Ethical Dilemma Analysis

 Ethical Dilemma Analysis

In a professional setting, ethical dilemmas present conflicting obligations that require someone to balance the risks and the benefits. To adequately maneuver an ethical dilemma, one should rationally balance personal, ethical, and professional responsibilities. According to Erdoğan and Sezgin (2020) systematic analysis, ethical dilemmas present an opportunity for one to examine the best professional practices within a professional setting. Erdoğan and Sezgin further clarifies that one’s degree of professionalism is often measured by how well one handles a challenging ethical issue. Berman et al. (2022) explains that weighing the impact of every decision in view of the already-established ethical guidelines and institutional policies guides a professional in making the most rational ethical decisions. For the case of Robert’s ethical dilemma, the primary ethical solution should be primarily based on a decision that fully adheres to the school policies and professional practice.

Facts of the Situation and Stakeholders

Ethical dilemmas in professional practice largely involve a scenario where an individual is forced to make ethically-based decisions that challenge their moral standpoint. Being a newly hired teacher, Robert faces an ethical dilemma involving a decision on what to do in the case of a student engaging in alcohol abuse. As per the case study, Robert found that David, who is a student, has violated the school’s strict zero-tolerance policy on alcohol by getting intoxicated at the band camp. Mainly, the dilemma of this case lies in the fact that Robert is a chaperone of the student's band camp and is expected to balance his professional duty to enforce the school policies while ensuring he does not jeopardize David’s future or his career as a teacher. Given the intensity of the case, several stakeholders are directly involved in David's case of substance abuse. On the one hand, David, who is a student involved, faces a significant possibility of expulsion and jeopardizing his chances of earning a band scholarship. Whereas David’s parents, as stakeholders, admit that David’s actions warrant punishment, they largely believe the action of reporting the incident to the school principal will potentially impact them negatively. On the other hand, the school administration, which includes the principal and assistant principal, are equally stakeholders directly affected by this case. Entrusted with the role of upholding discipline and maintaining the integrity of school policies, the school principal and assistant school principal are mandated to ensure fairness in policy enforcement while considering the implications of the decisions to the students’ futures (Erdoğan & Sezgin, 2020). Apart from that, other students are indirectly affected by David’s case determination. On the one hand, overlooking the incidents perpetuates the feeling of injustice and weakens the enforcement of the school rules while on the other hand, enforcing the policy is likely to evoke the feeling of inconsideration of student’s future. In essence, Robert should address the ethical dilemma by either ensuring strict compliance with the policy or adopting the approach of being lenient, which, in the long run undermines his integrity.   

Possible Solutions

Solution for the Robert’s case dilemma ranges from adopting a completely unethical decision to opting for the most rational ethical decision. As one of the solutions, Robert has the option of doing nothing with the hope that the situation will possibly resolve itself. In doing so, Robert will potentially neglect his professional duty, jeopardize the safety of the students, and equally risk severe consequences in the instances the case is discovered. According to Berman et al. (2022) analysis, although doing nothing often appears as an option when faced with a serious ethical dilemma, such a solution is the most unacceptable in view of ethical considerations. As one of the solutions, Robert has the option of following his mentor teacher’s advice of waiting and seeing how the situation unfolds. Whereas this solution looks more cautious than doing nothing, it fails to address the school policy on zero-tolerance for substance abuse and potentially makes Robert complicit in covering the incident. Erdoğan and Sezgin (2020) explain that taking time to observe how the situation unfolds often increases the risk in instances where the incident becomes life-threatening to the student. On top of that, Robert has the option of following his peer’s advice of reporting the incident to every authority immediately. In doing so, the incident will likely escalate to compromising the future of the student as well as negatively impacting David’s parents. Instead of informing the authorities, Robert has another solution to only inform student’s parent and then allow then to handle the issue privately. However, adopting such an approach is ethically questionable and fails to recognize Robert’s responsibility to enforce the school policy. Given that Robert is required to opt for an ethically responsible solution, he should report the incident to the principal while explaining the context of the case.

The Most Ethical Solution

Reporting the incident to the principal while offering the context about the student’s record and circumstances stands as the most ethically responsible solution. Informed by Berman et al. (2022) recommendations, upholding the policy guidelines while explaining the circumstances that possibly led to the incident lowers the intensity of the implications. Through informing the school principal, Robert upholds professional and ethical responsibilities that require him to implement the school’s zero-tolerance policy. Apart from that, reporting the case allows the administration to determine the most appropriate course of action to take against David. Whereas the parents have a valid concern about David’s future, ethical decision-making should prioritize integrity, accountability as well as the safety of all the students. Importantly, the approach of reporting to the school principal represents the most rational and ethical way of balancing between ethical standards and allowing due process in solving administrative-based issues.

Conclusion

In summary, Robert’s case dilemma showcases how upholding ethical standards guides professionals into maneuvering ethical dilemmas. For Robert’s case, reporting the incident while providing the context of the case represents the most ethically responsible solution. Notably, addressing ethical dilemmas necessitates the professional to opt for solutions that maintain fairness, show accountability and equally ensure the safety of all the stakeholders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Berman, S. H., Rubin, D. B., & Barnes, J. A. (2022). The Ethical Educator: Pointers and Pitfalls for School Administrators. Rowman & Littlefield. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=LXeAEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Strategies+to+address+Ethical+Dilemma+in+chaperone+of+students+in+a+camp+in+the+USA:+Alcohol+use&ots=mhVN7b9q-l&sig=RlT4wQuvhvwcotjpvXw9z8jcYp0

Erdoğan, O., & Sezgin, F. (2020). Ethical Dilemmas that School Administrators and Teachers Experience: Reasons and Coping Strategies. Pegem Journal of Education and Instruction, 10(2), 593–634. https://mail.pegegog.net/index.php/pegegog/article/download/773/335