The Role and Responsibility Ethical Principles of the
The Role and Responsibility & Ethical Principles of the University Teacher Md. Anwar Hossain, Ph. D Professor Department of Microbiology University of Dhaka www. microbialgen. du. ac. bd 1
FOCUSED 1. University and Tiered Structure of Tertiary Educations; 2. Function of Universities and the Faculties 3. DO or NOT DO by a UNIVERSITY TEARCHERS; 4. Free discussion about, Do we perform our professional duties properly? 5. What a Faculty/student thinks about ETHICAL CODE for a UNIVERSITR TEACHER in BANGLADESH? 2
Important Roles and Responsibilities of the Teacher Historical Perspective: In ancient Indian subcontinent , the teacher enjoyed a very high status and position in the society and the teacher was identified with the “trinity of Gods for his intellectual and spiritual qualities”. Swami Vivekananda, “The only true teacher is he who can immediately come down to the level of the students, and transfer his soul to the student's soul and see through the student’s eyes and hear through his ears and understand through his mind. Such a teacher and none else can really teach. A teacher's work should be guided primarily by love and not by any selfish motive, such as money or name and fame. The teacher should impart man-making and character-building education to his students, through his good conduct and ideal behavior “. Rabindranath Tagore, “A teacher can never truly teach unless he is still learning himself. A lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to burn its own flame. The teacher who has come to an end of his subject, who has no living traffic with his students, can only load their minds; he cannot quicken them. ” Mahatma Gandhi, “the teacher himself must possess the virtues that he wants to inculcate in the students. This means that the teacher must practice these virtues himself, otherwise his words will have no effect”. 3
What is ethics? What ethics tell us? Ethics derived from the word “Ethos” means character. Ethics is the word that refers to morals, values, and beliefs of the individuals, family or the society. Ethics tells us how to live, to respond to issues, through the duties, rights, responsibilities, and obligations. Teaching is the noblest of all professions. Every profession is expected to evolve a set of ethical principles to guide the conduct and behaviors of its members; and teachers are not out of it. The ethical principles provide the basis to differentiate between desirable and undesirable professional conduct and behavior. A code of professional ethics is generally based on two principles, namely, professional integrity and ideals of service to the society. 4
Professional Ethics of a faculty related with- ü Character of courage to tell the truth; ü Character of honesty to deliver the judgments; ü Character of respect to show respect to others view; ü Character of Integrity; Honesty is a very expensive gift, do not expect From cheap people”. Society and nation expect professors are not Ø Warren Buffett said “ cheap people 5
Teachers should be the role models of a society, and for this they must possess high moral values. 1. Moral qualities in the academics: ü Relationship with the students: The affection of the teacher and respect for the student should be the foundation of the relationship between them. ü Patience and compassion: A teacher should be patient, empathetic and compassionate to the students particularly, during student contact or teaching period. ü Sincerity and integrity: A teacher should be sincere, i. e. he should do what he says. ü Kindness: A teacher should be student friendly. ü Forgiveness: A teacher should overlook silly and unintentional behavioral mistakes or may correct the student personally without admonishing him in front of others. ü Motivational power: A teacher should motivate the students and make them believe that they are born to do special things. ü Equal treatment: It means that a teacher should be impartial, that means, he should treat the students according to their activities. ü Moral values: A teacher should put more importance on the moral behavior of the students than mere academic excellence. ü Examination: A teacher should be creative in judging the intellectual ability of his students. ü Temperament: A teacher should not be ill-tempered and should be calm in difficult situations. 6
ü ü ü Academic excellence: A teacher should have a clear concept of what he is teaching. Religious belief: A teacher should not preach his personal religious belief in the classroom. Politics: A teacher should make the students politically conscious from an academic viewpoint and should motivate them to practice idealistic student politics but not obsequious and dirty politics. A teacher should not utilize student politics for his very personal benefit or source of power. ü Dignity: The behavior of a teacher should reflect his sense of dignity and humility. 2. Moral qualities in research 3. Moral qualities in social and personal life: q A teacher should live for values, not for valuables and should live like a candle, not like an ice-cream. His goal of life should be generating and disseminating knowledge among his students and in the society. He should be politically conscious but not the flatterer or critic of a political party just to get the financial favor and power. However, he should not be indifferent to the national politics and should have the courage and wisdom to direct the nation in the time of political and social turmoil. He should be honest and straightforward. 7
What is an UNIVERSITY? An institution facilities for and of higher learning providing teaching and research authorized to grant academic degrees; specifically : one made up of an undergraduate division which confers bachelor's degrees and a graduate division which comprises a graduate school and professional schools each of which may confer master's degrees and doctorates. University is the place of creation new knowledge and dissemination. 8
Tier of Higher Academic Institutions : Most developed/developing countries moved to a differentiated academic system with a three-tiered structure comprising highly selective elite research universities at the top, comprehensive universities and specialized institutions in the middle, and an array of highly-accessible and high-quality colleges at the bottom. 9
American Association of University Professors (AAUP) 1915 "Declaration of Principles" According to the Declaration, the functions of colleges and promote inquiry and advance the sum of human knowledge, to provide general instruction to the students, and to develop experts for various branches of the public service“ universities are "to Each of these roles enables faculty members to generate and disseminate knowledge to peers, students, and external audiences.
