Professional Ethics in the Community College - Assignment Example

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE The focus of the present study is to find if there exists or not any relationship between professional ethics and teaching at a community college where diversified ethnic groups are seeking admission as well as working as staff and faculty members. The study was conducted within the framework of “Conflict Theory” by Dahrendorf and “Structural Functional Theory of Stratification” by Davis and Moore. The following hypothesis was formulated for the present research: The different the ethnic groups in a community, the more the need of ethical values for the individuals while performing one’s obligations. Interview schedule was used as a tool for data collection for the present study. Forty-eight respondents were selected and interviewed on the basis of quota (non-probability) sampling during the course of study. This selection was made on the foundation of different groups working and studying in the college to have the participation of all strata to identify the significance of ethical values in the community college of California. . The research was conducted at a community college in San Francisco city. The study was a success and all the respondents encouraged and co-operated with the researcher while doing his work. After the research, the hypothesis was upheld. INTRODUCTION Teaching has been esteemed as one of the noblest professions for the last many centuries all over the world. The teachers were thought to be the brain-developer of the greatest personalities including rulers, conquerors, generals and philosophers. The significance of this profession had been evident due to coaching and shaping the mind and character of the new generations. It is teacher, as the thinkers state, which play pivotal role in the education and training of the whole generation. Jones (2000) observes: “The mind is cultivated, nurtured, and assisted primarily by teachers. And because of these essential activities, teachers and the profession of teaching have been esteemed throughout history”. The source of teaching once limited to academies and centers in past was widely spread all over the globe. Schools, colleges and universities were established with the passage of time. Twentieth century brought tremendous revolution in all fields of life including science, technology, industrialization and advancement. This also effected teaching profession. Colleges and educational training centers were set up at community level and latest branches of knowledge of science and arts were introduced. This not only upraised the level of education, and eradicated ignorance and illiteracy altogether, but also offered the members of community chances of seeking education at higher level even by living in their own community. The state of California has also approved community colleges to provide education at the doorstep of the individuals. Being the most populous state of the United States of America, California is divided into diversified ethnic, racial and religious population. “As California has long been a land of rapid change and innovations”, California Postsecondary Education Commission states, “the changes occurring in the State’s population over the last two decades are almost without precedent. The social and cultural changes brought by that influx of new Californians pales in comparison to the social and cultural changes that accompany the new Californians of the 1980s and 1990s who entered the state from other countries”. The individuals belonging to different ethnic, socioeconomic and cultural groups are living as well as working in various fields and professions in California and teaching profession is also one among these. To regulate the activities related to all the professions, each and every culture and society identifies different sets of laws to maintain peace and harmony. The same is the case with occupation of teaching. As teacher is the fashioner of the young brains, there must be professional ethics to identify the rights and duties in the course of dual relationship between teacher and students Professional ethics refers to the rules and regulations, based on ethical values, prescribed to define the patterns of professional behavior. This behavior supports to describe and illustrate rights and obligations of individuals to some specific sort of work. “Ethics is”, according to Thomson Gale, “the branch of philosophy that defines what is good for the individual and for society and establishes the nature of obligations, or duties, that people owe themselves and one another”. The ethics are among the social norms, values and mores prevailing in the contemporary society. “Ethics has developed”, the Columbia University Press views, “as people have reflected on the intentions and consequences of their acts. From this reflection on the nature of human behavior, theories of conscience have developed, giving direction to much ethical thinking”. California is famous for its pleasant climate and ethnically diverse population.There are four main ethnic groups that make up the population of California. These include White Americans, Latinos, Blacks and Asians. Also, many people from different religious sects also make up the whole of the Californian society. Each racial group surely keeps feelings of prejudice for others. It is perhaps in human nature that sense of superiority in one’s own group prevails in mind. Therefore, man belonging to one social or religious group can experience feelings of hatred from the members of other groups. Throughout history, people have set forth systems of rules and laws which excluded others – other clans, other races, other sexes, other religions, etc. The Economist (1995) also indicates the same in these words: “Historically, man has expanded the reach of his ethical calculations, as ignorance and want have receded, first beyond family and tribe, later beyond religion, race, and nation. To bring other species more fully into the range of these decisions may seem unthinkable to moderate opinion now. One day, decades or centuries hence, it may seem no more than “civilized” behavior requires.” (Quoted in Matt Ball, 1995). Not only in a region where different races live, but also in all the areas and professions ethical values certainly carry weight. While discussing teaching at community college, it is the authorities or university that determine code of ethics for the faculty, staff and students. The university codes of conduct establish guidelines for professional conduct by those acting on behalf of the university including executive officers, faculty, staff, and other individuals employed, using university resources or facilities. These