Ten professional commandments of American English as a foreign language teachers

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Department of pedagogy and educational management Volodymyr Vynnychenko Central Ukrainian state pedagogical university

Ten professional commandments of American English as a foreign language teachers

Bulakh Valentyna Petrivna,

postgraduate student

Defining of the problem and the analysis of the last researches and publications. Professional EFL teaching has been playing a vital role in an American society since the first wave of fa r-off 17^th century European immigration. It has followed a long three-century road to its professional maturity from having no formal education for the first EFL teachers in colonial schools to the hundreds of undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate EFL programs in modern U.S. universities. However, what has not changed over the last three hundred years in U.S. EFL teaching is mandatory fundamental ethical requirements to professional behavior of its teachers; they still ought to be persons of integrity, dignity, and honor [19].

For centuries, U.S. professional EFL teachers have been not only the direct mirrors of their schools and universities but also the key influencers on their students through their societal attitude, their personal ideas, their human and professional behaviors. As a result of such enormous influence the last ones on the country's youth, they always required to stick to strict ethical norms and rigorous behavioral restrictions. Not without a reason, well-known American academic, journalist, and historian Henry Adams once said, «A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops» [7, p. 1].

Analysis of recent research and publications. American researchers J. Rich [15], D. Bok [1], D. Carr [2], T. Cooper [3], L. Churchill, S. Crosby [5], S. Hart and J. Marchall [8], B. Maxwell and M. Schwimmer [12], W. Rogers [14] and others believe that notwithstanding of the constant shortage of pedagogues in the modern America teaching must not turn into a profession for «every comer» or «every wisher». The highly conservative and very demanding U.S. public has been always believing that teachers' ethical violations weak the foundation of their educational institutions, erose the local community trust, lead to the general decline in collective and personal social morality. In their constantly guarding public eyes, all teachers must be just, humane, and caring, perform their duties highly professionally without discretion the reputation of their profession. Moreover, American public must be fully protected from those who are definitely unfit to practice that honorable and noble occupation: all morally dishonest, ethically defective, emotionally instable, mentally irresponsible individuals. For achieving the above-named purposes and for the clear reassurance of the U.S. public that all teachers will be held fully accountable for their professional misconducts, strict Professional Codes of Ethics were adopted and enacted by all 50 States Boards of Education [19].

According to the latest TEFL/TESL American Standards, today's ideal U.S. EFL teacher model must include two equally important mandatory components of their occupational competence: academic and professional [18]. The last one consists of a constant professional growth and a professional ethics. American educational authorities state that only the professional ethics has the magic power to change a person from a simple technician (academician) into a true professional voluntarily adhering to its occupational values and commitments days in and day out, regardless of whether anyone is watching them or not [16, 18].

On the contrary to U.S., a Ukrainian model of «EFL professional» can be expressed in a short national motto: a good philologist - a good educationist, which grossly overvalues of an academic competence over a professional one. As a result of such frivolous policy, Ukrainian teachers can't be legally deprived their right to teach or their university lifelong diplomas just for occupational ethical misbehaviors, such as humiliation students, bullying colleagues, derogatory or inflammatory remarks to them, hostile interaction with them, public disclosure of their confidential information, driving under the influence of alcohol (drugs), or even having sexual relationships with students as their less fortunate American colleagues. Unquestionably, they can easily lose their jobs but not their lifelong right to teach.

American public is absolutely sure that a profession is only good as its individual members; therefore, in order to protect the honor and dignity of occupational teaching, to professionalize it state boards of education constantly have to control the work-related conduct of its members, periodically judge their competence, and immediately discipline them by reprimand, probation, suspension and revocation of the professional registration. In U.S. no university diploma teaching privileges, no one can avoid a board admission into a profession and only an impartial Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct - a professional state Bible for U.S. teachers - will determine «who enters the profession, who stays, and who should be censured or expelled» [17, p. 1].

The purpose of the article. The purpose of this article is to analyze recent versions of North American codes of ethics for educators across all 50 states in order to gain a clear understanding of ethical, moral and legal issues which govern EFL U.S. teachers' everyday professional conduct.

The main material of the study. The study materials are the official ethical codes for EFL teachers of all 50 states of North America as well as relevant scientific and academic articles.

The current model of ideal EFL U.S. teacher is a complex mixture of some traditional national ideas, old-fashioned concepts, classical human values as well as the modern social stereotypes and simple common-sense rules, some of them originated from those far off times of the Colonial America when a teacher profession was even not regarded as a true profession.