Do we have any vision about our higher education? ‘Higher Education in Bangladesh: Vision 2021 and 2041 13
Roles and Responsibilities of Faculty Members Faculty members play a special role in the life of the University as teachers, mentors, scholars, and participants in academic governance. The professional obligations of a teacher relating to the following are included in the code: • Teacher in relation to the pupils; • Teacher in relation to parents and guardians; • Teacher in relation to the society and the nation; • Teacher in relation to profession, colleagues and professional organizations; • Teacher in relation to the management and administration. 14
University Teaching Criteria and Standards Framework Teaching and learning quality should be evidence based. The term teaching is used to encompass the full range of teaching contexts i. e. undergraduate, postgraduate, research supervision, clinical, laboratory, workshop, studio, field and work-based teaching. In building a case for promotion, it is not necessary for an academic to be strong in every one of the seven criteria, instead the applicant should highlight the criteria and contributions in which they have particular strengths. The seven Teaching criteria are: 1. Criterion 1: Design and planning of learning activities : Planning, development and preparation of learning activities, learning resources and materials, for a unit, course or degree program; including coordination, involvement or leadership in curriculum design and development. 2. 15
4. Criterion 4: Developing effective environments, student support and guidance: Activities related to the creation of an engaging learning environment for students. Including supporting transition, the development of learning communities and strategies that account for and encourage student equity and diversity. 5. Criterion 5: Integration of scholarship, research and professional activities with teaching and in support of learning : 1. Teaching and learning research incorporated into teaching practice; 2. Inclusion of discipline based research in the curriculum and engagement of students in pedagogically sound discipline based research; 3. Incorporation of professional, industry and work-based practice and experiences into teaching practice and the curriculum. 6. Criterion 6: Evaluation of practice and continuing professional development 7. Criterion 7: Professional and personal effectiveness 16
Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures in University Code of conduct in University are- • Professional Right of the Faculty; • Professional Responsibilities, Ethical Principles, and Unacceptable Faculty Conduct; • Code Deals with the Enforcement of Applicable to Unacceptable Faculty behavior; 17
1. Professional Rights of Faculty: University’s central functions as an institution of higher learning, a major responsibility of the administration is to protect and encourage the faculty in its teaching, learning, research, and public service. Such conditions, as they relate to the faculty, include, for example: 1. Free inquiry, and exchange of ideas; 2. Right to present controversial material relevant to a course of instruction; 3. Enjoyment of constitutionally protected freedom of expression; 4. Participation in the governance of the University, as provided in the Bylaws/regulations(a) Approval of course content and manner of instruction, (b) Establishment of requirements for matriculation and for degrees, (c) Appointment and promotion of faculty, (d) Selection of chairs of departments/academic/administrators, (e) Discipline of members of the faculty, and the formulation of rules and procedures for discipline of students, (f) Establishment of norms for teaching responsibilities and for evaluation of both faculty and student achievement, and (g) determination of the forms of departmental governance; 5. Right to be judged by one’s colleagues, in accordance with fair procedures and due process, in matters of promotion, tenure, and discipline, solely on the basis of the faculty members’ professional qualifications and professional conduct. 18
Professional Responsibilities, Ethical Unacceptable Faculty Conduct Principles, and Responsibilities to Teaching and Students: Ethical Standards of Conduct: 1. To encourage the free pursuit of learning in students; 2. To hold before students the best scholarly and instructional standards of the disciplines; 3. To demonstrate respect for students as individuals, and to adhere to one’s proper role as intellectual guide and mentor; 4. To make every reasonable effort to foster honest academic conduct and to assure that evaluation of students reflects their true merits; 5. To avoid any exploitation of students for personal advantage and acknowledge significant assistance from them; 6. To protect student academic freedom; 7. To maintain appropriate boundaries; 19
Unacceptable Conduct: Failure to meet the responsibilities of instruction, including but not limited to the following: 1. Arbitrary denial of access to instruction; 2. Significant intrusion of material unrelated to the course or professional development; 3. Significant evidence of a pattern of failing to adhere, without legitimate reason, to the rules of the faculty in the conduct of courses, to meet class, to keep office hours, or to hold examinations as scheduled; 4. Not providing the instructional content and/or requiring the normal work load appropriate to a course offering; 5. Evaluation of student work by criteria not directly reflective of course performance; 6. Undue and unexcused delay in evaluating student work ; Failure to show documentation of grading (including graded exams or papers) upon student’s request; 7. Discrimination against a student on political grounds, or for reasons of race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, disability, or for other arbitrary or personal reasons; 8. Use of the position of power of a faculty member to coerce the judgment or conscience of a student; 9. Participating in or deliberately abetting disruption, interference, or intimidation in the classroom; 10. Sexual harassment and unacceptable behavior; 20
