Ethics in Teaching :: Education Philosophy

Ethics in Teaching Ethics should be a main concern when a teacher is deciding how to teach and what he/she plans on teaching. Ethics are the morals that a person believes in. A central concern is a main idea. I looked up pedagogy in the dictionary and its definition is the state or art of teaching. Therefore, when I hear the phrase, "Ethics must be seen as a central concern of critical pedagogy," said by Henry A. Giroux, I believe that he means morals used in teaching need to be looked upon with high regards and also very carefully when a teacher is teaching. Ethics in teaching can have both positive and negative effects for the students. I believe that teachers in elementary school and middle school should set an example for their students. They can do this by being responsible, treating people fairly, and respecting their elders. When a students sees his/her teacher doing this, the student will then want to be like the teacher and follow the teachers example. Several students do not have very positive environments at their homes. The teachers may be the students only image of a good citizen. Once a student gets into high school, he/she has already developed his/her own morals and values. This is a time when a teacher can get into a lot of trouble when giving his/her opinion on certain subjects such as religion, race, and abortion. The teacher should try to avoid talking about these topics if at all possible. The teachers should still act as an example of good human being for the children by treating people fairly, being courteous, and being responsible. In Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire often talks about two contrasting teaching styles. One involves a banking concept where the teacher lectures all of the time and tries to put the information into the student’s head as if he/she was a robot.