Do we need a Hippocratic Oath for teachers?
A spate of recent examples of bad classroom behavior suggests a promise at least to do no harm might be in order. A Georgia biology teacher was arrested last week for telling an unruly student he would “rip your eyeballs out” during a tirade. That followed a pair of nationally publicized incidents where kindergarten teachers humiliated students. Megan McArdle, blogging about adoption policies at The Atlantic, recently wrote
“Virtually every profession that involves an element of coercion needs a version of the Hippocratic Oath.”
So how about it? What should a Hippocratic Oath for teachers say? What general principles ought to guide ethical classroom practice? Eduwonk set a precedent by offering a book as a prize for his “If I had $5 billion dollars” contest, and I know a good idea when I steal one:
The best teacher’s Hippocratic oath wins a $50 Barnes and Noble gift card. You choose your own book. I’m all about choice.
Update: If this article posted by Joanne Jacobs is to be believed, teachers in Australia get in hot water for simply raising their voices.
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}
I’ve often bounced ideas off other teachers about the need for such an oath. When I did research for the library system, I pledged support to the 1st Amendment, and as a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood, my commitment to the 4th Amendment and the Right of Privacy wasn’t optional. Teachers shouldn’t be willing to flush our most revered values of democracy and liberal arts down the toilet in order to comply with the latest teach-to-the-test prep fad.
But experienced union reps have reminded me of some hard facts that are persuasive. According to the State professional ethics, it is unethical to yell at a student. I do my absolute best to never yell. But we all function in a school reality where yelling is a constant. Its not right. Yelling at students - even middle school kids - is wrong. But I don’t even feel guilty about it at all.
But here’s something I’m feeling guilty about. In our school, we all see our Hispanic kids move in convoys for safety, and those convoys shrink dramatically through the year. Being a minority in an inner city school, they are essentially subjected to hate crimes, and we adults do nothing about it. We adults may not do enough about homophobia or sexual harassment, and we bemoan the cruelty of the state of Oklahoma’s anti-immigrant law. But we accept the basic constraints of the street code in urban schools - that you have to be tough and defend yourself because the school won’t do it for students.
Its a pretty wimpy responce, but I have tried to start conversations about how we can address the nonstop harrassment of our Hispanic minority. In a world that sees race as Black and White, many teachers didn’t notice. Others aren’t particularly sympathetic to immigrants. And mostly we’re swamped. But ethics isn’t supposed to be something that we do we it is easy.
I believe a Hippocratic oath could do a lot of good. We need a common understanding of professional ethics and a commitment to following them. Yelling is a key example. There is a culture of yelling in many schools. It reaches the point where kids think you’re weak if you don’t yell. Still, yelling is wrong. I have yelled, and I see no excuse for it. I can only stop yelling by making a commitment not to yell, and to do something else in its place.
Here’s an idea for a Hippocratic oath. It’s not final by any means, but I think it covers most of what I’d want to include. It sounds like a lot to live up to, and maybe no one can do it perfectly all the time. But it’s worth striving for, I think.
To my school and community, and to any immortal entity in which I might believe, I promise:
1. To teach my subject competently, joyfully, and vigorously to all of my students.
2. To set an example for my students in all possible ways, while not pretending to be perfect.
3. To strive continually to improve my knowledge, teaching, and character, and to seek ways to help my students improve their work and understanding.
4. To ensure the welfare and safety of my students in the classroom, and to refrain from harming them; to hold all students likewise to high standards of behavior.
5. To show benevolence and support to my colleagues and to the entire school community, avoiding all malicious activity or gossip.
6. To follow and enforce school rules. If I disagree with a rule, I should bring up my concerns with the appropriate person.
6. To avoid attempting to do things that other specialists can do better.
7. To acknowledge my mistakes promptly and take steps to correct them.
8. To speak openly, respectfully, and thoughtfully about educational matters and listen to the views of others; to inform myself of education philosophy, history, curricula, policy, news, and more.
9. To teach as long as I am able to devote my best energies to the work, and to acknowledge when this is no longer possible.
10. To keep my private and professional lives separate, and to maintain the integrity of both.
11. To tend to my health every day so that I may bring my best to school and come home with my best still intact.
12. To remember my own teachers, past and present, including those who have taught me through their writing and other works.
I forgot to mention that the local newspaper wrote about Hispanics in afluent suburban schools being subject to extreme bullying.
My fvaorite of your promises is:
7. To acknowledge my mistakes promptly and take steps to correct them.
That’s a nice bid, Diana. I’m especially fond of #5: “To show benevolence and support to my colleagues and to the entire school community, avoiding all malicious activity or gossip.” I’ve worked in newsrooms and spent time in faculty rooms, and the cynicism and negativity of some teachers makes reporters sound like choirboys. It’s a bit of a cancer that spreads insidiously.
John, I agree that we should take a stand against bullying. At my school, no particular group is targeted that I know of, but certain kids have an awful time of it.
This ties in with avoiding malicious activity, I think. If we teachers are saying nasty things about each other, how can we expect kids to do better?
I forgot to include one promise: proofread well! Two of the promises are numbered 6!
Diane,
You had me until the last sentence.
Secretly, I’ll admit to respecting the discipline of editors, (as well, Robert, as acknowledging just between us two that the discipline of tests has value), but bifocals and broken fingers trump all.
It takes twenty good laughs a day to stay healthy, and my chalk-related mistakes alone provide that quota. My blog posts are like pearls from the New Torker in comparison. So just between you guys and me, my I’ll never give up my blackboard until they pry the chalk from my cold stiff hands. I’ll defend my misspellings, and the joy and wonder they produce, to the end.
John,
Good point. I, too, love the blackboard and the wonder and laughter it brings forth. I still remember my math teacher in high school who couldn’t draw a circle. A great teacher, too.
And I won’t tell anyone about your secret admissions. I secretly admit to letting the kids make me laugh. One day I was giving some kids lunch suspension because of their behavior in class. I came to the cafeteria to round them up. Two of them were hiding in the most ingenious way. They had their heads down, at the level of the table, and their bookbags atop their heads. They sat perfectly still that way. It looked as though the bookbags were on the table. In fact, I couldn’t find them until some other kids revealed their trick.
The kids know they’ve got you when they can make you laugh. I’ve gotten much better at keeping a straight face. But sometimes it’s impossible.
How about:
Teachers need to “walk the talk” in respect to manners. The behaviour of teachers during staff meetings is quite often appalling. Why are teachers allowed to cut in the lunch line?
Get the idea?
Building Character in Schools: Practical Ways to Bring Moral Instruction to Life includes the Boston University Educator’s Affirmation in an appendix.
I’d like to see a Hippocratic Oath for ed researchers institutionalized as part of research ethics.
Here is my suggestion:
I promise according to my ability and judgment this oath:
1. I will be honest with my students and colleagues.
2. I will do any person that I am in contact with (students, parents, colleagues) no harm both emotionally and physically.
3. I will be true to my values and comply with the law. And I will not let the lack of money, ignorance of my colleagues, or laziness cause me to fail to comply with the law
4. I will not participate in gossip or hearsay about students, their families, or my colleagues.
5. I will do my best to help my students live up to their potential.
6. I will not let students intimidate me or scare me because I know they are using defense mechanisms to hide their own fear of failure.
7. Whenever I meet their family or visit their homes, I will not judge them just by appearances.
8. I will look for goodness in all of my students.
9. I will work together with colleagues in order to meet the needs of my students.
10. I will continually strive to find ways to motivate my students and help them be successful.