Rule Following, Standards of Practice, and Open-mindedness

In this paper, I discuss the Ontario College of Teachers’ most recent versions of the Standards of Practice with William Hare’s counsel on being open-minded regarding open-mindedness in mind. Specifically, I insist that the use of the Standards of Practice as guidelines for working through cases of professional and ethical issues requires yet another rule to indicate when to deviate from this or that standard. In this way, open-mindedness consists of developing and following rules to indicate when and where specific standards should be bypassed. These rules vary, however, one source of these can be found in what Barbara Herman has called, “Rules of Moral Salience”—rules that guide us in our day-to-day moral decision-making and that we draw on when called upon to make moral-ethical judgments. What this means for various ethics (ethics of care; Kantian-type ethics, psychological and/or developmental accounts of ethics) is also broached.

Quality Assurance or Election Fodder? The Politics of Teacher Testing in Ontario, 1999 - 2003

A commitment to mandatory teacher testing formed part of the victorious Conservative government’s platform in the Ontario provincial election of 1999. For the next four years it sought to implement the controversial policy, over the objections of the organized teacher federations. Caught in the middle was the fledgling Ontario College of Teachers, which was used by the government to implement a policy opposed by its own membership. The two most contentious aspects of the teacher-testing program were a qualifying test for prospective new teachers, and mandatory recertification for veteran instructors. After four years, the program was only partially in place. Working behind the scenes, the teachers helped to defeat the government at the next general election.Whatever the motivation for the initial policy – public accountability or crass electioneering – a confrontational implementation led to its ultimate demise.

The Ontario College Teachers Foundation of Professional Practice

The Ontario College of Teachers Foundations of Professional Practice (2004) pg .16 describes a teaching responsibility as promoting "Leadership and Community”.

Ethically Speaking: Teachers and the Politics of Eduational Reform

The Ontario College of Teachers is in the process of revising its statement of Ethical Standards. The proposed guidelines ("Revised Ethical Standard s") reflect a new way at looking at the role and responsibilities of teachers in Ontario. Rather than focusing on behaviors or rules to be followed in particular sets of circumstances, the proposed revisions focus on four key values or virtues that can guide ethical judgment and decision making in the day to day practice of teaching. This shift emphasizes the importance of informed professional judgment and views the teacher as a responsible moral agent. With autonomy comes accountability and as a member of a professional college, teachers exercise their autonomy in communication with their colleagues .