Task 5c - Reader

Task 5c

Reader 5 has taken me a while to finish and finally after finishing i feel like i want to read it all over again. For me a few key points stuck out for me.

Theoretical Areas of Ethics was engrossing. 3 different ideas of ethics - Deontologist, Consequensilist & Virtue Ethics which i had to look deeper into. 

Deontology - The principle, doing the right thing. This is a duty based ethic which comes from the greek word ‘deon’ which means ‘duty’. People who are deontologists believe in only doing the right thing, even if it produces more harm than doing the wrong thing. They won’t weigh up the odds and consider acting differently. 

Consequentialism - Choosing an action that provides good consequences. This results-based ethic is something we come across the most in everyday life because it is simple and normally common sense. When i’m teaching this would be an ethic i might use more than others.

Virtue - I was extremely confused by this. Further research suggests this is a character-based ethic which looks at the person rather than the action. A good person is someone that lives virtuously and possesses good virtues, therefore building a good society to help good people. 

Upon researching more on different areas of ethics, i was surprised to see there was so many different areas. This was not something i was aware of in everyday life and didn’t realise that lots of people build their ethics based on a system. 

Looking back at my own ethics, these are something that i’ve grown up with and that i’ve built myself from child to adult. As the reader suggests we gain these ethics from different areas of life.

Personal - Every day values and ethics are something we might acquire from our parents, family and friends. Depending on the society we live in, most people follow the same sort of ethics which are common sense.

Professional - My teaching ethics have formed from years of dance classes and observing how different teachers work, professional training at college for 3 years and working professionally since graduating.

Task 5B: Ethics Continued

After finishing task 5A on my thoughts of Ethics, it was insightful to continue with this task of looking at the codes of practice/regulations at my own places of work and see how they differ. 

My first comparison was my own business. As mentioned previously, we don’t have our own code of practice, so i put some questions to my business partner and asked her what she considered to be her own ethics. 

Responsibility - Having a responsibility towards students to engage them and inspire them for the future. Being a role model that many students look up to.

Fun - Important that students are enjoying themselves in a safe secure environment. Students feel safe when entering class and don’t ever feel embarrassed. They shouldn’t feel scared.

Providing - Catering to all needs and differentiating for individuals.

Predictably, most of ethics matched apart from a few which are mentioned above. These are of course are the same ethics that i would indeed use, however i wasn’t fully aware that i was using them.

My second comparison was a Independent Boarding School that i’ve been teaching at for 2 years. This was interesting to look at as my own business is out of school hours and casual. Below is a list of teaching standards that are expected by the school as a minimum

1. Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils
2. Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils
3. Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge
4. Plan and teach well structured lessons
5. Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils
6. Make accurate and productive use of assessment
7. Manage behavior effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment
8. Fulfill wider professional responsibilities

These seem fairly standard ethics that i would assume to be in place in most areas of education. Although most of these are similar to my own ethics which i follow, these seem to be much more formal. 

Task 5a: Ethics

Ethics. 

An insightful topic for myself discovering the codes of practice i automatically have been using whilst running my business.

This was extremely interesting for me as one would assume that most people who are running a business normally have their own ethics/code of practice. However, as my business partner and myself have been teaching together for numerous years we rarely seem to disagree when working together and our ethics would be the same.

Normally i would pick up the phone and give her a ring asking her what her ethics are when teaching/running our business. But sticking to the task given to me, i have to consider the ethics which i use without referencing to documents or discussion. 

I decided it would be interesting if wrote down all the ethics that i would normally use in my workplace and then ask my partner what her standard ethics are. Comparing them afterwards will show if our ethics differ.

My ethics whilst running my business (Teaching Dance)

Health & Safety - Student’s safety is always a number 1 priority in my line of work. Weather this be making sure moves are being executed correctly, the studio/workplace is clean/tidy and acceptable to dance in, fire exits are known & generally keeping an eye on the students to make sure they are well.

Punctuality - Arriving at least 15 mins before any dance class to make sure i have enough time to set up and are able to greet students and parents as they arrive. Also making sure that my punctuality whilst sending invoices or replying to voicemails, emails and messages is impeccable. 

Commitment - Always making sure that i put 100% into every class i teach so that every student is getting the most out of every class.

Preparation - Being preparing is an important factor as a dance teacher. Making sure i am fully prepared for every dance class with the correct music, prepared choreography and a lesson plan.

Respect - I always make sure that all my students know how to respect each other during a dance class. Supporting other students at all times when dancing. 

Behavior - I do not accept any bad behavior in my classes. Students are warned if being disruptive to other pupils and absolutely no fighting or swearing. 

Fun - Always making sure that every student is having an enjoyable dance class and as well as working hard at the same time they are having fun! 

Improving my methods - As a dance teacher i am constantly trying to improve my methods of teaching. This is usually done by attending dance classes to make sure i am improving myself to which i can share this knowledge with my students.

After re-reading through my idea of ethics, i couldn’t help but think these actually sound a lot like rules? Are these ethics something that i have i have learnt from somewhere else or just my natural instincts?

Task 4B - SIG

I've finally worked out how to create my own SIG (special interest group) on LinkedIn.

Choosing a name for my group proved to be difficult at first but i settled for Teacher of Dance in Education in the end.

Hoping that fellow practitioners who share the same interests as me will be able to join my group and we can help answer each other's questions.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Teachers-Dance-in-Education-4711131?home=&gid=4711131&trk=anet_ug_hm

So...any professionals that are interested......Join My SIG!!