Final Form Professional Ethics Statement

Running head: FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT Final Form Professional Ethics Statement Brian O. Dawson, M.Ed. Concordia University, Portland Oregon 1 FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 2 Abstract This paper explores my personal ethical foundations and serves as a final form professional ethics statement substantiated by the use of numerous sources such as Bonhoeffer (Bonhoeffer, 1995), Borgmann (Borgmann, 2006), Palmer (Palmer, 2004) and many others (AASA: The School Superintendents Association, 2014) (Lawrence M. Hinman, 2006). Ethics statements are like finger prints; no one ethics statement is quite the same, even in emulation we put our own flavor into it. We are inundated with many different influences that come at us every day, every minute. We seek to understand, and in our perceptions, we create our own ethical foundation. Our choices, our conversations, our walks and talks, our decisions that are made affect our bodies and minds. The most important responsibility of an educator is to help the learners in his or her charge form the standards by which they live, teach, and guide others by. To obtain these ethical standards, the educator must hold true to these beliefs that are driving them, why they are driven by them and remembering the rationale of their true calling of being an educator. Keywords: ethics, moral, turpitude, social justice, education FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 3 Final Form Professional Ethics Statement As educators, we must show our learners how to find value and meaning in what they are learning and how to apply the appropriate characteristics and attributes that will lead to helping them live an ethical life that values learning, love, and the gifts of others they are surrounded by. Educators can be the most influential and powerful superhero in the lives of our learners or the most maniacal narcissistic villain there is in their lives. The first area of focus introduces my personal views of what characteristics of ethics should be and how these compare in similarity or conversely to the philosophies of these authors. The second focus area takes it a little further in exploring my own views of spirituality and the body. I will discuss how my views of my foundation also influence my interpretation of what an ethical body is with direct correlation to the characteristics of ethics. Our ethical body will be guided by our will to be obedient to Him. “Many Christians are ineffective because they do not know how to fight the battle of the mind,” (Vu, 2010). I will then share how an ethical mind will influence my foundations of ethics. My ethical soul will have a powerful influence on my ethical body and mind. I will show how our responsibility as educators includes the priority of serving the families of our learners and how building circles of trust will help us serve as a collective positive influence in the lives of our learners and the culture that we are all living in. As I continue to refine my soul, I grow in my ethical foundations, and thus all other areas of my ethical body are influenced. The tenets of our ethical foundation will serve for us as an inception of our conceptual understandings of the world around us, the responsibilities we have as educators to help our students learn and grow through them and not succumb to the negative influences of the world due to the lack of the cultivation of our foundation in our own ethics and values. This paper will talk about all of these areas and their relationship to our educator turpitudes. FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 4 Ethical Foundations The one foundation that drives all my ethical paradigms is my belief in Jesus Christ as my Lord and salvation. In knowing that I use this belief system to drive my own ethics, it is interesting and intriguing for me to sit and reflect on what my ethics statement would be. I believe that all humans are malleable and that until we die we are all in a state of change. We all should be striving for growth and that our personal transformation is driven by our inert need for change and progression. Though many do not recognize that we strive for growth and conversion, all peoples’ actions seem to be driven by our constant seeking of something that we are missing. It was instilled in me from the start, through both church life and home life, the “Law of the Scout”, “The Scout Law; A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent. The Scout Oath says, “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight” (Harris Interactive, 2005). I believe that as a 41 year old adult, these still drive me as the husband, father, teacher, leader, and student that I am today. This really connects to the philosophy of Bonhoeffer when he states that man cannot truly find himself or understand the authentic meaning of good and evil until he recognizes that Jesus Christ is his Savior and that God is his origin (Bonhoeffer, 1995). I am driven by my focus on what we will need to ensure our students know, to be successful and to acclimate to the 21st century world. We need to rethink many facets of our learning organizations: the quality of recruiting systems; the sound quality skills sets they obtain before they start working; how learners are encouraged and what ongoing education and supports FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 5 they receive; how to improve performance of struggling learners and enhance development among the cognitively advanced ones (AASA: The School Superintendents Association, 2014). When Borgmann and Palmer discuss having somewhat of an interchangeable set of ethics, I have to say that I completely disagree (Borgmann 2005 and Palmer 2006). They aren’t interchangeable; as Josephson discusses in his video, though we are faced with many temptations and mandates to shift our ethical values toward the world that we are living