While teaching all the students is important, so is identifying whether a child has some kind of learning impediment is also important, and ethically I would have to find the time to do both tasks well, and not rationalize that the educational referral was not necessary.
d. I do not think I would have any problem accepting the responsibility to make ethical decisions and take ethical actions. In the examples used here, I would never use that blackboard punishment for slow work. I would attempt to find out why the child was working slowly. If the problem represents an educational need I would attempt to meet that need. If it did not reflect an educational need, then the natural consequence for the student's choice would be in the grades, not at a circle on the blackboard.
I would also have no problem taking action by reporting child abuse once I decided that child abuse might...
Ethically, the child's physical and psychological welfare should be paramount to me as a teacher.
e. I also recognize that there may be more than one solution, or no ideal solution, to problems. Once again the problem might be lack of experience. I can imagine situations where I simply would not know all the possible solutions, making it harder to make an ethical decision.
The ethical solution for lack of experience is to seek the advice of those I respect who have more experience and knowledge than I.
Bibliography
Bologna, Theresa M.; Dorsey, Anne G.; Freeman, Nancy K.; and Ungaretti, Toni. 1997. "A Teacher Education Ethics Initiative: A Collaborative Response to a Professional Need." Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 48.
Luckowski, Jean A. 1997. "A virtue-centered approach to ethics education." Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 48
