Tennessee Code Of Ethics Case Study

In the first scenario presented on page 121 of the text (Mackenzie & Mackenzie, 2010), a principal has accepted an award for gains in math scores within the school from the chair of the board. In his acceptance, he never mentions his faculty. Since he did not seem to support the math department’s suggestions for improvement, a teacher is upset and wants to schedule a meeting with the board chairman to let him/her know that the principal lacks ethics. I do not agree with this approach because speaking against another educator is considered disparaging, and the principal should be given an opportunity to explain the acceptance first.

First of all, according to the Tennessee Code of Ethics for Educators (Tennessee, n.d.), an educator should not

The principal should have included the math teachers and their new approach in his acceptance. However, principals are often called upon to accept praise/recognition and sometimes fail to remember each person to thank. As a member of the math department, this teacher knows first-hand the efforts taken within the department to raise scores. What this teacher should do is give the principal an opportunity to hear the concerns and respond. Perhaps this teacher does not have an understanding of budgetary matters. For instance, in many districts the allocation of funds is determined by the superintendent, and the principal must follow particular guidelines for staffing. Another point the principal may emphasize is the cooperative efforts of the entire school to raise scores. Oftentimes, a rise in literacy scores has a domino effect on other subject areas. The school may have chosen to place an emphasis on literacy, and a portion of the increase in math scores may be the outcome. A careful discussion between the teacher and the principal may ease or eliminate the hurt and anger of the teacher. One’s first inclination should always be to go to the offending party. If this does not provide a desired result, the teacher should notify the leader before any conversation is had with the chair of the