Ethics involves a critical analysis of primary moral beliefs, which include what is considered morally right, our meanings and values as well as how we live (Smith, Ladd and Pasquerella, 2008, p.5). Ethics can relate to all parts of society, and is fundamental in school settings. I have chosen to annalyse and apply ethical theory to case study one.
Karen has to respond to the actions of her teaching assistant Anne, who has clearly broken rules and hasn’t followed ethical guidelines. There are a number of different perspectives this situation can be seen from and various approaches Karen can take to deal with it. A consequentialism approach, is one that suggests we act in ways that will create a positive consequences (Thiroux and Krasemann, …show more content…
BERA set guidelines in regards to ethics and state that any individual must “seek the collaboration and approval of those who act in guardianship when research is being carried out”, in this case it is fair to assume Anne did not inform Karen, its also unlikely she asked the permission of the children’s guardians and therefore didn’t seek permission which means she didn’t “comply with legal requirements in relation to recording school children”. As Anne has broken the rules set by BERA, Karen, if taking a Deontological approach would report Anne, to the head of the school and to local authorities, because Karen would stick to the rules and protect her and those around her. This approach developed by Kant (in Spurgin and Swindal 2004, p.36) , suggest this theory is based on “ethical judgments alone” and doesn’t take into account feelings in these judgments, so if Karen took this approach she would have to forget her friendship with Anne and their classroom bond and report Anne to the head teacher for Anne to then face disciplinary procedures and possibly even inform the children’s parents. Criticisms of this non-consequentialist theory have been proposed by Thiroux and Krasemann (2008,p.54) who are critical of following the rules, as they suggest doing so can create consequences in itself, even for just for a few. The consequences could be Karen’s lose of friendship. They also explore the idea of human behavior being too complex to apply moral
Karen has to respond to the actions of her teaching assistant Anne, who has clearly broken rules and hasn’t followed ethical guidelines. There are a number of different perspectives this situation can be seen from and various approaches Karen can take to deal with it. A consequentialism approach, is one that suggests we act in ways that will create a positive consequences (Thiroux and Krasemann, …show more content…
BERA set guidelines in regards to ethics and state that any individual must “seek the collaboration and approval of those who act in guardianship when research is being carried out”, in this case it is fair to assume Anne did not inform Karen, its also unlikely she asked the permission of the children’s guardians and therefore didn’t seek permission which means she didn’t “comply with legal requirements in relation to recording school children”. As Anne has broken the rules set by BERA, Karen, if taking a Deontological approach would report Anne, to the head of the school and to local authorities, because Karen would stick to the rules and protect her and those around her. This approach developed by Kant (in Spurgin and Swindal 2004, p.36) , suggest this theory is based on “ethical judgments alone” and doesn’t take into account feelings in these judgments, so if Karen took this approach she would have to forget her friendship with Anne and their classroom bond and report Anne to the head teacher for Anne to then face disciplinary procedures and possibly even inform the children’s parents. Criticisms of this non-consequentialist theory have been proposed by Thiroux and Krasemann (2008,p.54) who are critical of following the rules, as they suggest doing so can create consequences in itself, even for just for a few. The consequences could be Karen’s lose of friendship. They also explore the idea of human behavior being too complex to apply moral