CEC Professional Ethical Principals

CEC Professional Ethical Principles

In the United States, education has become a highly involved and complicated process, not least because of the diverse nature and needs that teachers are faced with every day. Not only are there highly diverse students in terms of ethnicity and language in each classroom, there are also different cognitive abilities and needs. This is so not only in each grade, but also in each classroom. This means that ethical guidelines and standards have emerged to help teachers understand how to handle these differences. At the core of these principles is that each teacher should be focused upon helping children achieve the best they can, and that each student should be challenged to develop his or her abilities to the highest possible level. For the exceptional learner category, the Council for Exceptional Children has provided 12 ethical principles that teachers need to adhere to in order to reach these goals for children with exceptional abilities (CEC, 2010). What is interesting is that many of these principles also relate to a more general attitude towards an inclusive education practice, where all children are provided with a sense of dignity and respect.

Principle A, for example, focuses on maintaining challenging expectations for persons with exceptional abilities in the classroom. The second part of the principle indicates that this should be done in a way that respects each exceptional individual in terms of dignity, culture, language and background. If the classroom is already inclusive and respectful of the variety of differences represented, this should not be difficult to implement. Also, a teacher who is already faced with cognitive differences as well should not find it difficult to provide appropriate challenges for exceptional children as well. Indeed, the core of the education process is to provide challenges that students are able to reach incrementally to ultimately reach the basic standard of education for a particular grade. Providing appropriate challenges will enhance the process and create a positive attitude to learning.

Principle B. relates to professional competence and integrity as these relate to exceptional individuals and their families. This means that teachers should interact not only with the learners in their classrooms, but also with their parents and guardians in an effective and ethical way. Again, this is not a unique principle that relates only to exceptional learners.

Principle C. relates to inclusive participation in schools and communities. This can prove challenging, as providing different activities for different learning needs could create the perception that some of these are somehow "better" than others. In this, teachers will need to very carefully plan activities in such a way that no child feels that he or she is either better or worse than the others. This will be an important learned principle once students, whether exceptional or not, enter the world of tertiary education and ultimately the economy.

Principle D. is also important, since this concerns helping teachers to find support for their practice involving children with exceptional abilities and needs. Teachers are expected to liaise with others who also provide services to exceptional children. Collaborating with such service providers can help teachers implement classroom practices that focus on helping such individuals to excel to the best of their ability.

Principle E. is closely related to Principle B, which involves working with families on a basis of mutual respect and active involvement in educational decision making. This is also a principle that is not unique to children with exceptional abilities. Teachers are expected to make all families part of the educational process and to show mutual respect and concern for the children in their charge.

In addition to working with other professionals and with families, teachers are also expected to do their own research to inform their practice with exceptional children. Only by maintaining a strong research basis can teachers ensure that they use the best and most recent practices available. While this can be done in collaboration, teachers will generally do individual research to inform their practice. A challenge here may be time, where teachers' workload, especially during the school term, makes it difficult to find time for extra reading and research.

Principle G. relates closely to Principle A and C, where respect for individuals with exceptional abilities dictates how they are included in classroom activities. This Principle specifies that the physical and psychological safety of individuals with exceptional abilities should be protected and supported at all times. This is extended in Principle H, where harm should be avoided by neither tolerating nor engaging in practices that harm individuals with exceptionalities. Again, this is also a principle that generally holds for the entire education process, and should not be difficult to extend to children with exceptional abilities.

The final four principles, I-L, concern the mandate for teachers to be knowledgeable about and practice wtihin the ethics, standards, and policies created by the CEC to help children with exceptional abilities make the most of their educational process. Teachers should not only be aware of these, but also take a more active advocating role. When flaws or inadequacies in existing laws are identified, teachers are expected to advocate for the improvement of these. In their advocating capacity, teachers are also expected to advocate for professional conditions and resources that will help individuals with exceptional abilities make the most of their education.

Other active roles, mandated by Principles K. And L, require teachers to improve the teaching process itself by means of participation in professional organizations as well as by means of research and publication in order to improve the existing body of knowledge about children with exceptional abilities and ways in which to help them be active participants in the classroom.

What is striking is that none of the principles outlined above are unique to children with exceptional abilities. Indeed, any of these can be modified to also relate to children with average abilities or children with special needs in the classroom. The most important part of the teaching process is to display respect for all the levels of abilities and learning processes in the classroom. The principles above simply emphasize the fact that existing teaching principles and ethics should be sufficiently flexible to also apply to children with exceptional abilities.