EDU 6060 Ethical, Moral and Legal Issues in Educational Leadership
(formerly EDU 606)
This course will focus on the study of ethical theory and its application to selected moral and legal issues in education. Examination of the ways in which educational leaders are responsible for change and decision-making, especially as they relate to diversity and special needs of students will be addressed. This course will explore the meaning of morality and offer a practical ethical theory that can be applied to the situations educators often face on a daily basis. The course also will consider the role conscience plays in moral decisions that may influence policies and procedures affecting the lives of others. Utilizing a problem-based approach that recognizes the ambiguity inherent within situations that school leaders confront, this course will offer participants a cogent and clear ethical framework to address moral and legal issues. The course will provide a critique of the educator's own moral sensitivity in relation to instructional and curricular choices and in relation to the behavior and expectations of students. Participants will investigate and ethically assess current educational issues relative to federal, state and local decisions and examine the major forms of justice: individual, distributive and social, as they affect students, parents and teachers. Participants will be exposed to a complex set of issues relating to ethical behavior in institutional settings, including academic integrity, curriculum choices, student assessment, parental involvement, community relations and administrative-staff conflict. Through readings, case analyses, and other means of investigation, the consequences of ethical and unethical practice and their impact on individuals and school organizations are examined. The National Education Association Code of Ethics will be studied and applied to twenty-first century educational leadership. Ultimately, the principal goal of this course will be to develop an ethical framework from which school leaders can make informed decisions regarding moral and legal issues in education.
Distribution
Education