ETHICAL ANALYSIS
Effective communication is essential in all relationships, including professional ones.
Blackaby and Blackaby (2011) emphasize that "you cannot be a poor communicator and a good
leader." Leaders must communicate transparently to clearly convey their intentions, directions,
and purpose. In my career as a teacher, I’ve seen various leadership styles across four different
schools. A recurring issue I've noticed is that some leaders expect their staff to follow
instructions without question, yet they do not take the steps necessary to earn the respect they
expect from their employees.
As someone who has worked in various school settings including private, public, and
charter schools, I have come to believe that good quality leadership is not something done with
an iron fist. Leaders should possess certain qualities like empathy, compassion, knowledge, and
strength. Leadership needs to come from good intentions. Effective leaders benefit all those they
serve as model members of their community. In education especially, it is important for leaders
to lead by example, to be ethical, and to not allow personal biases and emotions cloud their
judgment.
The Situation
In the district I just left, the students attend various primary schools from kindergarten to
eighth grade, then they attend a high school of their choosing. There is no straight path from one
elementary to one high school. The students can choose from over 13 high schools including
magnet schools with specialties like real estate, fashion, and film making. Sometimes this often
finds teachers having students transfer in and or out during the school year or at some point in
their high school career. For a school with a small population, the goal is to keep as many
students as possible. During the 2023-2024 school year, there was a 9th grade scholar who
experienced harassment and intimidation from a 10th grade student. While discussing with the
ETHICAL ANALYSIS
9th grader, he told his teachers that the older student had been bullying him for years and that
this was not a new incident. He did not know that he would end up at the same school as him.
Despite the situation never escalating to physical violence, there were many instances of verbal
and emotional abuse.
It is important to note that the freshman student has a career goal of participating in the
Olympics as a boxer. He is currently considered a professional and is in a league. It is crucial to
him that he not get into any altercations as he knows that he is capable of severely hurting
someone as well as risking his future by doing so. The harassment had been happening for the
first few months of school before the freshman confided in his teachers about the situation.
Several staff members reached out to administration about the dynamic between the two
students, but the principal did not respond to the emails. Despite several attempts, intervention
did not occur and faculty who worked with the students started to watch him lose interest in
school and have his grades decline. Teachers attempted to reach out to guidance as well as
academic counselors but they all referred to the principal for the situation. After several months
of consistent harassment, the victim went to the main office at the beginning of school one day
and sobbed to the administration, asking for something to be done. He was struggling to contain
his emotion and was then portrayed by the principal as irrational and combative.
This resulted in him and his father having a meeting with administration along with the
parents of the other student and the other student. He was angry and emotional and volatile as he
was at his limit. This resulted in the freshman student having a meeting with just the principal
and the other student where the outcome was both students being suspended until their parents
could schedule a meeting with the principal. He was from a single parent household so he was
unable to return to school for a week while the other student returned after a day.
ETHICAL ANALYSIS
The situation ended with the principal favoring the aggressor, convinced that the issues
stemmed from girl problems which was not the case. Despite a history, documentation, and other
students who witnessed the harassment on numerous occasions, the older student was not
reprimanded. Later on, it was discovered that the aggressors family was ready to transfer their
children to a different school in the district, and the principal was ready to lose the freshman
victim rather than two students. The freshman student was relatively popular with his classmates
and watching what happened to him and how the situation was handled caused a lot of distrust in
the school when it came to the administration and the students.
This incident was not the first to occur when it comes to bullying and harassment in this
school. Like this one, the other case was also brushed aside and dismissed. Another freshman
had gotten into a physical altercation with a sophomore. The freshman was defending herself
from the sophomore. However, the principal once again chose to side with the aggressor as she
had known the student longer and expelled the other student. The principal had said that she
could see this student being a problem because of who her family is and had her leave the school.
The other student who was involved was suspended numerous times for physical altercations
throughout the rest of the year and is still enrolled at the school.
