Private Lives of Teachers (Hooker, 1994)

Key Concepts Moral Ambiguity Education Codes Examples of Immoral Behavior Community Standards Teacher Rights (Hooker, 1994)

Moral Ambiguity—Definition According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary ‘moral’ is defined as “concerning or relating to what is right and wrong in human behavior.” (Hooker, 1994)

Moral Ambiguity—Something to Ponder Does the dictionary definition of moral do justice to what you believe about the word? How do we determine what is right or wrong in human behavior? As a teacher, how does this broad definition affect your job? (Hooker, 1994)

Education Codes—Texas Administrative Code Standard 1.10 of the Professional Ethical Conduct, Practices and Performance section states: “The educator shall be of good moral character and be worthy to instruct or supervise the youth of this state.” 19 Tex. Admin. Code § 247.2 (J) (Hooker, 1994)

Education Codes—Bottom Line Teachers are expected to be role models to students Teachers are in a position where they have the ability to influence the lives of students The behaviors of teachers impact students Teachers have a responsibility in shaping the lives of students and there is a high standard that teachers must act in good moral (Hooker, 1994)

Examples of Immoral Behavior Sexual misconduct Dishonesty Critical and derogatory statements about the employer Sexual “Immorality” Abuse of Sick leave Theft Drug Use (Hooker, 1994)

Community Standards Be an exemplar or role model Stay out of the spotlight Maintain confidentiality Do not have a criminal record Maintain a criminal free lifestyle Have a clean “past” life (Hooker, 1994)

Teacher Rights Teachers have the same rights as any other citizen It is the “perceived idea” of the profession, however, that “dictates” the rights of the teacher Teachers have to remember that when in the profession, there is a fine line that cannot be crossed in regards to exercising ones individual rights (Hooker, 1994)

References Hooker, C. P. (1994, November). Terminating teachers and revoking their licensure for conduct beyond the schoolhouse gate. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Organization on Legal Problems in Education, San Diego, CA. Morality. 2014. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morality (Hooker, 1994)