Resolving Ethical Issues at School

Abstract

Although ethical dilemmas are constant in teachers’ lives, the profession has offered little in the way of training to help teachers resolve such problems well. This paper describes such a structure for resolving professional ethical dilemmas based on developmental theory. The structure, called the Four-Component Model of Moral Maturity, when used in conjunction with a professional code of ethics, can help teachers understand the important issues of an ethical situation and can provide guidance for its mature resolution. An example of such a dilemma and the mechanism for its resolution is provided.