The first white settlers who came to North America from Europe in the 17th century brought with them their own educational ideas typical for the countries they represented. The education existed in the Colonial America was entirely private. The children of the rich had personal home tutors or were sent to European educational facilities whereas children of the poor could learn only the basic skills of reading-writing in local church schools. The constant shortage of properly educated and professionally qualified EFL European teachers in the New World forced the churches' authorities to assign on teacher jobs any literate adults with the right morally-ethical behavior. According to a church doctrine of «a right teacher» in order to be licensed, potential EFL candidates must not be «ferocious wolves in sheep's clothing», «blind guides» or «sons of hell», they must «practice what they preach», not neglect «the important matter of the law - justice, mercy, faithfulness» [13, p. 56-58]. As a result of such scrupulous morally-ethical human selection based on a classical Bible's rule, «A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit», the local churches had become the real first unauthorized educational «license authorities» protecting the vulnerable and disadvantaged part of population of the Colonial America from all dishonorable, discreditable, disgraceful individuals unworthy to be teachers [13, p. 56-58].

The earliest prototype of all modern academical U.S. professional ethical codes was adopted in 1654 in Massachusetts, the first state enacted the general public education, «People who are not faithful, misbehave and violate the teaching rules should not be employed to undertake the duties of college teachers and to teach young people. If there are teaching staff who are not suitable for the above requirement, they should be immediately dismissed» [12].

In 1875, NEA (National Education Association of the United States) was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the father-builders of which believed in Equal Opportunity, Collective Action, Professionalism, Democracy, Partnership, and A Just Society. For achieving their dream - turning America into «the premier land of opportunity» for anyone who are willing to work extremely hard - they desperately needed new professional EFL teachers with a specific academic mindset fully suitable for their aim [1]. And the era of producing state teachers' codes of professional ethics has been started.

The Codes of Professional Ethics and Responsibility were a set of strict rules based on ethical consideration that govern the occupational conduct of EFL teachers, adopted by all American states and enforced by its disciplinary boards. As can be seen out of the 105-year-old Alabama Code of Ethics, it was adopted with the following purposes: «to assist teachers in setting difficult questions of professional conduct, to increase their love of the profession, to exalt their professional ideas, to create deeper respect in the minds of others for all engaged in teaching» [19]. According to its rules and principles:

1. In public and private life, the teacher's conduct should be governed only by the highest principles of courage, justice and truth;

2. Teachers should strive at all times to honor, dignify and professionalize the occupation of teaching;

3. A teacher should not speak slightingly or disparagingly of his profession;

4. A teacher should refrain from undue political ambitions and activities;

5. Teachers owe it to their employers and supervisors to attend punctually, regularly and faithfully to all duties assigned them;

6. In communicating with parents or guardians, teacher should exercise the utmost candor and hold inviolable all information as to the financial limitations of children; their physical or mental defects, any other information the public discussion or mention of which would tend to prove humiliating, discouraging, or displeasing to said parents, children;

7. It is the duty of the teacher to improve himself constantly by study of professional and general literature, and by attendance upon educational associations, institutes and summer schools;

8. Adverse criticism of a predecessor or of a teacher employed in the same system should not be indulged in by those who are mindful and regardful of the dignity of teaching;

9. Teachers should fearlessly expose corrupt or dishonest conduct in the profession;

10. There should be no hesitancy on the part of teachers in exercising the utmost diligence to disqualify and disbar the criminal teacher or the teacher whose conduct at any time becomes a reproach to the profession [19].

To say it further, in old days the teachers' behavioral restrictions were related not only to their professional conduct but also to personal. As we can learn from the West Virginia Rules of Conduct for Teachers teachers may not smoke cigarettes, must be home between the hours of 8:00 PM and 6:00 AM, female-teachers must not keep company with men, dress in very bright colors or have dress any shorter than two inches above the ankle [10, p. 283].

Since «it seems difficult if not impossible to separate the technical from the moral in teacher expertise», as David Carr writes, they have to be judged by three sets of the following behavioral norms: technical, aretaic (from Greak for «excellence»), deontic (from Greek for «duty»). The first ones demonstrate efficiency and effectiveness of teaching norms. The second ones demonstrate teachers' personal aspiration to make only a positive impact on the lives of their students. The third ones demonstrate their professional readiness to be ethically mature and responsible practitioners. Unlike tradespersons, doctors, lawyers whose legal occupational duty is only to improve the existing conditions of their clients on the better ones, teachers' legal duty - to improve morality and personality of their students [2, p. 177].

