Promoting Teachers’ Professional Morality—From Regulation to Self—Discipline

劉慶婕

Abstract： Teachers in China and other nations alike perform a basic duty in imparting knowledge and educating，and undertake the important task of cultivating social elites to improve the quality of the national education as a whole.As a nation enjoying the great fame of having long educational history and high-quality educators，Chinese teachers professional morality has been frequently challenged in the new era.This paper focuses on the construction of teachers professional morality on a basis of both regulation and self-discipline.

Key words： Professional Morality；Regulation；Self-discipline

1 Moral Dilemma for Teachers

Moral questions are complex and too implicit to define.“In the moral domain，however，one opinion is not as good as any other...Overarching principles have been agreed on in our society and within the teaching profession-principles dealing with honesty，fairness，honesty，protection of the weak，and respect for all people.” （Clark 1990，p.252） In other words，there is often no wrong answer when dealing with moral dilemma.It further borrows Fenstermachers defense when he identifies virtues such as fairness，honesty，courage，and compassion as exemplary.Teachers are among the most important role models for students in and out of every aspects of school life.In order to serve as a positive role model and demonstrate to student the best way to behave when presented with tough choices，teacher must leverage their moral virtues.Moreover，as a teacher，ones role is not merely to be a positive role to the student，and one must also live up to the moral values of which the department，school，or organization that one represents.

Under the current promotion and construction works of teachers morality，the image of teacher has somewhat been idealized as “perfect”，which involves being loyal to their educational career，selfless contribution and full dedication to students，becoming model of socialism spiritual construction and even a role of “intellectual architecture” has been forced upon a teacher. A sense of awe occurred attributed to teachers of morality standard，which separate teacher from other professions and ordinary human beings for laying much stress on ideal rather than practice.

2 The Absence of Autonomy under Regulation

The essence of morality is human beings spiritual self-discipline，which cant be realized without the implementing of regulation.At the same time，mandatory，rigid and excessive regulation will deprive of human beings inner self-discipline，which has no more room to grow but meet a dead end.Teachers professional morality，essentially speaking，is an instinctive devotion and commission to their profession which only can be achieved by the impetus self-discipline like professional conscience，professional responsibilities etc.However，as the exterior regulations interfering in every corner of teachers professional life，regulating and judging every details of teachers professional conduct，even evaluating and punishing teachers professional service without a sound basis professionalism and ethical connotation，teachers will soon lose their professional confidence and self-esteem by the absence of professional autonomy and freedom.In such regulated professional context，teachers professional morality will lose its basic foundation.

In China，for instance，from primary school to college，teachers have no right to the course formulation，course arrangement，and even choice of teaching material.Whereas rules on course，teachings affairs，administration and personnel regulated every aspect of teachers professional life.Without individual professional knowledge and morality to judge personal aspiration and ideal，teachers became “The Silence of the Lambs” in regulated professional fields.Under such circumstance，teachers have less and less initiative，but more and more slackness and depression in their teaching.

3 The Negligence of Distinctiveness under Regulation

Teachers professional morality is exerted by an exterior conduct rules，which urge teachers to fulfill obligation and restrict daily behaviors.In the Primary and Middle School Teachers Code of Ethic for the Education Profession，edited in 1997，it listed eight major principles： teach according to law，dedicated to teaching，precise in teaching，respect students parents，love student，be cooperative，honest and virtue model for others.Those eights principles emphasize on a series of rules obeyed by teaching personnel.It bears particular professionalism but lack of distinctiveness and profound understanding to teaching profession.As an individual human being，a role of imparting knowledge and skills，teacher himself or herself was neglected.Apart from their professional life，due attention and affection wasnt paid on their personal life，development and growth.General professional regulations can restrict teachers conducts in teaching，but fail to meet the requirement of teachers professional development in the long-term，and arouse teachers instinctive self-discipline awareness.

“Every profession should have its own ethics.” Ethical knowledge is the domain of responsible and professionally accountable individual teachers，working both independently and collectively，rather than the expression of organizational structures，institutional influences，systemic realities，and other forces beyond the control of the individual practitioner.This is not to deny the obvious point that teachers work within certain system and administrative structures，and that contextual elements have an evident influence on their daily working lives.Nonetheless，such realities should not obscure the moral responsibility of individuals for their own professional conduct and replace it with a kind of organizational culpability.The teachers moral agency is an inevitable state of being that is revealed whenever the teacher，as a moral person，conducts him or herself in schools with honesty，a sense of fairness，integrity，compassion，patience，respect，impartiality，care，dedication，and other such core virtues.It is also demonstrated when the teacher，as a moral educator，invokes students to appreciate such similar virtues and to conduct themselves in ways that honor them.Teachers may reflect this dual concept of moral agency formally or informally，consciously and intentionally or not，and frequently or rarely.