in, we cannot be shifty in what we hold as our own ethical foundations (Josephson, 2004). We live in a world that has become so accustomed to rationalizing what and why they are doing what they’re doing, that they do not stop to think how their thoughts and actions are irrational based upon what they say is their driving force, their belief in God and Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. If we are committed to living a life that is pleasing to God, we cannot go around and ignore what others are doing; pretending we do not see it or even worse endorsing it so that we can fit in with the populous (Bonhoeffer, 1995). “On what basis do we make moral decisions?” is a question that is posed by Lawrence M. Hinman, Ph.D., who is the Director of The Values Institute at the University of San Diego. “Do what the Bible tells you”-Divine Command Theories, “Follow your conscience” - The Ethics of Conscience, as well as “Be a good person” Virtue Ethics are what truly seem to align with what my personal ethical beliefs are. We can be led by many experts to believe that what they are saying and doing is the right thing (2006). I go back to my initial state of the Boy Scout Oath. Am I doing what is pleasing to God? Am I serving with integrity, even when it is tough? Am I being courteous, helpful and friendly? These are by which I hold true. These are what I hope others see in and from me. To these I am committed. FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 6 Arne Duncan told us, “I believe that education is the civil rights issue of our generation. Moreover, if you care about promoting opportunity and reducing inequality, the classroom is the place to start. Great teaching is about so much more than education; it is a daily struggle for social justice” (Duncan, 2014). As an educator and a leader in a learning organization, this truly illustrates the critical role and influence I can have on so many. The Ethics of Self Care: The Ethical Body "Spiritual formation" is the process through which those who love and trust Jesus Christ effectively take on His character (Wilhit, n.d.). Everything that we were made for is to glorify God. Willard’s description of how we should treat our bodies runs parallel to what Bonhoeffer has stated. Our bodies long to be close to God, but this closeness requires us to be obedient to God (Bonhoeffer, 1995). Having free will, this is where it becomes challenging; driven by self-pleasure. We go to great extremes to justify these actions. In the descriptions in many, from Jim Bakker, to Amy Whinehouse, to Lance Armstrong. These people succumbed to the worldly influence, but by grace they can be saved, as we can. I would suspect, in reading about Amy that she was really trying to reconnect with something that she was missing, but could not figure out that a relationship with God is what she really needed. Willard’s writing talks about our bodies being of its own will and we long to be living in obedience to God’s will. "The spirit is willing but the body is weak” (Gal 5:17); responding to "The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," (I John 2:16). We are reminded by Bonhoeffer and Willard that becoming Christ like can never occur without intense, well-informed, and intentional action on our part (Bonhoeffer, 1995 and Wilhit, n.d.). Willard states that, “…in order to understand the role of the body – both negative and positive we must take a deeper view of the value of human personality, character, FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 7 and action” (Wilhit, n.d.). Just as Bonhoeffer states we can never understand good and evil until we understand God, I think that Willard is saying we cannot understand and maintain an ethical body without understanding God’s will for our body (Bonhoeffer, 1995 and Wilhit, n.d.). "So that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Phil 1:20-21) "Spiritual formation" is the process through which those who love and trust Jesus Christ effectively take on His character (Wilhit, n.d.). Everything that we were made for is to glorify God. Willard’s description of how we should treat our bodies runs parallel to what Bonhoeffer has stated. Our bodies long to be close to God, but this closeness requires us to be obedient to God (Bonhoeffer, 1995). Having free will, this is where it becomes challenging; driven by self-pleasure. We go to great extremes to justify these actions. In the descriptions in many of our presentations, from Jim Bakker, to Amy Whinehouse, to Lance Armstrong. These people succumbed to the worldly influence, but by grace they can be saved, as we can. I would suspect, in reading about Amy that she was really trying to reconnect with something that she was missing, but could not figure out that a relationship with God is what she really needed. Willard’s writing talks about our bodies being of its own will and we long to be living in obedience to God’s will. "The spirit is willing but the body is weak” (Gal 5:17); responding to "The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life," (I John 2:16). We are reminded by Bonhoeffer and Willard that becoming Christ like can never occur without intense, well-informed, and intentional action on our part (Bonhoeffer, 1995 and Wilhit, n.d.). Willard states that, “…in order to understand the role of the body – both negative and positive we must take a deeper view of the value of human personality, character, and action” (Wilhit, n.d.). Just as Bonhoeffer states we can never understand good and FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 8 evil until we understand God, I think that Willard is saying we cannot understand and maintain an ethical body without understanding God’s will for our body (Bonhoeffer, 1995 and Wilhit, n.d.). "So that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Phil 1:20-21) Scriptures tell us though the spirit is willing; the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). It also reminds