conducts based on ethics include unconditional loyalty and devotion while working at college, honesty, responsibility, reliability, trustworthiness, impartiality, punctuality, manners, fairness, neutrality and hard work etc. Multicultural understanding must be the order of the day in the modern contemporary age. Gone are the days when people used to make progress on behalf of racial prejudice. Many a times, it so happens that either teacher or student or a staff member even passes insulting remarks on the member of the other strata of society, which is not only against morality, but also is in sharp contrast with the ethical values. Malcolm-X, a famous Black nationalist, experienced the same chauvinism when some biased Whites attacked on his father’s house and killed him. Also, his mother was the product of the rape of a White man against a black lady. (1965: 4) The demographic features of California have been distorted in the course of consecutive influence of immigration. One of the most important trends since the 1980s has been the level of visible minority immigration. Though the majority of the population comes out of White Americans, yet Hispanic and Black strata is also significant. The composition of population is in constant change due to immigration policy. “The changes are”, according to California Postsecondary Education Commission, “even more dramatic when the focus is on California’s young residents. Between 1995 and 2005, the number of public high school graduates is expected to increase by 24 percent. The proportion of White public high school graduates decreased from 61 percent in 1985 to 47.2 percent in 1995 and is expected to be 39.4 percent by 2005”. Some practices are popular to one society and culture, but is strictly prohibited like taboo to some other. The same is the case with the teaching at community college. This differentiation causes both co-operation and conflict in a society. The same ethnic groups unite against the other(s) for common benefit and mutual interest. This stratification may be on the basis of class, caste, clan, tribe, ethnicity, region, religion, sex and socioeconomic status. Stratification has always been the existing since the birth of first society in the world. “Stratification was present”, Tumin writes, “even in the small wandering bands that characterize society in the earliest days of man. In such primitive condition, age, sex and clan in combination with physical strength must have been important criteria”. (1967:16). The dual relationship between students and teacher must be on the grounds of highest standards of honor and veracity. Not only this but also the students must respect the knowledge the teacher obtains rather looking into his socio-cultural background. They must keep in mind the instructions and pieces of advice of the teacher. The student are bound under the ethical principles to be always regular and punctual while attending the college. They must be attentive in classroom and never try to humiliate the teacher at any point. The teacher must always be beyond all biased attitude towards each and every student. He should be impartial while giving reward on doing good and announcing punishment. The ethics indicates that a teacher must listen to the problems of the students carefully and must try to resolve these troubles sympathetically. Moral values suggest that a teacher is the honest and loyal person who always maintains dignity and morality. He must not use abusive language or insulting remarks especially indicating towards some specific race, gender, community, caste, religion or nation. A teacher at community college must exercise efforts and render services for the uplift of the students by keeping in close contact with the members of community as well as the parents of the students. Delivering the lecture and directing the students in and outside the classroom can observe the kindness of the teacher. A noble teacher looks always busy in providing the students with emotional support and guidance if they consult him in library, staff room and even in playground. SOCIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE Colleges have obtained sonorous place in the development, growth and progress of a nation. The students who have been coached, guided and taught properly become a very useful and creative part of the nation. On the other hand, if teachers have not performed their role in the right way, the future of the whole country or state is sure to jeopardize. The community colleges are the axis of both prosperity and adversity. If there are cordial relations between teacher and students, and both intend to work for the betterment of humans and community, the society is bound to make progress by leaps and bounds. Conflict and lack of co-operation between them shakes the very foundations of institution, community and the state. Stratification in community college is also based on difference in ethnic group, gender, religion and socioeconomic status. Teacher is the central figure and most important personality in the institution. He obtains many social and moral responsibilities in this regard. It is one of the obligations of the teacher to pay due heed for the upbringing of the students by encouraging them in studies and in the forming of personality. He may create such an atmosphere in and outside the class where all the differences and stratifications find no place in the minds and hearts of the students belonging to various strata. It is teacher who can to not to practice anything that may hurt the feelings of any of the person or group. It is the moral duty of the teacher that he should never deliver a single word that goes against any gender, religion or ethnic group. Both ethics and law forbid a teacher to create such an atmosphere where the students can freely exercise their abilities and capabilities. Further, the teacher should be in constant contact with the members of the community so that the environment may remain pleasant and friendly. It so happens that parents and the influential in a community are eager to give suggestions related to education and training of the students. If the teacher is unable to provide them with the opportunity to participate in the college activities, the community can turn against him. Also, it so happens in the communities like California where the majority is reluctant to provide equal chances of growth to the minority groups. Then there comes teacher to play the pivotal role of convincing them not to exercise anything wrong which can turn the community into battlefield. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Almost all the social researches are supported by some theory. Theory is actually an attempt to explain a phenomenon. A framework is an orientation or sweeping way of looking at the social world. The theoretical framework in the present research is based on Conflict Theory. Conflict theory is based upon the view that the original causes of unrest and disturbances in a society are the social and economic forces operating within it. The conflict theory draws its ideas from the Marxist perspective. According to Marxist approach, unequal distribution of scarce resources stresses the elements of society to be in the state of continuous conflict. Conflict theory states that the organization functions so that each individual participant and its groups struggle to maximize their benefits, which inevitably contributes to social change such as changes in politics and revolutions. Dahrendorf is the follwer of the Marxist perspective, who states that there are two faces of the society i.e. conflict and consensus. “For purposes of the sociological anlysis of conflict”, Dahrendorf states, “groups and group conflicts, it is necessary to assume certain structurally generated orientations of the actions of incumbants of defined positions”. (1959:175). Different ethnic and cultural groups are in conflict that leads towards change. But if these conflicts take the form of intensity, it may jeopardise the peace of society. Same is the case with different strata at a community college. Teachers and students contain difference of interests and this divergence creates state of conflict between them. Dahrendorf felt, according to Ritzer, that the concepts of latent and manifest interests of quasi groups were basic to an explanation of social conflict. (1988: 230). It is Dahrendorf who introduces the term quasi-group in sociology. HYPOTHESIS AND OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE CONCEPTS The research hypothesis, concepts and variables, related to the topic, have been defined in the present chapter. HYPOTHESIS: The hypothesis formulated for the present study is: The different the ethnic groups in a community, the more the need of ethical values for the individuals while performing one’s obligations. CONCEPTS: The concepts involved in the present study comprise: i) Ethnic group ii) Community iii) Professional Ethics INDEPENDENT VARIABLES: i) Ethnic Group: Formal Definition: “An ethnic group is a human population whose members identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry” (Smith, 1986). Operationalization: Ethnic groups are the groups whose identity is based on race and genealogy. It is the permanent division of the individuals into different ancestry. “Race has”, Merrill views, “an isolating effect upon social groups. Social interaction is modified and confined by the indelible marks of race”. (1969:251) Groups of same race look alike because they have some of the genetic units in common. California has been divided into various ethnic groups and these groups lived in their own communities only in past. As the interaction among the races grew with the passage of time, the members of all racial groups developed mixed communities and inter-marriages between the races vanished the gulf of divergence subsequently. ii) Community: Formal Definition: “A community may be viewed as a permanent group of persons, occupying a common area, interacting in both institutional and non-institutional role and having a sense of identification with the entity that arises from the interaction”. (Merrill, 1969: 429) Operationalization: Community is a permanent division of people into areas of region. This division is usually based on relations, interaction and constant contacts. The division of community may be on the basis of religion, sect and race too, though in the popular parlance, it is composed of the individuals living in the same area. DEPENDENT VARIABLE: Professional Ethics: Formal Definition: Sociology commission defines the term professional ethics in these words: “Professional ethics are the principles and standards that underlie ones responsibilities and conduct in a particular field of expertise (profession)”. (Quoted in Glossary of Sociology Commission) Operationalization: Professional ethics is said to be the estimation of individual’s demeanor under the commandments of moral principles. Moral principles may be viewed either as the standard of conduct that individuals have constructed for themselves or as the body of obligations and duties that a particular society requires of its members. Professional ethics are not the law in the real sense. Rather, these are the rules based on doctrine of morality, though sometimes these are more powerful than statutes of law. These rules imply with the occupational activities. In teaching, professional ethics include integrity, honesty, sense of responsibility, trustworthiness, impartiality, civility and decency et cetera. It will also be appropriate to define community college. Tulsa community college defines the term “Community college” in these words: “This term refers to a two-year institution of higher education, generally public, offering levels of instruction adapted to the needs of the community. Offerings usually include a transfer curriculum (credits toward a bachelor’s degree) and occupational programs (two-year course of study designed to prepare the student for employment). ...” (Quoted in www.tulsacc.edu/page.asp) RESEARCH PROCEDURE The purpose of the present chapter is to explain the procedure through which the present study has been carried out. Universe: The universe of the present study comprised of the teachers, students, staff and the community members. The respondents belonged to different strata of the community of the area of San Francisco, California. Sampling: The researcher used quota (non-probability) sampling for data collection for the present study. The researcher interviewed forty respondents in all. Twelve respondents from each category i.e. teachers, students, staff and community members were selected. Tool for Data Collection: The researcher used interview schedule as tool for the collection of data while conducting the present research. REFERENCES F.A. Jones, (June 14, 2000) Teaching:  Honorable Profession But what has gone wrong? Gibbs Magazine, Edition June 2000. California Postsecondary Education Commission, (April 1997) Californias Changing Demography: More Faces, New Faces. Fact Sheet Matt Ball (1995) A Theory of Ethics. Quoted in Veganoutreach.Org. Columbia University Press Francis Ellsworth Merrill & H. Wentworth Eldredge (1969) Society and Culture. Prentice Hall Publishers. Autobiography of Malcolm X. (1965) New York: Grove Press,. E185.97.L543 www.tulsacc.edu/page.asp Lewis A. Coser, (1968) Continuities In The Study Of Social Conflict. George Ritzer, (1988) Sociological Theory. McGraw Hill Publishers. Read More