As seen in my blog 'further research' http://emilysarahhunt.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/further-research.html, I cover some of the ideas behind the ethical values within professional practice and how schools/places of training should care for their students and have a decent way of dealing with mental strains.
After looking through Reader 5, I can now see that the way life went on during my personal training, probably wasn't the most ethical.. the same will apply to others. Those of us that felt belittled or singled out, felt as though others were treated differently/better than us - surely that isn't an ethical way to be teaching? Everyone should be treated equally, no matter who they are. Yes, we all need different corrections/constructive criticism etc but it should be used fairly and appropriately.
These particular statements made an impact on me when reading Reader 5 'Professional Ethics' :
"Ethics is frequently not a case of black and white – where an action is either right or wrong. Often, it is rather a grey area where there is uncertainty and where other issues and considerations can affect outcomes."
For this I think about dance teachers and their teaching methods. How they approach their students and what they do in order to gain the most from those that they teach/train. For example, a teacher may be obeying the ethical policies of their teaching but an issue that arises within the moment may change the usual way of teaching and cause a negative affect on the student (and possibly the teacher themselves).
"Hobbes (1651) viewed ethics as a practical solution to social harmony and good through the vehicle of a social contract. He posited that in order to achieve peaceful, co-operative social order we need to adhere to a set of moral rules."
I agree with Hobbes. We all deserve to be treated equally and by abiding to the same rules and regulations, we should have every success in doing so as we will all be following the same methods and structure within our profession.
"As professions became more established and distinct they developed their own set of rules and norms. In tandem with this, professional codes of practice have developed in order to uphold the standards of the profession. Some professions have developed licences to practice and have professional bodies to oversee that codes and ethics are being adhered to."
I feel it is good and important that professions have now developed these 'set of rules' as, said previously, by all following the same ideas and standards, we should perform well as individuals and as a team within our professions.
I now want to research the ethical policies within psychotherapy and counselling as I feel they must be extremely important due to the variety or people, their backgrounds and issues that are dealt with in that profession... I'll be blogging again soon!
Hi Emily..I also found the point about ethics not always being black or white interesting. I think what one teacher may perceive as doing their best for their students, may be ethically wrong to somebody else.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in the code of conduct given by the CDET, it says, "Recognise and develop each student's potential and offer appropriate guidance for further progress".
One teacher may feel that in order to do this they must be very harsh on a student as to them that might be ethically correct..they may genuinely believe that they are doing right by the student. Somebody else may see this as ethically wrong; that the teacher is just de-moralising the student.
So what I'm trying to say is, even with each profession developing their own code of conduct, which we would hope means each person following the same method and structure, perhaps there can still be different interpretations of it and that is down to the individual.
Clare :)