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The Ethical Line
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The Ethical Line
10 Leadership Strategies for Effective Decision Making

First Edition

Foreword by Douglas Fisher



June 2019 | 168 pages | Corwin

Be the leader your school community needs

The responsibilities of school leaders are increasingly complex. In this book, you will find a problem-solving model to help you think through morally complex situations. These steps will enable you to arrive at innovative solutions that are ethical, logical, culturally sensitive, and in the best interests of students. 

Packed with real-life vignettes, mental exercises, reflections, checklists, and other templates, these strategies will help you

  • Understand how ethical standards and core values drive your leadership choices
  • Approach problems through a lens of equity and care for the students entrusted to you
  • Recognize when urgent action is called for and when it’s better to slow down in order to thoroughly consider your actions and the potential consequences of those actions

As a leader, you face difficult challenges every day. This book will help ensure that the decisions you make are right for your students—and for the whole community.

 

 
Foreword by Douglas Fisher
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
Introduction
The Ethical Line

 
Temptations Lurk Everywhere

 
Tough Choices

 
How This Book Can Help

 
Features You Will Find

 
 
Chapter 1: Know Thyself
Strategy #1: Identify and Model Your Core Values

 
The New Normal

 
Your Ethical Line

 
Right vs. Right Situations

 
When Moral Compasses Falter

 
Strategy #2: Be Curiously Introspective

 
Find Kindred Spirits

 
Practice Self-Care

 
Express Gratitude

 
Build Resilience

 
Take a Cognitive Time-Out

 
Pause to Regroup

 
Calm Mental Chatter

 
Dare to Imagine

 
 
Chapter 2: Examine Your Community’s Values
Strategy #3: Listen Generously

 
Characteristics of Outstanding Listeners

 
Practice Empathy

 
Strategy #4: Create an Inclusive School Climate

 
Promote Emotional Well-Being

 
Engender Teamwork

 
Facilitate Collaborative Leadership

 
Recognize the Signs of an Unhealthy School Climate

 
Stimulate a Healthy School Climate

 
Foster Collective Efficacy

 
Strategy #5: Discover Your Community’s Hopes and Dreams

 
Explore Community Assets and Examine Your Leadership Privilege

 
Take the Pulse of Your Community Regularly

 
Empathic Interviewing

 
Strategy #6: Unify Around a Collective Vision

 
Which Values Guide Your Organization?

 
Making Sense of Norms and Codes of Conduct

 
Study Colleagues’ Behavior

 
 
Chapter 3: Adhere to Ethical and Legal Parameters
Professional Standards for Educational Leaders

 
Strategy #7: Consider Moral and Legal Consequences of Decisions

 
PSEL Standard 2: Ethics and Professional Norms

 
Lead With Moral Courage

 
A Framework for Making Ethical Decisions

 
The Seven Steps of Ethical Decision Making

 
Strategy #8: Ensure Equitable Processes and Outcomes

 
PSEL Standard 3: Advocate for All

 
Summary

 
 
Chapter 4: Promote an Ethical School Culture
Strategy #9: Walk the Talk

 
Be an Architect of Equity

 
Model Innovation and Empathy

 
Provide Clear Rationale for Decisions

 
Characteristics of Constructive Dialogue

 
Strategy #10: Become a Strategic Influencer

 
Defining Moments

 
Mental Preparation

 
Facilitate Win–Win Situations

 
Never Stop Learning and Growing

 
 
Conclusion
Implementation Steps

 
 
References
 
Index

This is a must read for any school leader. We face ethical decisions every day. This book provides practical and realistic tools to help every leader who is faced with challenging situations and decisions throughout their school year. The author does a superb job of aligning the leaders heart, head, and ethics in the decision-making process of school leaders. The students and staff reap the benefits from a leader inspired by this book.

Holly Leach, Superintendent, Everett, WA
Holly Leach, Superintendent, Everett, WA

This book provides useful strategies and structures, drawn from the field, to assist leaders at all levels better understand the complexities if ethical leadership.

