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johntmurray

The Wimba Classroom was a neat resource to engage with colleagues and popcorn discussion, share ideas, and collaborate on coursework assignments. After discussion around the guided questions of refining our actionable issue, our group settled on budget cuts as a contributor for further marginalizing the already marginalized student subgroups. We concluded that school/community pride is largely rooted in supplemental programs, such as athletics, and when schools lose funding so too does the school lose opportunities to show and grow pride.

Further, we agreed that in areas of affluence, students whose programs or course options (i.e. world language, CTE, and various electives) are cut or reduced possess the financial resources to solicit private businesses/outside resources for services, whereas, generally speaking, marginalized groups do not. This could be academic tutoring or coursework, athletic opportunities, enrichment initiatives, internships, and so forth. Class sizes also continue to grow due to budget cuts, which only further limits the time and attention the instructor can give to each child’s individual learning needs. In brief, budget cuts promote a wider achievement gap and school officials are expected to do more with less while achieving higher academic benchmarks (i.e. AYP, No Child Left Behind, Accreditation).

The whole notion of school and education being “the great equalizer” is quickly being replaced with  being the great divider, in large to budget cuts and a lack of advocacy from governing bodies who ultimately control the purse strings. Our group concluded with conversation, during our Fishbone exercise, as to how school officials are having to get creative with addressing the hurdles that budget cuts have produced for the school and the students (Fishbone exercise attached).

fishbone

johntmurray

Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:
“I could end the deficit in 5 minutes,” he told CNBC. “You just
pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more
than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible
for re-election.”

When I came across this, I thought about our ethics course. Here is a classic example of allowing values to dictate decision-making as opposed to doing what is ethical. The value of supporting constituents and their spending agendas, and thereby remaining in office, localizes priorities and outweighs the duty to provide leadership that is considerate of the entire country. In no other job, that I can think of, are the governing body/employees allowed to be so absent accountability…and the absence of accountability promotes an imbalance and abuse of power. 

Perhaps a new ethical framework could emerge to contextualize the ethics within political leadership…we could just call it “the exact opposite of categorical imperative” framework.

johntmurray

Without going into all of the back story, Wednesday evening found Dr. Reardon using one of his Aussie phrases that left me needing a point of clarification. Who knew that a sweaty nightcap was not a reference to a drink or, dare I say, something more? While we all enjoyed a good laugh, I found myself reflecting during my drive home about the language divide between our students and adults.

An English teacher at my school had a similar moment when she used “ish” to her students. She meant “there about” but the kids took it to mean “sh*t” as it does in urban slang. She could not understand why the class was in immediate upheaval, as the class was convinced that the teacher had just cursed.

While these are small examples of a broader scope, it does support why cultural competency training in schools is paramount. Since the day of the “ish”…a day which will live in infamy(ish)… I have been working with a small cadre of English teachers to create urban dictionaries and resource guides. They are working with their respective classes of students to capture what is unique to them, their world, their speak, their values. These will supplement our bigger summer training on cultural competency. The neatest part, I think, is that the kids are actually responsible for educating the teachers. Of course there are norms and expectations for what is appropriate, but it has already sparked some interesting dialogue in our building, and, better yet, changed some dated practices and approaches.

johntmurray

Whenever students are thought to be living out of district a five-day letter is issued, whereby the parent/guardian has five days to prove residency within the school’s zone or else be withdrawn.

Recently, I learned of such a situation…on the heals of a physical safety issue involving the student in question. My initial thought was that this student was in the best possible place, and with adults and school officials committed to his well-being. My mind searched for ways that the policy could be bent to the favor of this student as I felt the alternative might be unhealthy and unsafe. After much reflection (thanks to the ethics journal), I concluded that it would be inequitable for me to advocate for one child via breaking policy that I would not do for all students in all situations (i.e.: a chronic behavior problem). Further, the financial implications of residency as it pertains to school funding, as discussed in 704, only heightened the potential controversy if a blind eye was cast in this situation.

Ultimately, I followed through with the issuance of the five-day letter. While I knew it was the right thing to do as per policy, I did not feel good about it as per my value of life and student advocacy. After all, the student is being punished for adult misrepresentation…but policy is what it is, absent of personal values.

johntmurray

According to dictionary.com, to be immoral, as it applies to conduct, is to not conform to the usually accepted standards and principles.

If we consider that values and morals are examples of groupthink, which Janis suggests is unhealthy, then it is possible to consider immorality as a good thing, at times, as it does not conform (not saying this would always be true). If values and morals emerge, in large, from familial and religious affiliations then it is safe to assume that an individual lacking one or both of these identities would be absent some of the “usually accepted standards and principles”…thereby promoting immorality. But is this wrong? Dr. Reardon posed the question of whether an atheist can be ethical, and, after some thought, I seem to think that an atheist might be more equipped and objective in his lens of what is ethical, as he is not masked by morals promoted through a faith base (faiths that have promoted morally wrong agendas throughout history such as war, genocide, terrorism, etc.). If you find yourself shaking your head right now, let me ask whose moral compass is the most accurate if so many cultures have varying standards among one another? Are Christians more moral than Muslims, Hutus than Tutsis, an indigenous tribe than a suburban family, and so on?

Dr. Reardon has recommended the text The Outsider, which examines the premise of the ethical atheist.