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Faculty Social Relationships with Students: Ethical Principle: We also recognize that inappropriate social relationships between faculty/students, faculty/faculty, and student/student can adversely affect students, faculty and the reputation of the Department, College and University. Ethical Standards of Conduct: Faculty will model professional and appropriate behavior for students regarding other students and faculty. This includes avoiding gossip, negative comments/criticisms to students or faculty regarding other students or faculty members. 1. Faculty members shall avoid any exchange of goods/benefit, or other things to current students; 2. Faculty members shall arrange for another faculty member to be present at all social events involving students held at off-campus venues; 3. Departmental social events, on or off campus, will include invitations to all students in defined groups (graduate students, members of a research team/lab group, members of a class, undergraduate students etc. ). Students are free to choose to attend or not without consequence. Faculty will notify the Chair about these events; 4. Faculty shall convey to students that there will be no penalty or repercussions if a student chooses not to engage in or attend departmental social events held on or off campus; 5. Faculty shall recuse themselves from evaluative processes of a student with whom they have a preexisting social relationship; 6. Faculty shall not engage in social relationships such as mutually beneficial friendships or romantic relationships with students over which the faculty member has or will likely have evaluative processes; 7. Faculty shall not discuss performance, grades, or any other personal or evaluative information about a student with other students; 22
Responsibilities to the Department/Institution: Ethical Standards of Conduct: In the interests of student development, a university teacher is aware of and respects the educational goals, policies, and standards of the institution in which he or she teaches. This principle implies that a teacher shares a collective responsibility to work for the good of the university as a whole, to uphold the educational goals and standards of the university, and to abide by university policies and regulations pertaining to the education of students. Specific examples of failure to uphold the principle of respect for institution include engaging in excessive work activity outside the university that conflicts with university teaching responsibilities; and being unaware of or ignoring valid university regulations on provision of course outlines, scheduling of exams, or academic misconduct. Types of Unacceptable Conduct 1. Inflexibility in scheduling committee meetings; 2. Compensated work outside the University without University approval, or for more than the 8 allowed hours a week in non-University employment; 3. Faculty members impeding the scholarship, service, or teaching of faculty members; 4. Persistent unwillingness of senior members to take the leadership role in both standing and ad hoc departmental committees. 23
Content Competent: A university teacher maintains a high level of subject matter knowledge and ensures that course content is current, accurate, representative, and appropriate to the position of the course within the student’s program of studies. Scholarship: Professors, guided by a deep conviction of the worth and dignity of the advancement of knowledge, recognize the special responsibilities placed upon them. Their primary responsibility to their subject is to seek and to state the truth as they see it. To this end professors devote their energies to developing and improving their scholarly competence. They practice intellectual honesty. Unacceptable conduct: Violation of canons of intellectual honesty, such as research misconduct and/or intentional misappropriation of the writings, research, and findings of others. 24
Responsibilities to the Community: As members of their community, professors have the rights and obligations of other citizens. Professors measure the urgency of these obligations in the light of their responsibilities to their subject, to their students, to their profession, and to the institution. When they speak or act as private persons they avoid creating the impression of speaking for or acting on behalf of their college or university. Unacceptable conduct: 1. Intentional misrepresentation of personal views as a statement of position of the University or any of its agencies. 2. Commission of a criminal act which has led to conviction in a court of law and which clearly demonstrates unfitness to continue as a member of the faculty. 25
Pedagogical Competence: A pedagogically competent teacher communicates the objectives of the course to students, is aware of alternative instructional methods or strategies, and selects methods of instruction that, according to research evidence (including personal or self-reflective research), are effective in helping students to achieve the course objectives. This principle implies that, in addition to knowing the subject matter, a teacher has adequate pedagogical knowledge and skills, including communication of objectives, selection of effective instructional methods, providing opportunity for practice and feedback, and dealing with student diversity. If learning styles differ significantly for different students or groups of students, the teacher is aware of these differences and, if feasible, varies her or his style of teaching accordingly. To maintain pedagogical competence, an instructor takes active steps to stay current regarding teaching strategies t hat will help students learn relevant knowledge and skills and will provide equal educational opportunity for diverse groups. This might involve reading general or discipline-specific educational literature, attending workshops and conferences etc. 26
