McKeachie and Svinicki (2006) assume that ethical standards are intended to guide us in carrying out the responsibilities we have, to the different groups with whom we interact, and violation of ethics can occur when one acts contrary to standards (326). For Peale and Blanchard (1984), wherever we go today there are visible signs of deterioration of ethics, in the business world young people make immoral millions of dollars. In the government offices, it is rare to hear that an employee has not been involved in ethical dilemmas. In education, scandals between students and professors are common phenomena (7).
Students all levels, approach their peers and university staff to report inappropriate behaviours of their teachers. Some lecturers go to the extent of failing students because they refused to offer them sex. This not only happen to students. Lecturers suffer moral and sexual harassment from students, something to be thought and taken into consideration. If, in the first world, countries like America, ethical dilemmas are considered common, it is crucial to look at developing countries with an inverted pyramid of events and ethical dilemmas, where university professors earn fourteen thousand dollars a year. Yet they are expected to work morally right, whistle waiting for their minus salaries at the month end. It is however, not an excuse to engage into inappropriate behavior.
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It is obvious that teachers in developing countries will live ethical dilemmas every day, by virtue of their socio-economic position, ethical and ambitious challenges. To avoid involvement in unethical action, teachers feel forced to teach in three or four schools, which results in the poor quality delivery, and burned-out professors. Most of these professionals are prominent in the societies they live, who think that they had to swindle to overcome their non-desirable conditions. Therefore, violation of ethics in academic arenas has been reciprocal, between teachers and students, without setting aside the members of administration and other employees.
Ethical codes and conduct must be made clear to all involved in educational settings, right at the beginning of the term or year so as to avoid excuses, and necessary measures taken against those who yield to unacceptable behaviors as to discourage them. However, it is quite impossible to establish ethical principles in the board members and professors who are evolved in activities in unethical behaviors with students, even among teachers in full view of students. Although, there is no right way for neither doing wrong, nor should the ends justify the means. Acting ethically, requires reciprocal respect “the otherness of students” (McKeachie, 2006, 330), and not do to others that which we do not wish others do to us.
Teachers must be models of all that it means to be scholars, and this calls for a continuous responsible self-reflection on their personal standards and life. Exploitation and discrimination of all sort, and abuse, must be discouraged at all cost. Smith (1996) quoted in McKeachie (2006) believes that abuse of power is the base of many of the ethical traps that lie strewn across our paths as teacher (334).
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