us that our bodies are not our own but rather temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). I agree with Willard's in Human Body and Spiritual Growth "The body is presented as a temple inhabited by the Holy Spirit. It is not meant to be used in sinning, but is meant for the Lord and the Lord for the body" (Willard, n.d.). The Ethics of Self Care: An Ethical Mind We are told that we are to continuously move toward maturity as a follower of God. Hebrews 5:14 refers to scripture as “solid food” as the scripture talks about the mature mind. Philippians 4:8 states, “…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.” I am focusing on the phrase, “…let your mind dwell.” This states that I must be very intentional and work to be in constant reflection of my actions in comparison to God’s will for me; to honor God’s will and to be in His word…to study with intentionality. Bonhoeffer (1995) states we will never be able to truly comprehend good or evil until we understand our origin in God. Dallas Willard (2003) speaks of our free will, “The ultimate freedom we have as human beings is the power to select what we will allow our minds to dwell upon.” Bonhoeffer (1995) discusses that with our freedoms, many times we succumb to the world influences around us. I must remember that God has given me the ability of being FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 9 forgiven and the opportunity for transformation. Romans 12:2, “…by the renewal of your mind.” We are constantly being subjected to testing from the worldly influences that are surrounding us. I must be able to discern what the will of God is for me. Albert Borgmann (2006) talks throughout his book how the world is changing so much and that we can only move toward an ethical America when we are able to own our own choices. In Ephesians 5:3-5 Paul warns us, “But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” Unless I am intentional with my thoughts and my deliberate focus on God’s word, I will not have the discipline to successfully self-navigate through all the worldly influences surrounding me. Paul urges us as his “brothers” to present our “bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” as an expression of our “spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). Jesus was referring to the teaching of Moses to the people of “Israel” and in teaching this, Jesus clarified to the people by saying that the ‘heart’ was also to refer to one’s ‘mind’. All of our readings talk about how the influences of the world around us has tainted our focus on honoring God through our thoughts. “Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3)? The ‘unbeliever’ will be tainted by the worldly views. The Christian mind must conclude the things of God. Through my disciplined study, I must have disciplined thoughts. All that I do is driven by my personal thoughts, my mind. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Watch FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 10 over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” If I am to honor God, then I need to surround myself with others who have the same drive to honor God. I must allow the Holy Spirit to envelop my body to influence my thoughts ad meditations that directly have an effect on my actions. In a world that is driven by the lord or lies, I have to be confident in my commitment to honoring my vow to avoid this worldly albatross and continuously hold the shield of God’s promise of protection and only through this, discernment will come. Understanding how we make ethical decisions and ultimately follow through on them is the first step to making better choices. Bonhoeffer wrote, “Christianity is an amoral religion.” (Bonhoeffer, 1955). Christianity is not about good and evil but rather about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who righted all wrongs, and gave us salvation through His life. What are we to evaluate, the results of actions or the action itself. The Ethics of Self Care: An Ethical Soul The debate is not whether we have a soul, but what is the soul? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “…the soul is the spiritual part of a person that is believed to give life to the body and in many religions is believed to live forever” (2011). I would define soul as a person's foundations of morals or emotional pillars that they use to define their own personal identity. My moral and ethical choices must be driven by my personal soul I have developed or cultivated. “Human soul’s function is to strive for harmonious balance – reason should govern both appetite and spirit. We are unhappy when we lose harmony. We confuse appearance with reality, and make wrong choices –we fall prey to moral evil and corruption” (Aristotle, 1981). Plato states, “To be a good person and live the good life, a smooth functioning psyche constitutes a healthy, well-ordered soul” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2003). As Bonhoeffer (1995) brings up in his writings, for us to have the appropriate connection to God, we FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 11 must constantly reflect on who we are and if we are doing what is pleasing to God. For Palmer (2004), the soul is the inner self, “the objective, ontological reality of selfhood” (p.33). This inner self is described as having a relationship with the world. They mutually influence each other. “Whatever is inside us continually flows outward to help form, or deform, the world undefined and whatever is outside us continually flows inward to help form, or deform, our lives” (Palmer 2004, p. 47). Ethics is the crossroads where our soul and the world meet…often time collide. Borgmann (2006) says (in referencing Aristotle) that the soul is “the vital force of a human being” (p. 133). It has “…a potentially all-encompassing comprehension of reality” (p. 113). My soul drives my actions which then has an effect on our world around us. Churchill says, “We