatively big( he can at least to some degree value and interpret targets, choose educational contents and especially the methods and forms of teaching (Stri"e *227, *33$++,). The thing which ma"es the teaching and educational situation ethically sensitive is if there is as another party a growing and developing child or youth who is sensitive to influences. . child cannot, li"e grown$up people, ta"e care of his rights, and the school and the teacher have because of their position big power on the child)s life, among other things, in the role of giving the mar"s and thus also e.g. as a former of the ego $ and in that way the effects also move over to the child)s future. The positive influences of a teacher can also be crucial: he can encourage, inspire and open new chances and views by means of various information and s"ills. 6e can be a safe and caring grown$up person and human being. . teacher)s wor" is then continuous

balancing between the supporting of an individual and individualism and the demands made to the life in a community (cf. e.g. Tou"onen *22*).

Besides, the wor" of a teacher is made to contain ethically more elements by the fact that there are several cooperation parties which have the right to define the direction of development. . teacher has in a way many fellow wor"ers, clients, employers. . teacher has to thin" over what responsibilities he has towards children and for children, towards parents, colleagues, community $ without forgetting his own principles if he regards them as well$founded and good. It is not unusual that the values and norms from various %uarters are conflicting with each other. 'ven the parents of one and the same child may have different opinions of %uestions which even may be very crucial in the child)s life. There arises the %uestion who has the right and who is competent to decide what is the best thing for the child. The forth argument for the thought that a teacher)s wor" could be considered an ethical profession is that if education in general has influence on people, a teacher is very important socially when educating citi;ens of the future who apparently will in the future be more and more cosmopolitans. -e probably do not have another professional group with which all people, e.g. in /inland, would wor" together such a long time of their life.

The ethical dimensions of a teacher)s wor" are thus not limited to certain sub1ects, themes or passing sub1ects $ or necessarily not even to his wor"in with the pupils of his own class, but they are at their widest %uestions which concern the whole school system and its historic$ social conte t and future. Bne student of teacher education described the matter li"e this: . teacher is also a instructor, director of the basis of values, also an e planaor and interpreter of value. .t his best, a teacher is able to inspire his pupils to search such values which produce a big amount of happiness to as big a crowd as possible. Eou cannot find happiness unless you are not able to show the defects prevailing in the world. Eou cannot find happiness if you are not willing to omit the defects. Therefore it is in my opinion important that a teacher is in his wor" ready to fight against ignorance, cruelty, famine, racial discrimination, pre1udices ... It would, by the way, be interesting to develop the thought of a teacher from the role of a national school teacher to the role of international school teacher. By this I mean that the globe is really small and belongs to all of us. ETHICAL ED CATION 'thical education is part of the ethical dimensions of a teacher)s wor" and it has a long history behind it. Traditionally it has been regarded as one of the oldest tas"s of the school system but its nature, target, contents and importance have varied from one period to another (6ersh et al. *237, *,$+:( @urpel ? Fyan *284, ,$*7). There has, as a rule, been general agreement that ethical education is important, even though also opponents to ethical education given at compulsory schools. The sceptics have not formed any common group but represent very different views on people, society and education. !ost usual has been that there has in the bac"ground been the fear that ethical education would become a means of using power and of infringing on the freedom of thought.

.s a counterargument has, on the other hand, been presented that education and school system always transmits values and norms. It has been stated that ethical education is inevitable: it ta"es place all the time, whether we wanted it or not. Instead of letting hidden and hapha;ard factors ta"e care of value education, it would be important to ta"e the ethical %uestions as a sub1ect of common scrutiny, assessment and consideration. .lso among those people who have considered ethical education to be a central tas" of schools there have been differing opinions about what that ethical growth or education could be: there are numerous schools and approaches (>ha;an *23:( 6ersh et al. *237( 0ipman et al. *237( !c@hail et al. *28:( Goddings *238 and *233( @ower et al( @ring *238( @urpel ? Fyan *284( Faths et al. *283( Scharf *283( Straughan *233( -ilson et al. *248( -ilson *28, and *227). It can for instance be understood as a transmission of values and norms to future generations, as clarification of each one)s own values or as a common information and problem solution process. There are many ways to 1ustify the transmission of certain values and norms. /irstly, it can be thought that there are universal ethical principles which are always valid, or values which the people who bear responsibility for other people and life agree upon. These "ind of principles have considered to be, among others, the golden rule of ethics and declarations of human rights. Bne argument for the transmission of values has also been that although there would not e ist universal ethical principles, if is good for children to learn the values and norms of a certain society. 6erewith can be argued that the present values are importand and they have validity even in the future. The school of clarifying values was born as a strong protest to the thin"ing of transmitting values. The approach does not teach certain collection of values but it involves ma"ing up situations and tas"s where the pupils come face to face with their own values, are compelled to consider and assess them. In this approach it is believed that an individual has the ability to grow and develop through self$"nowledge and own e periences. The advocates of this school argument that values which have not been internali;ed and have been taught by other people have not born fruit but have often lead to double standard of morality. The advocates of the school emphasi;e that the whole world is changing all the time, it is not possible to give a ready$made list of values and norms( they stress the personal nature of values and an individual)s own, active action when trying to find them. 6ence it is important to guide the pupil to a life$long road of continuing choices between values. The advocates of the school of clarifation of values have been accused of value relativism as well as of simplifying the relationship between an individual and the society $ the behaviour in it is as if individuals would act in vacuum, as if they would carry out their process of value selection apart from social conte t. .lso the wea" theoretical base of the approach as regards the ethics has been critisi;ed. It has been %uestioned whether it at all is ethical education that is concerned but general educational way of approach. The individualcentric approach of the commission of clarification of values has obtained beside it schools which have emphasi;ed, besides individual process, "nowledge of ethics and testing of ethical principles, values and norms through an open dialogue. In my doctoral thesis I have combined principles of different schools when searching an approach suitable for teacher education. In the development process the conclusion has been that a society of individuals who are widely and deeply conscious of ethical %uestions and are

studying them is the target and means of the ethical growth in teacher education. In order to become conscious of this, the necessary elements are "nowledge, e perience, ability to put oneself in another)s position, open and safe dialogue $ and, most of all, that ethical issues become significant and important. . teacher needs in his wor" ability to read in the field of ethics. 6e also needs ability to read those hidden mar" which prevent ethical action at individual, community and society level. I started my article with @entti !alas"a)s argument in which he %uestions the ability and willingness of science to create ethical consciousness. The argument is a challenge to science, and especially pedagogics and teacher education. -hen the ethics in my study have grown the reply to that challenge is: an attempt to prove that is does not have to be so, an attempt to combine the research of a teacher)s ethics tightly with practical action and its development.