Professional ethics as a branch of philosophy is concerned with principles of proper occupational human behavior determining what is good, what is evil, what is right and what is wrong. Particularly for teachers, professional ethics is «a hallmark of a profession» [15, p. 26], «the heart of the work teachers do» [14, p. 176], «the spine of education» [9]. Therefore, their Professional Codes of Ethics were adopted «to enhance public and professional trust» [17, p. 1], by «publicly acknowledging its commitment to service and to warn members of profession of the consequences of certain conduct» [8, p. 5].

Today's professional codes of ethics are a set of some ethical responsibilities and occupational commitments which any EFL U.S. teachers voluntarily fully accept upon their official licensure, a set of the imperative rules of reason, cast in the clear terms shall or shall not. They have been revised many times and adopted «to attain and maintain the highest possible degree of ethical conduct», «to respect the law and exemplify honesty», «to improve the quality of education», «to serve as a guide to ethical conduct», «a guide to ethical understanding», «to foster honest academic conduct, to respect students, be their intellectual guide evaluating them solely on their true merits», «to reinforce public trust in the profession and guide professional conduct» [19].

The well-known American legal philosopher R. Dworkin always stated that rules only dictate results - principles allow to think [6]. Therefore, the rules of professional conduct simply provide a framework for the proper moral and ethical teaching practice whereas the principles help teachers to understand where they are, where they should go, and what is expected of them. Nevertheless, all U.S. EFL teachers in each state are expected to know and abide their state professional codes in order to obtain and maintain their educational licenses.

Despite slight differences in titles and terminology (codes, standards, guidelines), the content and structure of all 50 U.S. Professional Codes of Ethics are similar; they consist of the 4 mandatory parts. The first one is devoted to the «teachers-students relationships standard» - the general principles of how teachers must treat their students: equally, fairly, justly, without any personal bias, stereotypes or prejudice. The second one describes the «teachers-professions relationships standard»: maintenance of the dignity of the profession, constant professional competence, professional trustworthiness. The third one emphasizes on the «teachers-colleagues relationships standard» which can be characterized as mutual respect, join collaboration, and sincere cooperation. The fourth one pays attention to «teachers-parents-community relationships standard»: to provide a quality education for the community, respect various multicultural traditions, value the worth and dignity of every member of the community [19]. Additionally, codes provide a list of all ethical violations which included but not limited to:

1. Failure to disclose previous or out-of-state arrests or licensure sanctions;

2. Failure to act as a mandated reporter of abuse or neglect;

3. School attendance while under the influence of alcohol or drugs;

4. Criminal activity not related to students or minors;

5. Falsification of credentials on an employment or licensure application;

6. Failure to comply with stipulations of prior sanctions;

7. Falsification of student records, including grades, transcripts and special education documentation or data;

8. Use of improper discipline, classroom management or supervision techniques;

9. Use of derogatory or inflammatory remarks to students, including profanity, racial slurs, and belittlement of students;

10. Physical force or verbal aggression toward students;

11. Engagement in any sexualized behavior toward students or minors, including touching, child pornography, sexual exploitation of a minora or of a school employee;

12. Engagement in a romantic or sexual relationship with a recent graduate;

13. Endangering student health or safety at school or in community, including threatening or intimidating, poor supervision, providing alcohol-drugs to minors, corruption of minors, and contributing to the delinquency of minors;

14. Disclosure of confidential student information or records to noneducators;

15. Hostile interaction with parents or students;

16. Teaching on a suspended or expired license, or teaching outside of licensure area;

17. Use of school equipment or funds for personal benefit or business, or to access sexually explicit material; 18.

18. Failure to provide notice before resigning position; breach of employment contract;

19. Sexual activity with another adult on school property [19].

Despite of all American educational authorities' legal efforts, teachers' ethical behaviors seem keep declining in the last and 21^st centuries in compliance with their professional codes as well as in their commitment to the public. Every year, state boards of educations have to take legal sanctions against thousands of their licensees for ethical violations and temporarily suspend or permanently revoked their professional registrations. For example, only in Florida during 1970 to 1988 years more than 1800 teaching licenses were suspended or permanently revoked [5, p. 81].

