2012 UCEA Convention

Responsible Leadership for School Improvement. Corrie Stone-Johnson, University at Buffalo With strong pressure to raise student achievement from national reform initiatives, school leaders must make complex ethical and moral choices about what is best for the students. In essence, the expectation is one of responsible leadership. While the literature on ethical and moral leadership is rich, there is little research, on responsible educational leadership. Using a conceptual framework from business leadership (Maak & Pless, 2006a,b), this paper formulates a theory for responsible educational leadership.
Democratic Leadership within the New Tech High School Model. Jill Bradley-Levine, University of Indianapolis
This study utilizes Woods and Woods’ (in press 2012) degrees of democracy framework to examine levels of democratic leadership present within eight New Tech high schools in Indiana. Findings indicate that academic performance as measured by state exams, diversity including teacher expectations of certain groups of students, teacher preferred instructional style and/or willingness to learn a new pedagogy, and type of implementation of the model all impacted degrees of democracy.
Developing Moral Literacy and Ethical Leaders: Incorporating Ethical Dilemmas in a Case-Based Pedagogy. Patrick M. Jenlink, Stephen F. Austin State University; Karen Embry Jenlink, Stephen F Austin State University
The purpose of this paper presentation is to examine an ethical dilemma approach to developing moral literacy, incorporating case-based pedagogy. Preparing leaders for ethical dilemmas and moral decision- making is the focus of the study reported. The researchers used a two-tier case study design. Tier one examined moral literacy and case-based pedagogical perspectives. Tier two examined the pedagogical implications of an ethical dilemma approach to developing moral literacy through case-based learning in a doctoral studies program.
Influence of Ethics Training on Moral Reasoning Among Pre Service Education and Social Work Students. Michelle Mary Salopek, Pennsylvania State University
This paper is a comparative case study exploring third year students in undergraduate education and social work programs to identify students’ ethical knowledge, each program’s core philosophies, and compare the two. Teaching is a moral practice; thus, teachers often face difficult ethical decisions. Research shows that teacher education programs inadequately prepare teachers to face ethical issues. In comparison, social work education programs offer extensive levels of ethical training, including a formal code of ethics.