Participation in the Situation
During this school year, I was one of the freshman teachers and had both of these
students confide in me about their issues. I, with another freshman teacher, tried to start the
process for an investigation. In the state of New Jersey is where the school is located. New
Jersey has what is called an HIB protocol which was developed after a student in a New Jersey
school district committed suicide from the effects of bullying. HIB stands for harassment,
intimidation, and or bullying. also happens to have a HIB protocol. The HIB process involves
ETHICAL ANALYSIS
creating documents that give evidence of harassment in order to open an investigation into the
situation. After the suicide of a student, New Jersey established a statutory regulatory policy and
program in order to help support the prevention of harassment, bullying, and intimidation in
schools. As of 2024, the HIB forms and investigation needs to be started by the school’s
Principal. Teachers have tried to get the students help through the HIB process, but were
consistently shut down by the Principal. If a teacher questioned the decision, they became targets
of the administration and were often intimidated about whether or not they would keep their jobs.
It is in my professional opinion that the situations discussed were not handled properly. There
was no real investigation for these situations, and no positive restoration given to the students to
repair not only their relationship, but the victims’ relationships with administration.
Both these situations were well known not only with faculty but with the students as the
school is on a smaller scale. Watching the decisions that were made by the principal caused a rift
between the students and the administration along with many of the teachers. Around this time
was when students who were looking to transfer to other schools had their applications due, and
many looked towards their teachers for recommendation letters. Due to the behavior of the
administration, teachers had to provide these recommendations discreetly for fear of retaliation.
The principal became directly responsible for creating a toxic work environment as well as a
negative school experience for the students.
For the remainder of the year, in my role as a teacher, I worked to be extra vigilant. I
would wait outside during transitions when I didn’t have an incoming class in order to help
classes transition as many of the situations occurred in the hallway. I also opened my doors
during lunch to allow students to eat in my room rather than the cafeteria. I made sure to
continue to build and maintain my relationship with my students so they know there was an adult
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in the building they could trust. This resulted in students often coming to me to vent or just
discuss their interests and hobbies outside of their class period. Due to the climate created by
leadership in the building, many students fear the administration or dislike them. Those who are
not afraid of the principal are often seen disrespecting her.
Assessment and Suggestions
When it comes to students experiencing bullying or any type of harassment, these
situations need to be tended to with compassion and care. It is crucial that those involved in the
investigation hold no biases or preconceived notions for the students involved. Despite trying to
stay objective, many teachers will develop favorite students or class periods they prefer. If the
teacher brings these biases into bullying situations, it can affect the way they are looking at what
is going on and the evidence. This goes for administration as well.
If I were in the position of a principal or school leader, and the faculty presented me with
a potential case of HIB, I would make sure to look into it regardless of who the student is. I
would rather the situation be nothing and waste my time and energy on looking into it than it be
something substantial and I ignored it resulting in the harm of one of my students. I believe peer
councils and restorative practices are key to creating a safe school environment. I would
potentially implement a student council as well as a council of teachers and professionals in
order to get the perspective of various people so that the results aren’t left solely on the principal.
The way I view something may not be the same way another adult views what is occurring and
as a leader I need to be conscious of that. With a student council, if a student had to explain their
behavior to their peers and have them make a decision, it may curb the behavior. As a leader, I
would also make sure that HIB is covered in professional development and or staff meetings as
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this year I learned that many of my colleagues did not know what the HIB process was or that it
was even something they could do.
Currently, in my role as an educator, after experiencing both of those situations in one
year, I have realized I need to be more conscious in creating documentation, whether emails or
documents so that when I do try to bring these issues up to administration I have more than just
my word as evidence.
During both situations, teachers were not informed of what happened or even told that
the students were suspended and expelled. Communication was nonexistent. If a student must be
suspended, teachers should be made aware that the student will be absent so work can be
provided for the student so they won’t fall behind. Students who are suspended often are for
behavioral issues and then return to school more behind than they tend to already be and tend to
fall even more behind because they become discouraged.