«Suspension» means the temporary termination of a certificate or the eligibility to be employed as a contracted educational provider staff member for a specific period of time, for an indefinite period of time or until specific conditions are met. «Revocation» means the termination of a certificate, the termination of the eligibility to be employed as a contracted educational provider staff member. Causes for revocation and suspension [19]:

(1) Immorality - a conduct that is wrong in itself and involves moral turpitude conduct;

(2) Incompetency - the inability or the unintentional or intentional failure to perform the teacher's teaching duties in a satisfactory manner;

(3) Intemperance - a loss of self-control or self-restraint;

(4) Cruelty - the intentional, malicious and unnecessary infliction of physical or psychological pain upon human beings;

(5) Negligence - a continuing or persistent action or omission in violation of duties of professional responsibility;

(6) Sexual misconduct;

(7) Sexual abuse or exploitation;

(8) A violation of the state code for professional practice and conduct.

The specific crimes involving «moral turpitude» are (A) homicide; (B) manslaughter; (C) assault; (D) stalking; (E) kidnapping; (F) sexual assault; (G) sexual abuse of minor; (H) unlawful exploitation of a minor; (I) robbery; (J) extortion; (K) coercion; (L) theft; (M) burglary; (N) arson; (O) criminal mischief; (P) forgery; (Q) criminal impersonation; (R) bribery; (S) perjury; (T) unsworn falsification; (U) interference with official proceedings; (V) witness tampering; (W) jury tampering; (X) terroristic threatening; (Y) possession or distribution of child pornography; (Z) unlawful distribution or possession for distribution of a controlled substance; (AA) unlawfully furnishing alcohol to a minor; (BB) felony possession of a controlled substance; (CC) unlawfully furnishing marijuana or products containing marijuana to a minor [19].

Modern pro-ethical American educational experts believe that all schools must meet their social obligation of preparing morally «responsible and ethically accountable practitioners» [12, p. 357]. They keep demonstrating in their studies that students who were provided with ethics education during professional training had stronger ethical behaviors compared to their peers who had not received the ethics instructions [12]. Among different arguments in favor of mandatory professional ethics teaching, they name the principal one - the educational value of the course: informing students about the collective norms of their future profession, teaching them the basic rules of «collective professional conduct», explaining them what it means to be a true professional. After all, classes in professional ethics theoretically would provide opportunities for its students to critically examine their own values and ethical issues, the justifications for holding particular values or even provide academic opportunities «to practice moral decision making» [11, p. 36].

Their opponents, especially the majority of whom taught in philosophy departments, are strongly opposed (46%) or even unsure (17%) about whether ethics as a course of «moral improvement» or «character development» should be taught in higher education [3, p. 67]. Firstly, they claim that real connections between ethics education and students' moral development still remains unclear, it is impossible to assess of students' learning and measure their progress in new ethical reasoning or improved moral capacities. Secondly, you can teach anybody ethics but you can't make them to follow it: in 2015, in the U.S. were published 145 monthly ethical journals related to absolutely all areas of professional ethics but it didn't help to improve occupational conducts of licensees in real life situations.

More than 39 years ago, in far-off 1982, the professor of Vanderbilt university Larry R. Churchill clearly declared that in a strict sense «courses in ethics can't realistically claim to make people morally better» [4]. His colleague, Professor Emeritus, President of the Harvard University Bok Derek, stated the same idea more preciously: students' values have been fully formed prior entering into universities and as being very static are not likely to change by just studying a required academical discipline. Moreover, in his presidential opinion any moral responsibility can't develop through rules and penalties alone. It only can grow out of a genuine concern for others. For instance, a traditional harsh American competition for the higher grades drives classmates apart rather than enhance them to take sincere care about each other. In his book «Can Ethics Be Taught?» he claims that university education policies should be cardinally restored by «placing the Greek idea of ethics at the center of education, where it ought to be» [1]. In other words, Mr. Bok has come to Aristotle's 2500-year-old conclusion that a human education «should not have the character of vocational training», it should be based on proper moral values and right ethical principles as «we become just buy doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts». The immortal Greek owner of the first open university truly believed that an education is a really comprehensive lifelong process, it must not be limited only to the youth because «the body reaches maturity between the ages of 30 and 35 and the soul by the age of 49» [1].