By extension，ethical knowledge is quite simply the heightened awareness that teachers-some more than others-have of their moral agent state of being.It is the focused and self-conscious recognition of how moral agency influences their daily actions and interactions，and it compels their deliberate attentiveness to ensure that these influences are experienced positively in a moral and ethical sense.Ethical knowledge，while rooted in an individuals sensibility and experience，is also an expression of applied professional ethics in teaching，and should ultimately embody a sense of collective professionalism，not individual subjectivity.

4 Self-discipline- Moral Character

Moral character is an understanding and interpretation from teachers individual perspective，and it is expressed through personal conduct in professional life.Teachers moral character should represent at least an integrated character and students soul，and how it functions in constructing an integrated character.From ancient ideologists vies，it is teacher who hold social and cultural ethics together.Therefore，more requests on education profession is exemplified on moral character，emphasizing the influence of teachers moral character on students and teachers professional commission.As one of the wisest teachers and the greatest philosopher of China，basing on his personal long time educational practice，Confucius has it that teachers must live what one teaches and teach by precept and example.He stressed on the power of non-verbal instruction and hold that a teacher who possesses the basic moral characters such as honest，upright and virtuous，is a kind of educational force by oneself.

Secondly，teachers moral character is presented in way of professional character，which perfectly combines both professional morality and personal morality together.Some scholars maintain that teachers personal moral character is for individual concern，so it bears personal choices and discretion.However，the author holds that teachers moral character and professional character is an unification，even inseparable at times.Elizabeth Campbell； in her book entitled The Ethical Teacher，for example，explicitly acknowledges the inherent ethical character of the teaching enterprise.She indicates that teachers moral commitment has a dual character.“The first relates to the exacting ethical standards the teacher as a moral person and a moral professional holds himself or herself do，and the second，concerns the teacher as a moral educator，model，and exemplar whose aim is to guide students towards a moral life” （Campbell，2003； p.2）.The dual nature is possible because teaching is by nature moral （Chang，1994）.

5 Self-Discipline-Self-Reflection

In a profession as challenge as teaching，teachers self-reflection is considered to be the key for self-promotion.Different from other professions，education profession itself ask for teachers constant efforts in updating knowledge，promoting teaching skills，and achieving professional growth.Teachers practice of self-reflection is a specification of teachers professional morality in real teaching，and an expression of professional self-discipline as well.Teachers formed their own personal educational concepts in daily life and teaching practice，which in turn became their educational philosophy in professional life.However，those concepts that bore strong cultural influence and subjective affections will have direct impact on teachers educational conducts and effectiveness.Teaching is consisted of various uncertain factors，and teachers lessons shouldnt be fixed or stereotyped.Teachers must reflect on their every now and then to improve their educational practice and elevate their professional level.

Self-reflection is definitely a vital skill as it can be considered to be a key to teacher development.It can be either intuitive or systematic and organized，which enables teachers to become aware of their weak and strong points.Absence of such awareness would make a further teacher grow impossible.Some teachers stagnate after a few years of teaching，falling into ruts and routines，while other teachers grow and continue to develop professionally over the course of their careers.A primary explanation for this phenomenon is the concept of teacher reflection.As Barbara Larrivee explains in this guide，teachers who develop the habit and skills of reflective practice are more effective in meeting student needs，in developing a more complex understanding of teaching issues，and in growing continuously as a professional teacher.

However，to reflect does not mean just to realize what the strengths and weaknesses are，it should involve analysis of a searched area and a plan of subsequent actions.Furthermore，Its important to engage in systematic reflection by making it an integral part of ones daily practice.As teachers develop the capacity to be self-reflective，they become increasingly aware of how they are interactive participants in classroom encounters rather than innocent bystanders or victims.By developing the practice of self-reflection teachers learn to：①Slow down their thinking and reasoning process to become more aware of how they perceive and react to students；②Bring to the surface some of their unconscious ways of responding to students.

Typical questions the teacher asks at the level of self-reflection are：

In what ways might I be modeling disrespect？

What is keeping me from trying to build a relationship with Pam？

Are there things I am doing that inhibit student self-management？

Why am I so intolerant of Adams inappropriate behavior？

For teachers to continue to develop their professional work，they need to understand the formative as well as the continuing experiences and influences.（Larrivee，2006）

References

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[2]Chang，F(xiàn).（1994）.School teachers moral reasoning.In Rest，J.R.& Narvaez，D （Eds.） Moral Development in the Professions： Psychology and Applied Ethics （pp.71-83）.New Jersey： Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

[3]Clark，C.M.（1990）.The teacher and the taught： moral transactions in the classroom.In J.I.Goodlad，R.Soder，& K.A.Sirotnik （Eds.），The moral dimensions of teaching （pp.251-265） San Francisco： Jossey-Bass.

[4]Larrivee，B.（2006）.An educators guide to teacher reflection，Cengage Learning James M.Cooper.

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