Introduction
work ethic plays an important role in any organization. We can consider it as the base of work. Showing work ethics give people the opportunity to enhance their relationships and reputations in their organization. Ethical dilemmas occurs due to the lake of ethics and some life skills such as problem solving, cooperation and decision making. Having a background about the importance of work ethics will assist to run the work efficiently and smoothly. This report raises two ethical dilemmas and intends to help the professionals understand the importance of being aware of their actual role in making decisions, dealing with and solving problems, and being equitable where issues are not that clear.
First dilemma:
Characters:
• Mine characters:
Me (Teacher Hanan), the school principal, Teacher Basima, and English head teacher.
• Sup-characters:
The vice principal, the social worker, the coordinator, all the administrators, and all teachers in the school.
The situation:
Three years ago, I was a seconded teacher in a school in Oman. I was seconded for three months. It was my first experience.
On my first day at school, I met the school principal, the vice principal, the social worker, the coordinator, and all the administrators who work in that school. From the first meet, they seemed to me they are easy to be dealt with.
I went to the teacher room. I greeted all teachers there. Then I sat with English language subject teachers as I am a seconded teacher for this subject. They were ten teachers. The head of them was very cute, kind, and beautiful too. She started giving me instructions and some aids which will help me in teaching the subject in right way. For whole the three months I was there, she went with me step by step. I love her. And I greatly appreciate and respect her.
The first days passed with full of peace, till one of the mathematics teachers called Basima came to me. From the first sight, she seemed that she is tough. She started asking me personal questions which I didn’t like and I ignored answering it.
I didn’t know the real reason by the way, but I guess she got angry because of this situation. I noted that from her facial expressions, the way she talked with me, and the way she treated me in front of my colleagues of teachers. I passed and condoned all her behaviors just to avoid quarrels.
One day, I had a class with grade five students, who she taught too. In the class I was giving them a quiz. Three of the girls were very slow while answering the questions, and I really like to be smooth and flexible specially while dealing with the students. In this matter, I told them I will give you five minutes more as the class time finished. These five minutes are the time between classes, so I am not taking from the next time class. I didn’t expect that this five minutes will make a big problem. While I was collecting the papers from late students, teacher Basima attack the class violently. She forcefully opened the door and started shouting on me "how we can consider you as a teacher while you are not respecting time and respecting your teacher colleagues. I don’t know who gave you the permission to come and teach in this school. I think they supposed to take you to a training course to teach you how the real teachers are supposed to behave" and a lot of unbalanced and disrespectful words that are not appropriate for teacher to utter. At the moment, I couldn’t utter even a single word, then I took the quiz papers and left the class. My feelings were mixed, shocked, surprised, and angry. I felt I really need to cry but not even one tear fall from my eyes. I set on my desk. I started remembering her words. It was like arrows hitting my heart. I couldn’t get past the situation. I think if it was not in front of my students, it would had less impact on my feelings. Now how I can save my face when I meet my students next class? That all what I thought of at that moment. I decided to wait for her till she came from her class to clarify why she behave this way and the reasons behind my lateness.
When she came back, I told her " Teacher Basims can we talk? ", but she started attacking me with disrespectful words again and in front of my fellow teachers. Here, no! it is over. I went to the principal to told her everything but I found her busy. I interrupted her just for five minutes to tell her the whole story that happened. She told me "it is not fair to listen from you only, now you can go to your class and I will call teacher Basima to know why she behave this unacceptable way. " I really appreciate this.
