Teachers face moral dilemmas

The changing state of contemporary education has caused many teachers to make moral compromises just to keep their jobs.

Originally published in the Moultrie News.

There’s no question this week because I want to discuss something I’ve been hearing more teachers talk about recently: the moral dilemmas they face as educators. The changing state of contemporary education has caused many teachers — particularly those who adhere to (for lack of a better term) traditional educational values — to make moral compromises just to keep their jobs. The fracturing of teachers along value lines clearly has an impact on students, so it’s worth considering some of the significant dilemmas teachers currently face:

• Dumbing it down: According to a recent Gallup poll, less than half of students say their schoolwork positively challenges them. Teachers who know students are capable of more than what their watered-down curricula provide have a hard time looking into the weary eyes of unchallenged students and saying they’ve done their best to educate them.

• Screen saturation: The research is clear: excess screen time mentally harms students and inhibits their learning. Yet schools foist laptops on kids and demand that digital apps replace old-fashioned hands-on learning. Further, many schools allow students to have cellphones, hooking kids to screens constantly. Teachers who ethically seek screen-free classrooms are disavowed.

• Equity in grading: It used to be fair: students’ averages reflected their achievement, and students who failed courses had to repeat them. Today, many schools mandate minimum grading, which means the lowest grade students can earn is a 50 or some other arbitrary number. Schools also rarely make students repeat or take summer school, which forces teachers — many against their code of ethics— to give kids who exert zero effort the same reward as those who toil to get A’s: a ticket to the next course.

• Raising entitlement: Many teachers morally feel kids should learn to earn what they get, yet school policies often reinforce indolence and entitlement. For example, teachers are compelled to take student work whenever the child feels like submitting it and to let kids correct tests they didn’t study for. They’re pressured to let students pile up tardies and absences, disrupt classrooms, and violate basic rules without receiving any consequences.

• Offensive content: A number of schools adopt curricula that are morally and sometimes politically divisive. Teachers who view the content as objectionable are forced to administer it regardless. Though many might see, for example, graphic sex depictions as fine, many teachers don’t, presenting them with a serious moral conflict.

• Harmful special education mandates: Teachers genuinely care for students with mental impairments, but often Individualized Education and 504 plans are crafted in ways that teachers believe will harm the student. What would you do if you were forced to allow students to break rules or rely on “crutches” that hurt their chances of functioning in the real world? Teachers face this quandary every day.

• Eroding respect: If you were raised to dress appropriately, refrain from cursing, show respect for others, stand up for the pledge, or hold to other respectful customs, you might find it difficult to swallow students’ disregard for such behaviors. School rules, however, often sanction their disregard.

• Patronizing English-language learners: Teachers have a heart for the millions of students who can’t speak any English. Most schools, however, don’t have English acquisition on the agenda for these kids. Instead, they stick them in regular courses to try to pick up content so it doesn’t negatively impact standardized test scores. It’s a moral dilemma for teachers to brush aside their students’ inability to communicate at the expense of coursework.

• Drug silence: Teachers see the horrifying effects of drug use on kids every day. They even know when and where it’s happening at school. Despite this, nothing is done. Kids with drugs in school are often met with shrugs from administrators. The days of schools dedicating ample time to discouraging drug use are gone. It’s an ethical conundrum for many teachers to watch the destruction of young lives while schools ignore it.

For teachers facing these dilemmas, the choices are stark: do what you believe hurts kids or find employment elsewhere. Whichever choice teachers opt for, the ultimate casualties are our students.

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Jody Stallings has been an award-winning teacher in Charleston since 1992 and is director of the Charleston Teacher Alliance. To submit a question, order his books, or follow him on social media, please visit JodyStallings.com.