shape our buildings, and afterward our buildings shape us” (Borgmann, 2006, p. 5). It is not just about creating the ‘physical building’, but we are creating our own cultural structures that guide our own personal ethics. This back-and-forth is the context of ethical decision-making for Borgmann (2006). I agree with how Willard (2006) defines the soul “as the hidden or ‘spiritual’ side of the person.” I know that I can act a certain way, but only my inner soul will know if it is my authentic side. Willard describes this as including, “thoughts and feelings, along with heart and will, with its intents and purposes” (para. 2)”. Our soul is directly connected to our relationship with God. When we work to take care of our body, we then take care of our soul, too. The care of the soul leads to the care of other souls. This, then, has a driving force behind my decision making. Because my driving force is my soul (that drives my conscience), I am driven to do what Christ has done for me. I am giving the love to others; my body is to carry out God’s work of bringing others to the happiness I experience through by connection to God. My inner soul is my FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 12 holding place of faith – my spiritual compass. I must listen to my soul that is driven by the Holy Spirit. As a Christian, ethical decision-making for me is driven by the influence of the Holy Spirit on my life. In order for me to take care of my body and my soul, I must take time to be in quiet meditation. Willard (2006) says, “Solitude and silence are absolutely basic in our responsibility to soul care” (para. 28). Willard says that disciplines to separate us from the corrupting influences of the world are critical to our nurturing and care of our soul. Through my quiet time with God, I can reconnect with the will of God by being with God. As I continue to refine my soul, I grow in my ethical foundations, thus all other areas of my ethical body are influenced. With the introduction of the soul, the body receives life, intelligence, emotions, sight, hearing, thought and speech, will and desire, personality and character. Our soul is God’s intent and vision in creating us. The soul and the soul’s importance in ethics are influenced by the soul and its function in ethical decisions. Referencing Aristotle, Borgmann (2006) says that the soul is “the vital force of a human being” (p. 133). It has “a potentially all-encompassing comprehension of reality” (p. 113). Our soul extends into the world to shape it. The Ethics of Community Care The role of family, circles of trust and culture in serving students in education is critical. In reviewing our purpose as educators, reaching our students is reliant on our ability to build relationships with our students and their families. Not only being able to teach our students well, but we must build these valuable relationships in order to serve as a wraparound team that can authentically serve the needs of our students through connections with our students beyond the classroom walls. By understanding, not only the intellectual skills of our students, but also FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 13 understanding the family dynamics, home and community cultural influences, ethnic influences, traditional versus nontraditional family structures, religious and sexual orientations, etc. will provide the canvas that we paint our instructional masterpiece on with the appropriate hues contributed by the information we are able to glean from our relationships that we build with those that we serve. In our introduction to this course you stated this concept very well, “Ethics does not stop, however, at our doorsteps. Ours is a time in which globalization and interconnection is happening on a level the world has never seen.” "A circle of trust can form wherever two or three are gathered—as long as those two or three know how to create and protect a space for the soul" (Palmer, 2004). Borgmann (2006) states that “taking responsibility for what we obliviously and perhaps detrimentally do to one another is recognition or realization rather than intrusion” (p. 4). As educators, we are often the sole entity that has a moral and ethical impact on the formation of our students and their malleable brains, spirits, and habits. Bonhoeffer (1995) stated that “the parents’ claim on the child is different from the child’s claim on the parents” (p. 358). I include this because the child’s parents often believe that they are having a much more of a positive and ethical influence on the lives of their children than what they truly are. Sadly, we serve many families where their definition of ethical and moral behaviors are significantly different than what will afford their children skills that will set them up for successful acclimation to the adult world. Palmer (2004) states that “We cannot embrace that challenge all alone, at least, not for long: we need trustworthy relationships, tenacious communities of support.” (Palmer, 2004, p. 10). If students who are faced with this unidentified obstacle does not receive supports that will supersede the parental or community impact, students will relive the patterns already established in his or her family circle. We must work collectively to ensure that we establish programs like FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 14 tutoring, counseling or mentoring, that will have an amazing positive influence on our students; as related to the Mobius strip described by Palmer (2004). As an educator, we must realize that we cannot just expect our students to know how to make the best choices. Palmer (2004) says that the journey to inner truth is too difficult to do by yourself and if you don’t ask for help you will not reach success (Palmer, 2004). As an educational institution and as practitioners, we are ethically and morally accountable to help all of the students that we serve are given the opportunity to obtain