Executive Interview with a Teacher

For this interview, a high school teacher was interviewed. He described his ethical beliefs to me in person. The interview was conducted in his classroom and was recorded using video for future reference. The interview was semi-structured, which allowed for a more reflective and immersive but also guided interview process to take place (Dearnley, 2005). The analysis for this paper is taken from that interview recording.

Description of the Subjects Ethical Beliefs

The ethical beliefs and practices of a teacher are an important foundation for providing quality education. The subjects self-described ethical beliefs were based on the system of virtue ethics. Virtue ethics is centered around acting in accordance with ideals that if pursued will improve ones moral character; ultimately the development of ones character contributes to the development of society as a whole, as ones good and right (i.e., virtuous) conduct will positively impact others and perhaps even inspire others to live in the same virtuous manner (Trianosky, 1990).

As teachers, exercising virtue ethics can involve cultivating personal values such as kindness, respect, balance, and integrity while attending to the needs of others. Such action models strong ethical tenets within educational contexts to constructively shape how students think about moral decisions. Ultimately, a teachers commitment to virtue ethics impels students to positively contribute to their world and ethically move through difficult circumstances in both academic and everyday life.

The subject noted that as a teacher, he has encountered a number of ethical challenges in the workplace. Most notably, he has been confronted with issues of equity providing students with equal access to learning opportunities and the challenge of finding workable compromises between competing interests. In addressing these challenges, he has found it essential to approach them from an ethical standpoint. This involves critically evaluating questions about what is fair or just for each party involved in order to ensure that all are treated fairly. In arriving at these conclusions, he has striven to be mindful that his decisions can potentially result in short and long-term effects on individuals and their communities. Thus, when faced with an ethical challenge in education, he has attempted to justify his reasoning within the context of the situation by emphasizing fairness at every stage of the decision-making process.

As the subject noted, virtue ethics places emphasis on character and how one's praiseworthy or reprehensible behavior affects the outcome of any given situation. In order for us to better understand our ethical obligations, we must reflect on what actions best convey moral excellence so as to cultivate virtuous habits. One must also strive to make meaningful connections between our decisions and the values that we hold dear, such as truth, justice and respect for our colleagues. In doing this, not only can one make positive changes in our workplace, but also internalize a broader sense of morality which will extend beyond our jobs and into all aspects of life.

The subject also stressed that virtue ethics is one of the most important ethical philosophies that can help students become better in many aspects of their life, as it stresses that individuals should develop good character traits, such as diligence, respect, honesty and integrity, to navigate the world and make moral choices. By developing these types of character traits, students can foster greater self-esteem and therefore increase their motivation for achieving higher academic goals. Emphasizing the idea that it takes more than just acquiring knowledge to become a competent student keeps them from falling into shallow...

…how virtue, duty, and utility all play a role in morality. This should effectively encourage moral behavior as well as prepare individuals to better navigate unique or difficult situations by providing them with valuable tools tailored to the context at hand.

What I like most about the subjects approach, however, is that it strives to be objective. For instance, virtue ethics and ethical egoism are two distinct approaches to ethical decision-making. While virtue ethics is concerned with the personal disposition of character traits necessary for a good life, ethical egoism is focused on the self-advantage in pursuing morally significant actions. The biggest difference between these two perspectives is objectivity and subjectivity. Virtue ethics is based on an objective view of moral excellence, as it identifie values that are universal for everyone. Contrastingly, ethical egoism operates under a subjective interpretation of the moral rightness or wrongness of certain decisions. For example, a person may believe that ensuring their own long-term benefit is the most moral action to take, where another may value considering the impact on others equally or above their own benefit.

For my subject there is no question of putting his own interests ahead of anyone elses. He believes in virtue because he recognizes it as a universal idealsomething real that exists and that all people can acknowledge. Virtue ethics comes across, therefore, as a morality-based approach to ethical decision-making that calls upon universal ideals to guide moral behavior. It is a system that seeks to nurture those virtues within an individual. It focuses on building moral habits, cultivating virtues through social and education activities, and focusing on actions that promote the well-being of both individuals and communities. It emphasizes characteristics such as courage, temperance, justice, prudence, fortitude, wisdom, friendship, charity, peaceableness and…