After two days, the principal asked me to meet my opponent. I expected she is going to let me clarify the reasons behind what I did, and let the opponent realize the big mistake she did upon me. It is logical that a teacher does not supposed to act in this unethical behavior towards her fellow teacher. But what happened in the principal office is totally the opposite. The principal didn’t give me a single opportunity to clarify the idea. She started blaming me as if the whole mistake was made by me. She was able to find justifications and excuses for what the teacher did, but she couldn’t find a single justification behind what I did. Yes, I did mistake when I gave students extra time for the exam as the school instructions refuse this, but what she did is unethical and should not be done from a teacher towards another teacher and in front of her students also. The words kept ringing in my ears and made the situation worse "Teacher Basima is one of the best teachers in this school, we appreciate all what she does and we are sure she’s always right without her having to explain". Here I felt hopeless and I felt like the whole world is unfair. How can a teacher be insulted in front of her students without taking her right, without saving her face? The principal supposed to be fair and just towards me. Putting the whole fault on me and not holding the other party accountable for her mistake is very shameful as we are in a public educational institution. The principal didn’t hold T. Basima accountable just because she is a permanent teacher there. As for me, I am just a seconded teacher who will leave after few months, so no need to strengthen the relationship with me.
This situation put me between two choices which I didn’t like at all.
A. Either I continue working in the school as a seconded teacher, which I cannot do due to bad relationship between the school administration and me.
B. Or I leave the school and miss the chance of being seconded and teach and practice my passion, as it is a unique opportunity to teach in a public government school especially of unemployed teachers.
After long time thinking, I decided to continue working in the school just to not lose the chance. All English teachers were standing with me. They reduced my pain through their soft words. And told me like this situation repeated many time against the teacher who didn’t strengthen their relationship with the principal. The principal is always on the side of the ones she loves only. After that, I ignored talking with the administrators and other teachers who teach other subjects. The three months passed very heavy. What happened to me is unforgettable at all.
From here, the events of my story end, but the case is not over yet, and its files should not be closed unless each official knows his/her actual role.
Our Opinion:
Besides to the manager’s role in running the work properly and monitoring the performance of employees, there is an undeniable role which is building strong relationships between employees at the working environment. "We are born out of and live-in relationship… The educational leader needs to recognize that relationships are a fundamental and intrinsic part of being; we cannot separate our existence from our relationships" (Rieg, S. A. , & Morcoline, J. F. , 2018). Based on this, all leaders need to recognize that building good, confortable, and healthy relationships between colleagues and providing safe environment are the major causes of happiness and productivity in workplace. It has been said "it is easy to lead for yourself. It is more difficult to lead for other. Honesty, integrity, and the ability to be supportive will create a more successful environment" (B. Schaefer, 2015). Being aware of fairness, ethical considerations, and cultural contexts issues all will lead you to be just with those who are under your responsibility. Managers need to be politicians and diplomats.
Out Recommendations:
When your abilities, luck, and destiny lead you to become a director of an institution, a government department, or director of a certain department, you must realize that you bear a great honesty and great responsibility towards those who are under your care. Being on a prestigious job is not for bragging and making lots of money, but it is a trusteeship and responsibility fall on your shoulders. When you are in a management position, you must be aware of fairness, ethical considerations, and cultural contexts issues. Knowing all these issues makes you smooth, flexible, and wise in dealing with and solving problems. We recommend all leaders to be aware with their actual role in the institution they are working in. The actual role in making strong relationship between employees. This will impact their performance and customers will feel comfortable too.
Introduction
work
ethic
plays an
important
role
in any organization. We can consider it as the base of
work
. Showing
work
ethics give
people
the opportunity to enhance their
relationships
and reputations in their organization.
Ethical
dilemmas occurs due to the lake of ethics and
some
life
skills
such as
problem
solving, cooperation and
decision making
. Having a background about the importance of
work
ethics will assist to run the
work
efficiently
and
smoothly
. This report raises two
ethical
dilemmas and intends to
help
the professionals understand the importance of being
aware
of their
actual
role
in making decisions, dealing with and solving
problems
, and being equitable where
issues
are not that
clear
.
First
dilemma:
Characters:
• Mine characters:
Me
(Teacher
Hanan
), the
school
principal
,
Teacher
Basima
, and English head
teacher.
