By institutional cultures, I refer to the set of objectives and rules that defines how members of a community interact with each other, their expectations of one another, themselves and the institution.
Institutional cultures interrelate with all the members of a community and their responsibilities within the community and can be understood to embrace the values, beliefs, rules and expectations projected in the institutional image. I relate this to what Hargreaves refers to as cultures of teaching :. Cultures of teaching comprise beliefs, values, habits and assumed ways of doing things among communities of teachers who have had to deal with similar demands and constraints over the years Cultures of teaching help give meaning, support and identity to teachers and their work.
Lambert and Fullan believe that the culture of an institution not only possesses a shared sense of purpose and values, but also follows the norms regarding continuous learning and improvement as well as commitment and responsibility in accomplishing duties through collaborative relationships.
Gunnar adds that an organisation, simply by going through a value-consolidation process, ensures its transformation into an institution. However, inside some organisational cultures there are power groups, which are evidence of a top-down hierarchical organisation Darling-Hammond, ; White, ; Newman, Their presence may have an impact on the roles teachers play inside the educational setting.
This is more evident when the institution becomes involved in educational change based on two stages in which several models of innovation seem to coincide: collaborative planning and leadership encouragement. For example, West's model starts with the identification of specific challenges and achievements. Every member of the group participates in the design of the study plan. In addition, one of the members of this team will have to play a leading role to ensure a successful result.
Most members on any team of teachers are somehow waiting for the opportunity to show their potential in managerial, academic and professional terms. West affirms that Leadership practices are not exclusive to school principals. The managerial side of teachers' jobs responds to the new roles they play as 'middle' managers Campbell et al. He also refers to the need to focus on the development of the staff as a whole.
Every member is a partner in the progress of the institution. They work for social change and teach and train students to respond to the demands of a world in which new technology develops rapidly. They are coaches because they have the responsibility of leading the work team to achieve the goals stated in the plan to design and implement a new curriculum. This general description highlights the fact that, so far, teachers do not seem to have a clear description of a professional identity or confidence in their performance of the role or roles they are expected to play during innovation.
In addition, teachers' attitudes play an important role in the design and implementation of a study plan. In the following section, I present my research methodology, which is based on a case study approach. I find that a case study is preferred for examining different phenomena when performances cannot be controlled, since it uses direct ob-servation and systematic interviewing to find out the informants' perceptions and judgements Simons, ; Yin, My main source of information, as is typical in a case study, is the interview.
This resource can take several forms, but, in this case, it was frequently of an open-ended nature, during which the interviewer was able to ask key informants for the facts of, or opinions about, different phenomena taking place in their institution.
In some situations, the informant might have even been asked for personal insights into certain occurrences and I used this information as the basis to continue with the inquiry.
This gave the informant different roles: that of a storyteller, a participant, or a partner, in addition to that of a respondent. I interviewed a total of seventeen informants who were all UV academics. Analysing Important Teachers' Attributions. One of the main issues that emerged in answer to my research question regarding teachers' perceptions of their roles when confronted with a request to design a curriculum was that of the relationship between managers and teachers, stated in the first part of this paper.
The fact that the answers given by the informants related to moral responsibility and confidence led me to organise what they said into these categories. The key aspects of these findings are divided into two categories: the first, "Teachers' Moral Responsibility", which relates to teachers assuming obligations; the second is "Levels of Confidence".
This second category is divided into four subcategories, to wit: lack of confidence in other people's ability, selfconfidence, confidence as trust and factors which affect confidence. I decided to present my findings under these particular headings because teachers referred to these issues when talking about their involvement with both the institution and their students.
They also mentioned them when referring to the roles they have played so far in addition to the new ones they have been obliged to play since the request to design a curriculum.
Given their responses, these roles appear to be connected to an ideal conception of the way teachers should behave, especially in response to new demands such as curriculum change. Regarding moral responsibility, I am referring to when, for either external or internal reasons, a teacher feels obliged to perform certain tasks.
For example, teachers who experience a change in roles and become co-ordinators, or agents-of-change, may feel obliged to commit themselves to carrying out the different tasks inherent in these roles. In addition, teachers may be persuaded to perform certain actions simply because they are responsible; in other words, moral responsibility might be understood as something personal, that is, a mutual or self-imposed obligation.
Moreover, teachers may feel morally responsible to perform certain tasks for different reasons; for example, because they feel morally devoted to the institution. Here, in this investigation, the informants interviewed showed that they were dedicated to their work in the way they understood what it entailed.
People in our group care about students and put in more time and effort. They treat their students as people and as learners, neither role more important than the other, but combined.