the appropriate academic, social and emotional skills they will need in order to be successful in life. Borgmann specifies that “for an ethics to be relevant to people, it has to address their particular circumstances”, (2007, p. 11). What is often blamed on the system being prejudice is actually a lack of understanding by the institution or the people within the institution being able to make appropriate relationships with the student and their family in order to understand what is influencing this student’s actions, thoughts and feelings. Ruby Payne talks often about our inability to properly serve the students within our classrooms, not due to the lack of passion or intent, but rather due to the lack of appropriate skills sets that allow us to properly reach the child’s inner person. We want to reach our students and serve them appropriately, but are unsuccessful. Families become frustrated with the system that is serving their child. They feel that the responses of accountability systems is unfair and inappropriate based upon the home culture or climate that the student is coming from. “Fairness is a matter of civility more than legality, of civic-mindedness rather than law-abidingness” (Borgmann, p. 125). Palmer (2004) talks of “circles of trust” as being different than that of the traditional framework of families and communities. He discusses how our relationships and interactions are unique within our circle of trust and relational dependencies; where we speak a truth that may FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 15 not match the paradigms and frameworks of the communities that we serve. We must intentionally strive to build these circles of trust within our classrooms and within our school systems. Boers (2012) shared that "focal realities-things, places, practices- have centering and orienting power. They help us experience and be in touch with something greater than ourselves"(p. 112). As educators, we are responsible to identify the impending obstacles that may impede the success of our students. Whether it is the family circle the students come from, the technological and media influences or the child’s own self-perceived obstacles, we have the most important responsibility to help students understand their own sense of agency and that they have the ability to create their own future, if only they trust the system of schools that is serving this student. Boer reminds us that “We have choices. Many of them. And there is always grace. Lots of it” (2012, p. 207). We must show grace to the people we are serving, because we are given grade daily. Borgmann’s stated “Your home grounds your life most immediately, and it is also the sphere of life where you have most discretion and responsibility."(Borgmann, 2006). We are all members of the same family and must accept the responsibility to treat each other justly (Chittister, 1998). The Duty of Ethical Vocation: Personal and Relational As educators, we have the moral obligation to be life-long learner who have the drive to ensure that every student we serve is afforded the opportunity to reach their personal and maximum potential. Through all the red tape of the bureaucracies that we serve, we must first and foremost have a grounded foundation in ethical and moral values that do not compromise our relationship and reliance on God and Jesus Christ as our savior. Through this understanding, we are driven to emulate the love of Jesus Christ as we serve the learners that are in our charge. Through this foundational framework we are able to answer our own ethical questions, which FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 16 will allow us to successfully and appropriately self-navigate through difficult circumstances and questions. To obtain and set these standards, as an educator, high expectations must be set for me, my students and my staff. I love the phrase, “…evolution, not revolution”. I am not even sure who said it or where it came from. Every day we grow and learn. It does not come all at once. When students are actively engaged in what they are learning, where they have autonomy and reality to what they are learning, and where they have meaningful interactions, then learning is an enormous product of learner owned structures in place that is constantly evolving into an amazing experience that leads to meaningful and profound learning. The TED video by Hunter (2011), really demonstrated the significance of building relationships with the people we are serving, but also giving cause to what and why we are learning it. In my courses that I get to teach at Huston-Tillotson University, I work with preservice teachers. I consistently find ways to have students reflect on what they experienced in school. We talk about how the effective learning environment had many factors to making it successful, but none more than the adult who was designing the learning for the students. Teachers can truly only control two things, the relationships they build and the quality of work they design. The learning that was happening through these interactive problem-based learning exhibits how tantamount it is to make sure we as teachers empower our students to be actively involved in their own learning. We must design meaningful work that empowers our students to evolve and become thinkers that know how to answer the questions well, but also to know how to ask the meaningful questions to guide their own learning. As a matter of fact, Hook (1994) talks about how our facilitation of learning and our design of work truly impacts the FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 17 paradigms and philosophies that our students have about life, about learning, and about the world around them. The professional duties for educators require to teach, inspire and guide students to produce knowledge, values and rational truth through self-discovery. Teachers have power and influence over their students; that power has to be used