How are ethical administrators perceived?
Developing school administrators who adhere to a code of ethics and practice ethical decision-making is crucial to the success of our schools. Hudson (1997) insists “ethical virtues are reflected in the way we see ourselves as well as the way we see others, and are culminated in our relation to those others in the community in which we live” (p. 514). He goes on to say that ethics have been called the disciplined study of human conduct, and such conduct has been studied by many of the greatest thinkers of modern time (Hudson, 1997). Recent studies of ethics focus on the impact ethical leaders have on organizations and individuals, in our case, on schools and students. The role ethics plays in schools revolves around administrators making decisions that are in the best interest of the school and the students that enter through it’s doors every day.
An open-ended survey, on what it means to be an ethical administrator, was administered to 85 graduate students enrolled in master and doctoral educational leadership programs. The survey examined the behaviors and characteristics of ethical administrators and asked participants to describe, in their own words, what they believed to be characteristics and behaviors of ethical administrators. The survey produced many of the same responses by participants.
The first part of the survey asked participants to list specific behaviors exhibited by ethical administrators. Student respondents listed a total of 58 behaviors at least one time. The behavior that was most often cited as being indicative of an ethical administrator was being fair; this was listed by 35.3 percent of participants. Being respectful of all persons was the second most frequently mentioned behavior. The remaining behaviors that were cited ten or more times included being open; being student-centered; listening; facilitating or assisting others; and being a model for others.
The second part of the ethics survey required the respondents to list characteristics possessed by ethical administrators. Survey participants noted sixty-three different characteristics. The most frequently noted characteristic was honesty (listed by 43.5 percent of participants). Because this characteristic was listed by a larger percentage of participants than any other characteristic or behavior, it is a strong indicator of a trait that defines an ethical administrator. Being positive and being caring or considerate were listed as the second and third most frequent characteristics. Fairness was a trait listed by 30.6 percent of participants; fairness and being professional and/or knowledgeable, being trustworthy and/or reliable, and being consistent were also mentioned by a large percentage of participants.
The results of this study indicate that ethical school leaders, as viewed by students in the field, must not only know the ethical standards they are bound to adhere to but also know how to effectively demonstrate these behaviors consistently on the job.
Please refer to the actual study at the following link: http://cnx.org/content/m14495/latest/
