Ethical Dilemma

Students with disabilities or learning difficulties may require accommodations to fit in
regular classes. Many instructors struggle with creating adequate accommodations to ensure that
the needs of such students are adequately met. In some cases, ethical issues emerge when there is
a conflict of interest among different stakeholders. This is the case with Ms. Sma. She is a newly
tenured teacher and has to balance work and life. She has a student who lags behind her peers
and suspects that she could have learning disabilities. However, she feels that the process of
proving the disability and even categorizing the student or listing her for special consideration is
long and tedious. She does not have all that time. After all, she may even go through the process
only for her recommendation to be rejected. She also fears that in case Sarah has learning
disabilities, she may have to come up with accommodations for her during lessons, and this too
will take a lot of her time. Ms. Asma’s interests conflict with the duty to teach all students and
ensure that every student’s unique needs are met.
As an educational leader, I have a role in adopting an ethical framework and raising
awareness of the importance of promoting ethical behavior and avoiding ethical dilemmas like
the one Ms. Asma is facing. First, according to transformational leadership theory, a leader
focuses on the common good of others over individual interests (Strike, 2016). Teachers should
be encouraged to be transformational leaders who put the common good of their students over
their individual interests. If ms Asma was a transformational leader, she would have done the
right thing without having her interests conflict with her obligation to perform her duty. Further,
despite having good intentions, people of goodwill are still capable of giving priority to
themselves and overlooking a moral problem (Cherkowski et al., 2015). Ms. Asma is
overlooking a moral problem not because she is inherently bad but because she feels the need to

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put her interests first. However, as a moral agent, she should ensure that she serves a master
purpose and that she prioritizes the needs of her students.
Overall, as an educational leader, I would promote an inclusive learning community to
support teachers by restructuring practices and policies in schools so that they respond to the
emerging needs of promoting inclusion and diversity. one of the issues that Ms. Asma has is the
tedious and lengthy process of having Sarah assessed to determine whether she falls under the
category of a special education student. The culture in the school is such that the process is long,
and this discourages teachers from pursuing cases of demanding students. Thus, the best way to
support teachers and lessen their burden is to restructure such practices. Shorten the process and
make sure that special education assessors are readily available and they attend to the needs of
students on a case-by-case basis as the need arises. Students do not have to wait for months to be
evaluated. Sometimes the delay could cause more harm as the student may be missing out on an
opportunity to receive specialized education or get the necessary accommodations made to foster
their learning (Messiou, 2017). Evidnetly, both students and teachers need support in the creation
of a diverse and inclusive learning environment.

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References

Cherkowski, S., Walker, K. D., & Kutsyuruba, B. (2015). Principals’ Moral Agency and Ethical
Decision-Making: Toward a Transformational Ethics. International Journal of Education
Policy and Leadership, 10(5), n5.
Messiou, K. (2017). Research in the field of inclusive education: time for a
rethink?. International journal of inclusive education, 21(2), 146-159.
Strike, K. A. (2016). Ethical leadership in schools: Creating community in an environment of
accountability. Corwin Press.