The Importance Of Ethical School Leaders

As previously discussed, the effective school movement was highlighted with the conviction that school leaders were in important component to schools that support the learning of students of color and of low-SES. According to Raymond Calabrese (1988), a professor of educational administration, an ethical school leader is the epitome of effective schools and one cannot exist without the other because an “effective principal must be an ethical principal” (p. 4). Branson (2014d) adds that “ethicalness is the cornerstone of leadership” and so “if it isn’t ethical, it isn’t leadership” (p. 452). Moreover, critical theorist, Paulo Freire (2014), suggests educators must live and practice ethics everyday; since “ethics defines what must be,” “establishes the …show more content…
Therefore, ethical school leaders must confront internal cultures in his or her school that perpetuate inequities. According to Kjersti Lien Holte (2014), a researcher of ethics and leadership, schools suffer from what she terms “ethical silence”—a silence of confronting unethical practices. Holte (2014) argues, then, educational leaders who desire to create an ethical school culture must confront issues of ethical silence—resulting from fear of exclusion, loss of employment, and cultural characteristics—supporting unethical behaviors. A school must recognize and challenge issues of hidden silence in schools that promote inequities. Similarly, Shields (2014) contends that ethical educational leaders must also confront issues in pedagogy and curriculum that can lead to inequities. Indeed, Holte (2014) believes that ethical school leaders must “strive to ensure that not only their behavior is ethical but also that their schools’ culture supports and promotes a commitment to ethical practices by all” (p. 149). Given these points, ethical leaders must confront various issues in their schools that can permeate a culture of