appropriately to provide the education necessary to ensure their success. As an educator, we are responsible for helping students fall in love with learning. We must remember that what we do today with our learners will have a huge impact on them. Their future learning, future endeavors, and future relationships in some sense will be driven by the learning experiences they have in our classroom. We must help students take learning beyond the school walls. We have to excite students and ignite the fire of inquiry to where they are so excited about what they are learning, that we have to chase them out of the classroom, not beg them to stay. I tell my staff every time I meet with them that they have the most important job in the world. For without them, no one else would have a job. Markie states, “…the function of the teacher is among the most important in our culture” (Markie, 1994, p. 89). Educators have the most important profession of all, the formulation of malleable minds that become our future. We help our learners protect their bodies through the learning that we design for them. Learners form their values and character traits that form their morality and ethics that will follow them through their life. Educators are ethically bound to help our learners be the best person they can be. We must create a process that systemically and consistently model and teach our learners how to self-navigate ethical decisions, moral reasoning, and a path that is guided by our faith in Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior. Willard (2006) says, “Solitude and silence are basic in our responsibility to soul care.” With our body and soul driving our role FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 18 as an educator requires us to spend time in solitude to replenish and refocus our own ethical standing in order to influence the ethical foundation of those we are serving. We cannot say that we are serving our community if we are not driven by a foundation of ethics that will allow us, as educators, to serve the whole child. We must find ways to reach more than teach. FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 19 References AASA: The School Superintendents Association. (2014, November). AASA Connect: The Ethical Educator. Retrieved January 7, 2015, from AASA Connect: http://www.aasaconnect.com/The-Ethical-Educator Aristotle, The Politics, trans. T.A. Sinclair, revised T.J. Saunders, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1981. Bonhoeffer, D. (1955). Ethics. New York: Macmillan. Borgmann, A. (2006). Real American ethics: Taking responsibility for our country. Chicago, IL:The University of Chicago Press. Buchkapitel [PDF]: Moral identification in Identity ... (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ethicsandtechnology.eu/images/uploads/S02_P2_Noemi_Mander_Huits.pdf Duncan, A. (2014, August 29). Homeroom. Retrieved from www.ed.gov: http://www.ed.gov/blog/2011/08/education-is-social-justice/ hacker. 2011. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved January 30, 2015, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hacker Harris Interactive. (2005). Values of Scouts a Study of Boy Scouts of Virtues and Ethics. Boy Scouts of America. Rochester: Boy Scouts of America Youth and Family Research Center. Retrieved January 7, 2015 John Hunter: Teaching with the World Peace Game (Hunter, 2011) http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game.html Kant, Immanuel. (n.d.) The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia®. (2013). Retrieved September 9, 2014 from http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Kant%2c+Immanuel Lawrence M. Hinman, P. (2006, January 30). Director of The Values Institute. Basic Moral FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT Orientations Overview. San Diego, California. Markie, P. (1994). A Professor’s Duties: Ethical Issues in College Teaching. Lanham, MD. Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. NIV Bible (Large Print ed.). (2007). London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd A Staten, N (2014). Character Study in the Body Ethics [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://cupo.blackboard.com Palmer, P. (2004). A hidden wholeness: The journey toward an undivided life. San Francisco: CA: Jossey-Bass. Piper, J. (2004, August 15). The Renewed Mind and How to Have It. Retrieved from Romans: The Greatest Letter Ever Written: http://www.desiringgod.org/authors/john-piper Rosling, H. (Speaker) (2010, November 26). Hans Rosling's 200 countries, 200 years, 4 Minutes: The joy of stats: BBC Four. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo Schroder, P. (2014, August 30). Fair is not 2. Retrieved from Success4teachers.com: www.success4teachers.com/Fair%20is%20not%202.doc Solomon, J. (1988). The Christian Mind. Retrieved from Probe Ministries International: http//:www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/chrimind.html Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2003). Plato: Ethics and Politics in the Republic. Retrieved January 30, 2015, from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://stanford.library.usyd.edu.au/archives/fall2005/entries/plato-ethics-politics/ 20 FINAL FORM PROFESSIONAL ETHICS STATEMENT 21 Vu, M. (2010, October 4). Christian Post . Retrieved from Christian Post Reporter: http://www.christianpost.com/news/rick-warren-ineffective-christians-usually-fail-battleof-the-mind-47067/ Wilhit, J. (n.d.). Human Body and Spiritual Growth (The). Retrieved from D. WIllard: http://dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?ID=34 Wilhit, J. (2003). Transformation of the Mind (The). Retrieved from D. WIllard: http://www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=120 Willard, D. (2006). Personal soul care. Retrieved from http://www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=106 The World Peace Game & Other 4th-Grade Achievements Extended Trailer (Rosalia Films, 2010)