They see their students outside the classroom. I see the students at home, socially, talk to them in the halls Margarita, INI, This informant implicitly divides teachers into two groups: those who do not care about students and those who, like herself, do. This informant might be including in her group teachers who are part of a task culture, an informal group, or a power group White, ; Hargreaves, These teachers might be committed, participative and responsible.
Their concern for their students goes beyond the time spent in the classroom. However, the force that makes this particular teacher take the decision to treat her students as human beings who can learn — and not computers that just capture information — may be her commitment to them and the institution.
Margarita feels morally obliged and responsible for maintaining the appropriate learning conditions for her students. She sees her students as individuals and interacts with them even outside the school boundaries. Her comment highlights her ability to cope with her responsibilities and her students' expectations of her. Hugo also makes reference to this group of morally responsible teachers who become involved in different academic activities that have an impact on the students.
On November 25th , Luis, in his role as Head-Teacher of the Language School, summoned all the members of his work team academic secretary, head-teachers of both B. There were plenty of questions that were very difficult to answer.
There was a lack of elements to carry out such a task. It was a complex enterprise and nobody had a clear idea on how to start the work. We decided to start working with the analysis of the Institutional Evaluation document carried out during the previous administration when another teacher was Head of the Language School. Hugo employs an inclusive we , although it can be observed at the beginning of this extract that not everybody is included.
He is part of a team that has just taken the decision to start working on the analysis of the Institutional Evaluation Document relating to Plan The team is supporting the new administration by revising a document from a previous administration, which is a task laden with political implications.
By using an inclusive we , Hugo is showing that by making a decision as shown in extract , he believes that he belongs to a group with enough power to do so. However, his sense of commitment is not only to his colleagues and the institution, but also to his students. Hugo and Margarita, by all accounts, seem to be two concerned teachers, but they were not aware of what the other was doing and never once mentioned any of the other's projects.
This might lead to the demand for the creation of a network — although this association would be for students, in this case, not for teachers — as Margarita suggests.
I get to start opening up a sort of network of support [for students] — a kind of group where they communicate their fears, why they are uncomfortable, or what their impressions or desires are for the college — besides the teacher, or tutor, or adviser, or whatever I am sure teachers need to be trained and it should be somebody who believes in the concept of autonomy and practises it Margarita seems to be interested in helping students as she is investing time in keeping in touch with them.
Furthermore, she is aware that she will have to play other roles —tutor, adviser and facilitator— that demand more time and training. An example of this committed and participative attitude is further expressed by Margarita in the following extract referring to teachers innovating to achieve more dynamic classes. If you want to show a movie you have to fight for the students' cubicle, or the movie room, because a lot of classes are held in these spaces.
I would like to have more space, but I do not think there is much we can do about that. It would be nice to have more places where you can show movies or TV But you can bring the tape-recorder, the CD player and stuff, which are now much better than they used to be.
Sometimes there's no electricity in the room, but there are batteries for the CD player, which is a step up. It is evident that Margarita is committed to the students' learning of the language: teachers should not be expected to fight, buy batteries or bring their own equipment to the classroom. Her comment gives the impression that if you do not take an aggressive attitude, your students will not benefit from the few available resources These resources and spaces demand better organisation and more communication, a task that requires improved coordination amongst the head of school, planners and teachers.
For example, teachers cannot offer students this resource, so the authorities cannot expect teachers to commit themselves if they do not provide the necessary conditions. New teachers also want to use up-to-date technology, however, at this point in time, the video room had been closed, which is a paradox between ideal situations and facts.
For such commitment, the authorities or institution should be able to respond in a more organised fashion. Teachers with more stable working conditions often witness the struggle new teachers experience in their desire to be updated in subject matter knowledge and technology.
This struggle leads teachers to revise their commitment to the institution as expressed by the following informant:. There are people committed to their jobs and to the improvement of the institution. They are part of a group of teachers who support and carry out the academic work of the Language School.
They are eager to work. There's a new engine in the new teachers who want to participate and they're sessional [parttime] teachers, so their participative attitude is something to admire. These young people are eager to work, to keep up their training and surrender to projects. They're only paid for the hours they work in the classroom. I also have a lot of work and even though I have a full time position, I still struggle to survive.
Lucy, IN2, This teacher admires "sessional" [part-time] teachers who could lose their jobs when full-time teachers come back from their leaves of absence. The view expressed in Extract relates not only to new teachers, but to every single teacher who is committed, regardless of the number of years spent working for the institution.
