As an educational leader, you will be faced with a wide range of legal and ethical dilemmas as part of your professional practice. Applying personal character, practical wisdom, and discernment in making decisions that demonstrate best practices and the best interest of all stakeholders can be challenging, mainly when the path to resolution may not be clear or may conflict with personal values and morals. Developing the ability to advocate for and model virtuous actions can help you to gain the trust of organizational stakeholders and help you build trust in those you are leading.
Select a recent (within the last 3 years) educational issue that poses both legal and ethical dilemmas for those in leadership positions and has resulted in legal action being taken. Research the associated legal case and analyze the facts and details related to it. In a 750-1,000 word reflection, address the following:
- Summarize the educational issue by describing the legal and ethical dilemmas and associated legal action and cases related to the issue.
- Describe specific actions that could have been taken in the situation to demonstrate ethical behavior in personal conduct and relationships and cultivate ethical behavior in others. Include a discussion about how the lack of ethical behavior contributed to the dilemma and associated legal action.
- Consider your own future professional practice and describe specific guidelines you intend to follow to employ ethical decision-making strategies. Include a discussion about why leading by example is crucial to maintaining the ethical integrity of the organization.
- Explain why as an education leader you must advocate for and model virtuous actions that demonstrate respect for the diversity of others in the pursuit of the common good. Include a discussion about how applying character strengths or virtues could diminish the potential ethical and legal dilemmas in the educational issue you researched.
- Review your dilemma and determine whether the outcome would be different if you worked for a different school setting (i.e., private versus public versus charter versus virtual versus multi-age). Explain what differences would exist, if any, and why.
Support the reflection with a minimum of three scholarly resources.