In that endless world-wide discussing whether an ethics course would make any difference, we believe that even it can't be academically taught but as least it can provide students with some classical absolutely needed ideas what it means to be a good teacher, how to think like a good teacher, how to behavior like a good teacher. And remember, especially in all pedagogical universities: each time when a teacher in a professional school raises a question of professional ethics, he/she is an example of a member of that profession [19].

We would like to finish our article paraphrasi ng the compelling and selfspeaking words of Alber t Shanker, the powerful president of the American

Federation of Teachers who pronounced in far-off 1985, 35 years ago, «We don't have the right to be called professionals and we will never convin ce the public that we are unless we are prepared ho nestly to decide what constitutes competence in our profession and what constitutes incompetence and apply those definitions to ourselves and our colleag ues». Thereby, Ukrainian teachers don't have right to be called true professionals and they will never convince the public that they are unless they are pr epared honestly to decide what constitutes ethical c ompetence in their profession and what constitutes ethical incompetence and apply those definitions to themselves and their colleagues.

Conclusions and prospects for further researches of directions. The detailed analysis of legal North American codes of ethics and review of relevant scientific literature have revealed that despite of constant existence 350-year-old American legally enforceable Professional Codes of Ethics and Conduct, teachers' real ethical behavior still remains not very satisfactory. A change in human spirit and personal mentality not in law is required to achieve the desired level of professional teachers' conduct. On the one hand, the existing modern U.S. Professional Codes of Ethics are not a magic device which can change human beings, correct their behavior or cure their uncurable souls. On the other hand, they can help to distinguish all «ferocious wolves in sheep's clothing» among teachers, and legally get rid of them for good before they start abusing their granted privileges and creating «an atmosphere of an academic terror» in their classrooms, schools or universities.

As personally for us, we still believe that all professional EFL teachers should rather rely on a classical sense of human being consciousness than on a constant fear of legal punishment.

Further researches of direction can be provided in the sphere of professional ethics of secondary school teachers during their professional development.

References

professional teacher of english ethics

1. Bok, D. (1976). Can Ethics Be Taught? Change.

2. Carr, D. (2006). Professional and personal values and virtues in education and teaching. Oxford Review of Education, 32 (2), Р. 171-183.

3. Cooper, T. (2017). Learning from ethicists, Part 2: How ethics is taught at leading institutions in the pacific region. Teaching Ethics, 17 (1), Р. 23-91.

4. Churchill, L.R. (1982). The Teaching of Ethics and Moral Values in Teaching. Journal of Higher Education, V.53, №3.

5. Crosby, S.G. (1993). Evolution and enforcement of the code of ethics and standards of professional practice of the teaching profession in Florida (Doctoral dissertation, University of South Florida, 1993), Dissertation Abstracts International, 54 - 04A, 1162.

6. Dworkin, R.M. (1977). Taking Rights Seriously. Cambridge. Harvard University Press.

7. Educator Misconduct Brochure. Retrieved on September, 10, 2021.

8. Hart, S.P. and J.D. Marshall (1992). The question of teacher professionalism, (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED349291).

9. Keser, S., Kocaba§, I, & Yirci, R. (2013). The ethical perceptions of elementary school teachers in the triple perspective classification of ethics. Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry, 4 (3), P. 1-16.

10. LaMorte, M.W. (2005). School law: Cases and concepts (8th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

11. Mayhew, M.J., & King, P. (2008). How curricular content and pedagogical strategies affect moral reasoning development in college students. Journal of Moral Education, 37 (1), P. 17-40.

12. Maxwell, B., & Schwimmer, M. (2016). Professional ethics education for future teachers: A narrative review of the scholarly writings. Journal of Moral Education, 45 (3), P. 354-371.

13. New Testament (1993). International Bible Society. 580 p.

14. Rogers, W., Welb, J. (1991). The ethic of caring in teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education. 42 (3), P. 173-181.

15. Rich, J.M. (1984). Professional ethics in education. Springfield, IL, C.C. Thomas.

16. Shandruk, S.I. (2012). Tendencies of professional training of teachers in the USA. Kirovohrad: Imex-LTD.

17. Smith, A.E., P.D. Travers, et al. (1990). Codes of ethics for selected fields of professional education. St. Louis, University of Missouri, School of Education.

18. Standards for Short-term TEFL/TESL Certificate Programs with program assessment, 2015. Alexandria: TESOL International Association.

19. The Ethics Codes Collections. Retrieved September 10, 2021.

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