Full-time teachers might view their daily obligations in a less threatening way than sessional teachers, given that they have tenure, but that does not reduce their workload, or alleviate unfair working conditions. However, whether full-time or sessional, teachers do what they have to do and more.
In addition, the full-time teachers' positive response to their obligations may inspire 'novice' teachers and other colleagues. When this happens, these teachers become a model for their students and colleagues, what Lucy Extract calls a new engine. However, new teachers also need to consider what is expected of them and what they can actually do, and communicate in a sort of bottom-up process how they hope to be rewarded -not just by promisesduring the change process.
In the following extract Sandy highlights the fact that teachers not only need to communicate what they do and need, but that they also need to recognise the work carried out by colleagues. This type is somebody who if he has class at eight, he's on time and if he has class at four, he is there, because he's interested in his work. He gets upset with students who do not participate — as other students comment that there are those students who do not work, do not read, or do not respond in class as most of us do.
That's also true He is interested in change, in updating, in organising meetings with teachers and students to modify and update the study plan. He even worked on the study plan previous to the one called Plan Indiana: Phi Delta Kappa International, Open navigation menu. Close suggestions Search Search. User Settings. Skip carousel. Carousel Previous. Carousel Next. What is Scribd?
Uploaded by api Document Information click to expand document information Original Title what does it mean to be a morally responsible teacher in a social and political democracy 1. Did you find this document useful? Is this content inappropriate? Report this Document. Flag for inappropriate content. Download now. Save Save what does it mean to be a morally responsible teac For Later. Original Title: what does it mean to be a morally responsible teacher in a social and political democracy 1.
Related titles. Carousel Previous Carousel Next. Jump to Page. Search inside document. Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities. Zephyr K. Documents Similar To what does it mean to be a morally responsible teacher in a social and political democracy 1. Madalina Capata. Nicoleta Poiana. Echa Chan Yusnia. Muzammil Shaikh. Rowell Benedicto Malabag. Through my entire life, I have always enjoyed history. While attending high school, my interest grew significantly after taking history classes. As is studied history, I noticed that history always repeats itself.
Most of my fellow students failed in history, and from then I have made have made my goal become a history teacher to inform the students of the society about the significance of history in life. As a teacher, I will take what I have experienced and learned in the past and bring it these to my students.
Before teaching the students, I will try to understand the students and involve as much as I can with the students body in order to learn more about these students. As a history teacher, I will teach into details every culture we study instead of going through centuries of history on a daily basis. In order to stay updated on future history, I will give the students news on what is happening in the present society.
I will support the school with all what I have and in case I have a difference with a member of staff I will deal with him or her on a personal level. The starting point for teaching students how to reason morally is to teach them moral principles. These principles are based on the moral virtues like trust, honesty, respect, fairness, and responsibility. In teaching morally responsible strategies, the teacher must help students learn the difference between wrong and right.
The teacher should also assist the students by educating them not rationalize their unprincipled behaviors and instead use their moral reasoning hen making decisions. Teachers can develop this desirable behavior by setting a good example by not littering and picking up trash in public areas. A good teacher could also show his students films about pollution and global warming and discuss these topics.
In preparing students for their roles in society, the development of desirable characteristics or moral values of students cannot be overlooked. If teachers avoid this responsibility, in the future there will be more deviant behavior problems in society. This content reflects the personal opinions of the author. Shankar, thank you very much for your supportive comments.
I am pleased that you share my views. Paul, I appreciate you and all other like-minded teachers who see your role as more than imparting facts. You also build character by modeling and instructing. Really good hub. Excellent content! Voted up and useful. I agree with you. Morality is key to teaching. I just wish that the hiring of educators was based upon morals at all.
I strongly feel that raising moral standards is especially important. Sorry for my delay in replying to your comment. Hi Paul Kuehn. Nice write up on the nation builders. I think you may agree with me that following should also be included, a teacher should:. Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my hub.
Teachers indeed have a big responsibility in helping kids develop intellectually, morally, and socially. Thanks for your great comments and support! I do find that teacher shoulders a heavy responsibility to educate students while getting the blame from parents if the students turn out bad. I salute to all teachers out there. Dear Paul, it is all about modeling for them! One has to model each lesson as well as each characteristic. This is so true! However, it can be very hard if the students come from a background that does not value education or its elders.
I agree though that the responsibility lies with the teacher, although, I feel that we are all teachers for each other. Great hub! Voting up and awesome! Thanks for reading and the interesting comments. When I taught in Taiwan in the 70s, I never taught in a K school.
I taught mainly adults and some kids first in cram schools and then at my home teaching business. I remember back then that all students were very polite and had almost all of the desirable characteristics I talk about in this hub.
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