Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education: Applying Theoretical Perspectives to Complex Dilemmas, Third Edition

245 Pages·2010·1.23 MB·English

by  Joan Poliner Shapiro

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND DECISION
MAKING IN EDUCATION
The third edition of the best-selling text, Ethical Leadership and Decision Making
in Education,continues to address the increasing interest in ethics and assists
educational leaders with the complex dilemmas in today’s challenging and
diverse society. Through discussion and analysis of real-life moral dilemmas
that educational leaders face in their schools and communities, authors
Shapiro and Stefkovich demonstrate the application of the four ethical
paradigms—the ethics of justice, care, critique, and profession. After an
illustration of how the Multiple Ethical Paradigm approach may be applied
to real dilemmas, the authors present a series of cases written by students
and academics in the field representing the dilemmas faced by practicing
educational leaders in urban, suburban, and rural settings in an era full of
complexities and contradictions. Following each case are questions that call
for thoughtful, complex thinking and help readers come to grips with their
own ethical codes and apply them to practical situations.
New in the Third Edition:
• An entire new chapter on privacy versus safety, including ethical issues
such as strip searches, gang membership, cyber-bullying, and sexting.
• New cases infused into chapters on early childhood education, diverse
student populations, and technology.
• Updates throughout to reflect contemporary issues and recent
scholarship in the field of ethical leadership.
Including teaching notes for the instructor stressing the importance of self-
reflection, this text is easily adaptable for a variety of uses with a wide range
of audiences. Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Educationis a valuable
book for both aspiring and practicing administrators, teacher leaders, and
educational policy makers.
Joan Poliner Shapirois Professor of Educational Administration at Temple
University and Co-Founder of the New DEEL (Democratic Ethical
Educational Leadership) movement.
Jacqueline A. Stefkovich is Professor of Education Law and Ethics at The
Pennsylvania State University and Co-Director of the UCEA’s D.J. Willower
Center for the Study of Ethics and Leadership.

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND
DECISION MAKING IN EDUCATION
APPLYING THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
TO COMPLEX DILEMMAS
Third Edition
Joan Poliner Shapiro
Jacqueline A. Stefkovich
First edition published 2001
by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Second edition published 2005
by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
This edition published 2011
by Routledge
270Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX144RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
©2001, 2005 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
©2011 Taylor & Francis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark Notice:Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shapiro, Joan Poliner.
Ethical leadership and decision making in education : applying theoretical
perspectives to complex dilemmas / by Joan Poliner Shapiro and
Jacqueline A. Stefkovich. — 3rd ed.
p. cm.
1. Educational leadership—Moral and ethical aspects—United States. 2. School
administrators—Professional ethics—United States. 3. School management and
organization—Moral and ethical aspects—United States. 4. Ethics—Study and
teaching—United States. 5. Decision making—United States. I. Stefkovich,
Jacqueline Anne, 1947– II. Title.
LB1779.S416 2010
371.2¢011—-dc22
2010017579
ISBN 0-203-84959-0 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 13: 978–0–415–87460–1 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978–0–415–87459–5 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978–0–203–84959–0 (ebk)
In memory of my mother, Ruth P. Poliner, father, Isadore Poliner,
and sister, Dr. Elizabeth A. Poliner—all were exemplars
of the ethic of care.
A special thanks to my parents, Albert and Betty Stefkovich,
whose values have always inspired my work.

Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xvii
Part I: Practice and Paradigms in the Study of Ethics 1
1
Multiple Ethical Paradigms and the Preparation of
Educational Leaders in a Diverse and Complex Era 3
2
Viewing Ethical Dilemmas Through Multiple Paradigms 10
Part II: A Multiparadigm Approach to Analyzing Paradoxical
Dilemmas 29
3
Individual Rights Versus Community Standards 33
Case studies:
3.1 The Adult Fantasy Center 36
3.2 Artificial Insemination 39
3.3 The Trouble with Daddy’s Roommate 41
3.4 The School of Hard Knocks 43
4
Traditional Curriculum Versus Hidden Curriculum 46
Case studies:
4.1 AIDS and Age-appropriate Education 48
4.2 Vivisection: A Dilemma for the Undergraduate Classroom 51
4.3 Culturally Responsive Curriculum or an Ethical Dilemma? 53
viii
CONTENTS
4.4 School Budget Blues and Copyright 56
4.5 There’s No Place Like School 58
5
Personal Codes Versus Professional Codes 64
Case studies:
5.1 Drunkenness or Disease? 66
5.2 Rising Star or Wife Beater? 68
5.3After-school Antics 72
5.4 Job Sharing: Some Real Benefits 76
5.5 When Teachers Fight 79
6
The American Melting Pot Versus the Chinese Hot Pot 81
Case studies:
6.1 AHome for Marlon: The Foster-child Case 83
6.2 Parents’ Rights Versus School Imperatives 87
6.3 Lost in Translation 90
6.4 Responsibility and the Organization 93
7
Religion Versus Culture 95
Case studies:
7.1 Buddhism and the Caring of Animals 98
7.2 Ceremonial Rights 101
7.3 Time Off for Religious Services 105
7.4 Religion and Social/Personal Contradictions 108
8
Equality Versus Equity 114
Case studies:
8.1 When All Means All 117
8.2 Black and White and Shades of Gray 121
8.3 Access to Knowledge 125
8.4 Academic Integrity in a Deaf Education Setting 130
8.5 When Fundraising and School Policy Collide 133
9
Accountability Versus Responsibility 137
Case studies:
9.1 The Secret Society of Test Givers 140
9.2 Whose Best Interests? A Testing Dilemma 143
9.3 Testing High Stakes 146
9.4 Ability, Maturity, and Parental Perspectives 150
9.5 AMerit-based Scholarship 152
ix
CONTENTS
10
Privacy Versus Safety 155
Case studies:
10.1 Keeping Children Safe: When is Enough, Enough? 159
10.2 Punishment, Rehabilitation, or Mitigating Circumstances? 163
10.3 School Discipline, Criminal Complaint, or Compassionate
Intervention? 164
10.4 New Bullying for the 21st Century: Cyber-bullying in the
Middle 167
10.5 All’s Fair in Love and School 171
Part III: Teaching as Scholarly Work 177
11
Ethics, Ourselves, and Our Pedagogy 179
References 200
About the Contributors 211
Index 222