•
Sup-characters:
The vice
principal
, the social worker, the coordinator, all the administrators, and all
teachers
in the school.
The situation:
Three years ago, I was a
seconded
teacher
in a
school
in Oman. I was
seconded
for three
months
. It was my
first
experience.
On my
first
day at
school
, I met the
school
principal
, the vice
principal
, the social worker, the coordinator, and all the administrators
who
work
in that
school
. From the
first
meet
, they seemed to me they are easy to
be dealt
with.
I went to the
teacher
room. I greeted all
teachers
there. Then I sat with English language
subject
teachers
as I am a
seconded
teacher
for this
subject
. They were ten
teachers
. The head of them was
very
cute, kind, and
beautiful
too. She
started
giving me instructions and
some
aids which will
help
me in teaching the
subject
in right way. For
whole
the three
months
I was there, she
went with
me step by step. I
love
her. And I
greatly
appreciate and respect her.
The
first
days passed with full of peace, till one of the mathematics
teachers
called
Basima
came to me. From the
first
sight, she seemed that she is tough. She
started
asking me personal questions which I didn’t like and I
ignored
answering it.
I didn’t
know
the real reason by the way,
but
I guess she
got
angry
because of this
situation
. I noted that from her facial expressions, the way she talked with me, and the way she treated me in
front
of my colleagues of
teachers
.
I
passed and condoned all her behaviors
just
to avoid quarrels.
One day, I had a
class
with grade five
students
,
who
she taught too. In the
class
I was giving them a quiz. Three of the girls were
very
slow while answering the questions, and I
really
like to be smooth and flexible
specially
while dealing with the
students
. In this matter, I
told
them I will give you five minutes more
as
the
class
time
finished. These five minutes are the
time
between
classes
,
so
I am not taking from the
next
time
class
. I didn’t
expect
that this five minutes will
make
a
big
problem
. While I was collecting the papers from late
students
,
teacher
Basima
attack the
class
violently
. She
forcefully
opened the door and
started
shouting on me
"
how we can consider you as a
teacher
while you are not respecting
time
and respecting your
teacher
colleagues. I don’t
know
who
gave you the permission to
come
and
teach
in this
school
. I
think
they
supposed
to take you to a training course to
teach
you how the real
teachers
are
supposed
to behave
"
and
a lot of
unbalanced and disrespectful words that are not appropriate for
teacher
to utter. At the moment, I couldn’t utter even a single
word
, then I took the quiz papers and
left
the
class
. My feelings
were mixed
, shocked, surprised, and angry. I felt I
really
need
to cry
but
not even one tear fall from my eyes. I set on my desk.
I
started
remembering her words. It was like arrows hitting my heart. I couldn’t
get
past the
situation
. I
think
if it was not in
front
of my
students
, it would
had
less impact on my feelings.
Now
how I can save my face when I
meet
my
students
next
class
? That all what I
thought
of at that moment. I decided to wait for her till she came from her
class
to clarify why she
behave
this way and the reasons behind my lateness.
When she came back, I
told
her
"
Teacher
Basims
can we talk?
"
,
but
she
started
attacking me with disrespectful words again and in
front
of my fellow
teachers
. Here, no!
it
is over. I went to the
principal
to
told
her everything
but
I found her busy. I interrupted her
just
for five minutes to
tell
her the
whole
story that happened. She
told
me
"
it is not
fair
to listen from you
only
,
now
you can go to your
class
and I will call
teacher
Basima
to
know
why she
behave
this unacceptable way.
"
I
really
appreciate this.
After two days, the
principal
asked me to
meet
my opponent. I
expected
she is going to
let
me clarify the reasons behind what I did, and
let
the opponent realize the
big
mistake
she did upon me. It is logical that a
teacher
does not
supposed
to act in this unethical behavior towards her fellow
teacher
.
