Like It or Not, We Are All Teachers

I just finished reading a chapter in one of my text books about the ethics of teaching. Not surprisingly, there is more to being an ethical teacher than just not dating your students (yes, it is not just frowned upon) and taking bribes to change grades. It also extends to some behaviors one might not think were ethical issues at all.

One such issue is allowing retests. Do-overs. Giving students a second chance.

Now, I am all for second chances, and in fact I have given many a student an opportunity to improve a score. But according to McKeachie’s Teaching Tips, which is considered by many to be the definitive handbook on theory, research and strategy among college instructors, there are ethical questions surrounding the idea of allowing a student to take a test again while not offering the opportunity to the whole class.

An interesting proposition and depending on the circumstances, there are myriad answers to the ethical question of fair or unfair. Certainly, we want our teachers to be fair and ethical, and how we exercise such discretionary power can make a big difference in how one is perceived by their students and colleagues alike.

So while the book raises questions about a teacher’s ethics, it also raises the more important question concerning the teaching of ethics. While we certainly want our students to act ethically, our own values determine our ethics; how we define fair and unfair frames what we teach others about those concepts.  

So in essence, we teach values. We have no other option. It is who we are, and it is reflected in how we act, not just what we say. As teachers, one of the most powerful tools we have in our arsenal is our own behavior. Students see how we act toward them, toward our colleagues, toward our institution, toward out community, and they model that behavior. Certainly this is true among young children, who look to their elders for cues on every front.

But it is just as true among adult learners, maybe even more so, as they look to us to show them how to be successful, how to act professionally, how to think critically about the world around us.

My point here is this: You never know who is watching you and basing their lives on your example. So set an example of which you can be proud. Behave in a manner that inspires people around you to emulate you, not immolate you.

We’re all teachers, after all. The only difference between me and the non-educators in the audience is perspective.