Dealing with Sensitive Topics: Topics that students are likely to find sensitive or discomforting are dealt with in an open, honest, and positive way. Student Development: The overriding responsibility of the teacher is to contribute to the intellectual development of the student, at least in the context of the teacher’s own area of expertise, and to avoid actions such as exploitation and discrimination that detract from student development. Dual Relationships with Students: To avoid conflict of interest, a teacher does not enter into dual-role relationships with students that are likely to detract from student development or lead to actual or perceived favoritism on the part of the teacher. 27
Disciplinary Procedures and Sanctions 28
Open Discussion about current situations in public and private UNIVERSITIES in Bangladesh Questions: ACADEMIC FREEDOM: Does the principle of academic freedom allow you (or your students) to: 1. Use language in class that some might find offensive? 2. discuss unrelated topics in the classroom? 3. Do you feel political influence or political appointments creates impediments in our academic achievements? 4. Are we fair in fresh appointments & promotion of a faculty? 5. Do we maintain appropriate academic boundaries with students? 6. Can we accept gift/ or any kind of help from current students? GRADING: 1. How do you fairly grade a student who has ticked you off or offends you? 2. How can you assure that grading is fair and not arbitrary or biased? INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM 1. Is it appropriate to express ideas or viewpoints that offend some of your students? 2. Must you remain neutral when teaching controversial issues? 3. Do you have an obligation to present opposing perspectives on a particular topic (for example, evolution)? 29
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT 1. How can one best handle problematic behavior without embarrassing a student? CONFIDENTIALITY 1. What should you do if a student tells you something in confidence that raises concerns about the student’s mental well-being? 2. Can you discuss a particular student with other TAs or with faculty? 3. When, if ever, can you breach a student’s confidentiality? INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS 1. When can you provide personal advice to a student? 2. Can a graduate student have a romantic relationship with an undergraduate? 3. What kinds of personal relationships with students are appropriate? ACADEMIC HONESTY 1. Must you report every case of plagiarism or cheating to the course instructor, or can you resolve the problem informally? A HOSTILE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 1. Is an instructor justified in making students’ feel uncomfortable in the interest of promoting critical inquiry and reflection? 2. What should you do if you think an instructor is biased, for example, on the basis of gender or sexual orientation? 30
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 1. What are your obligations, when teaching, in acknowledging ideas that you obtained from others? 2. Can you use another instructor’s syllabus, handouts, or tests without acknowledgement? LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION 1. Can you refer to a student’s race or ethnicity in a letter of recommendation? 2. Can you decline to write a letter on behalf of a student? 3. Can you write a negative or mixed letter of recommendation? ADVISING & MENTORING 1. What should you do if a student cries in your presence? 2. What should you do if you have a problematic relationship with your mentor? RESEARCH ETHICS 1. Fudging or fabricating data: What should you do if you suspect a lab mate is fudging or fabricating data? 2. Honesty in interpretation and reporting: What should you do if you believe that a lab mate is not accurately reporting the results of an experiment? 3. Allocation of credit: How should credit for a finding be allocated? 31
Letter of a Professor of standard , who maintains professional ethics, but he is little emotional. Dear Sir Assalamu alaykum. Despite my herculean involvement to meet some pressing engagements, I hereby mention some of my thoughts that a teacher needs to equip him/herself before he/she does his/her job for the students. These are exclusively my personal thoughts, and I bear the responsibility for the points mentioned below: 1. A teacher is like a role model. We do experiments in the lab with reagents and instruments to shape up the research. A student's research to shape up his life is largely vested on their teachers, with whom they talk, listen and follow. He is like a celebrity; ethically and morally a trusted friend. That was why, poet said: Teachers give the second birth of a life. 2. A teacher deals with personal discipline of every pupils he teaches. He deals considerately with each student, and seeks to resolve problems according to law and school policy. 3. A teacher should not intentionally criticize a student in a way that shows you do not respect or value him. 32
4. He should be alert that interpersonal values are upheld amongst the students, so that not a single student feels intimidated. 5. The teacher should not reveal confidential information concerning students, unless required by law. 6. The educator endeavors to present facts without distortion, bias, or personal prejudice. And the list goes on. . . 33