But
what happened in the
principal
office is
totally
the opposite. The
principal
didn’t give me a single opportunity to clarify the
idea
. She
started
blaming me as if the
whole
mistake
was made
by me. She was able to find justifications and excuses for what the
teacher
did,
but
she couldn’t find a single justification behind what I did. Yes, I did
mistake
when I gave
students
extra
time
for the exam as the
school
instructions refuse this,
but
what she did is unethical and should not
be done
from a
teacher
towards another
teacher
and in
front
of her
students
also
. The words
kept
ringing in my ears and made the
situation
worse
"
Teacher
Basima
is one of the best
teachers
in this
school
, we appreciate all what she
does and
we are sure she’s always right without her having to
explain
"
. Here I felt hopeless and I felt like the
whole
world is unfair. How can a
teacher
be insulted
in
front
of her
students
without taking her right, without saving her face? The
principal
supposed
to be
fair
and
just
towards me. Putting the
whole
fault on me and not holding the
other
party accountable for her
mistake
is
very
shameful as we are in a public educational institution. The
principal
didn’
t hold T
.
Basima
accountable
just
because
she is a permanent
teacher
there. As for me, I am
just
a
seconded
teacher
who
will
leave
after few
months
,
so
no
need
to strengthen the
relationship
with me.
This
situation
put me between two choices which I didn’t like at all.
A. Either I continue
working
in the
school
as a
seconded
teacher
, which I cannot do due to
bad
relationship
between the
school
administration and me.
B. Or I
leave
the
school
and miss the chance of being
seconded
and
teach
and practice my passion, as it is a unique opportunity to
teach
in a public
government
school
especially
of unemployed teachers.
After long
time
thinking, I decided to continue
working
in the
school
just
to not lose the chance. All English
teachers
were standing with me. They
reduced
my pain through their soft words. And
told
me like this
situation
repeated
many
time
against the
teacher
who
didn’t strengthen their
relationship
with the
principal
. The
principal
is always on the side of the ones she
loves
only
. After that, I
ignored
talking with the administrators and
other
teachers
who
teach
other
subjects
. The three
months
passed
very
heavy. What happened to me is unforgettable at all.
From here, the
events
of my story
end
,
but
the case is not over
yet
, and its files should not
be closed
unless each official
knows
his/her
actual
role.
Our Opinion:
Besides
to the manager’s
role
in running the
work
properly
and monitoring the performance of employees, there is an undeniable
role
which is building strong
relationships
between employees at the
working
environment.
"
We
are born
out of and
live
-in
relationship…
The educational leader
needs
to recognize that
relationships
are a fundamental and intrinsic part of being; we cannot separate our existence from our relationships
"
(
Rieg
, S. A.
,
&
Morcoline
, J. F.
,
2018). Based on this, all leaders
need
to recognize that building
good
,
confortable
, and healthy
relationships
between colleagues and providing safe environment are the major causes of happiness and productivity in workplace. It has
been said
"
it is easy to
lead
for yourself. It is more difficult to
lead
for
other
. Honesty, integrity, and the ability to be supportive will create a more successful environment
"
(B. Schaefer, 2015). Being
aware
of fairness,
ethical
considerations, and cultural contexts
issues
all will
lead
you to be
just
with those
who
are under your responsibility. Managers
need
to be politicians and diplomats.
Out Recommendations:
When your abilities, luck, and destiny
lead
you to become a director of an institution, a
government
department, or director of a certain department, you
must
realize that you bear a great honesty and great responsibility towards those
who
are under your care. Being on a prestigious job is not for bragging and making lots of money,
but
it is a trusteeship and responsibility fall on your shoulders. When you are in a management position, you
must
be
aware
of fairness,
ethical
considerations, and cultural contexts
issues
. Knowing all these
issues
makes
you smooth, flexible, and wise in dealing with and solving
problems
. We recommend all leaders to be
aware
with their
actual
role
in the institution they are
working
in. The
actual
role
in making strong
relationship
between employees. This will impact their performance and customers will feel comfortable too.