Bottom line: When we were students, our school buildings were poorly built, but the teachers were ethically strong. What we see now-a-days? The reverse scenario, isn't it? The buildings are strong, but where is the strength of our teachers? Aren't we experiencing it's reflection in the society? We need to go back to the scratch. Attention should be vested on the Foundation building, so that a long lasting dividends can be ensured. 34
Student Thinking and ethics From my personal experience, I was afraid to talk/discuss with my class teacher about anything; in the fear of getting teased or humiliated. I guess this is the scenario for most of the students. They are afraid to get along with their teachers. Teachers like you are very rare. I don't know if you can do anything to increase the number of good teachers at the universities. This time in Boston after my short course, I asked the professor for one single advice for me. He implied that every students should find a good mentor. I hope every student in Bangladesh may find their good mentor who would help the student succeed which would eventually help Bangladesh succeed! 35
In our country, Bangladesh; students usually hold the highest regards for the teachers. When it comes to university professor, they want to think of them as intelligent, smart and honest person who they think have solution to every problem in the world. Which by the way is definitely not true. This can be attributed to human limitation to the effect of surroundings. But I would love to believe that all the teacher in Bangladesh think similar to great men like Thomas Cormen, who want his students to succeed in life. But at the same time he is staying honest to his judgment's. Because, “Honesty is a very expensive gift, Don’t expect it from cheap people” as Warren Buffett said it. And University professors are not cheap people. i. What types of ethics students want from their teachers? From Bangladesh’s perspective, students honor their teachers very much. Most of the students hold an image of perfect human being for their teachers, which is difficult to achieve in some cases. But I guess in terms of expectation, it is pretty basic; teachers should act in a non-partisan behavior, would care about student’s success and stand against any wrongdoing that may arise in front of them. ii. Do they found as they expected? Teachers are normal human beings, they definitely have limitations. It is not impossible that teachers sometimes did not fit in to the student’s expectations. But I think it is okay. 36
iii. What are short coming and why the teachers cannot fulfill their roles? I would blame the imperfection and limitations as a human being. Also, teachers in Bangladesh usually have a pretty big class (more than 40 students). So it is kind of inhumane for a teacher to fulfill their roles as per each of the student’s expectations. iv. What impact has occurred on the student/teaching duties due to involvement of a teacher as a part-time teacher of a private universities? Private universities in a sense is providing higher educations to the students whom the government can not allow with their limited resourced. As private universities are also low on resources, they may have to appoint part-time/adjunct lecturer. In this case the major drawback is the teacher-student relationship. Part time teachers usually leave campus once they are done with their classes. Hence, there is very few opportunities for them to interact with the students and understand their mentalities. This gap between teacher and students probably push the students to think of their teacher is unapproachable. As a result, they may get afraid to ask them question that could have helped them to learn things quicker by learning passively from their teachers. (learning from other people’s experience) 37
About politics, I can only share my viewpoints. But I do not like teachers getting involved in politics. I personally see every teacher as a non-partisan near perfect human being. If any teacher is supporting any political party, s/he is taking sides and her/his views are biased toward a particular group. In this given situation, there is a possibility that s/he may not do justice to her/his class. Although I support university professors serving as political adviser's to the government (university professors are the best brains of Bangladesh), I am kind of eerie about teachers practicing politics actively. I came from BUET where teachers do not actively participate in politics. There are few exceptions and those teachers are not popular among the students. It is however true that students do participate in political activities in BUET but they are not heroes of the campus. I do not know about your time but, I believe time has changed. Now the most famous faces in a university campus do extra-curricular such as cultural activities, participating in national/international competition, charity work etc rather than politics. Same goes for the teachers. Most respected teachers are those who do their primary job (teaching) tremendously. Then come their affection towards their students, their liability towards the society, their research works, charity, morality etc. 38
Jack Ma - Dream Big, Never Give Up If you make a mistake, do not lose confidence learn from that
References: 1. Faculty code of conduct and disciplinary procedures for the Berkely Campus; 2. Teaching at the university of Manitoba: A handbook. 3. Department of psychology and counseling university of Texas at Tyler faculty ethics and code of conduct, approved April 2011. 4. Nanigopal Malo (2015) Professional ethics of teachers I educational institutions. 5. Australian university teaching criteria and standards framework. 40
MY RESEARCH GROUP 41
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