Ray Boyd, Principal; Beechboro, Western Australia
Ray Boyd, Principal; Beechboro, Western Australia

“The daily decisions of school leaders are shaped by a set of personal and professional ethics that influence every interaction we have with students, colleagues, and families. Toni Faddis provides clear and coherent guidelines for helping leaders locate and adhere to a set of ethical standards, and interrogate one’s own biases. The outcome is an assurance that all decisions, large and small, are grounded in an ethical frame.”

Nancy Frey
San Diego State University

“An innovative and thoughtful approach to addressing real-life ethical concerns of educational practitioners. With its 10 leadership strategies, The Ethical Line is a must-read for all educators. Kudos to Dr. Faddis for this important contribution to the field.”

Jacqueline Stefkovich, JD
Pennsylvania State University

“Dr. Faddis skillfully captures the very essence of what leaders at all levels of the organization must do to solve complex issues in which there are no easy solutions. In a time where integrity and ethical leadership is paramount when faced with solving tough issues, Dr. Faddis provides hope and proven strategies to keep leaders from crossing the ethical line.”

David Lorden

“I have come to know and rely on Toni Faddis as an effective equity-driven school leader. I have every confidence that those who read this book will come to the same conclusion. More importantly, the book presents 10 ethically driven strategies to help us become the school leaders that our children, families, educators, and communities deserve.”

Ian Pumpian
San Diego State University

“Toni Faddis provides a vital work for our time. Schooling is not less complex, it is more complex by the day. In The Ethical Line, we are reminded that schools are ‘people places’ and only ethical leaders can build the kind of community necessary for each student to thrive and communities to reach their full potential together.”

Bradley Portin
University of Washington–Bothell

“In today’s diverse educational systems, leading through an ethical lens is more important than ever. In The Ethical Line, Dr. Faddis presents thoughtful, practical strategies for navigating the moral and ethical challenges educators face each day.”

Janice Cook

“As an administrator, being able to have a tool that supports the conversation around ethics makes a strong impact on our school culture. This book allows everyone in the school setting to have common language and understanding of what an ethical school looks and feels like. This book supports the growth of any leader and school community when dealing with difficult situations.”

Dominique Smith

“Today’s leadership preparation programs aim to create leaders who strive to take personal responsibility for providing the environment that produce empowered, engaged, inspired, and successful learners. In thinking about principal preparation programs, The Ethical Line is the reading that will push your candidates to achieve just this by thinking deeply and reflecting upon who they are and what type of leader they will be once they enter the ranks of school leadership. Dr. Faddis’s easy-to-read, practitioner-friendly text provides activities that enhance classroom discussion and complement any program committed to equity-driven leadership and ethical decision making. I highly recommend integrating this important book into your program.”

Lori Rhodes
California State University, Sonoma
Key features

Three professional frameworks of educational standards are referenced in Chapter 1 and are included in the appendices:

Appendix A:  Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSELs):  United States
Appendix B:  Australian Professional Standard for Principals and the Leadership Profiles

Appendix C:  National Professional Qualification for Headship:  United Kingdom

 

All schools exist within their own distinct community. Their local beliefs, culture, history, values, and vision influence the ways access and opportunities are provided to all students.  The role of the school principal has evolved into an instructional leader who both manages the daily operations of a school as well as leads the community towards academic excellence.  The congruence of professional standards from 3 different continents demonstrates the recognition of shifting school communities at local and international levels. 

 

The challenges faced by school leaders may differ from site to site, but the specific, ethical, and mindful ways problems are approached and effectively solved are universal.  Understanding and utilizing standards enable any leader to consider and contribute to a 21st Century, multicultural global society.  Utilizing a problem-solving model that outlines the steps of thinking through uncertain situations will enable leaders to arrive at innovative solutions that are ethical, logical, culturally sensitive, and in the best interests of the students they are charged to serve. 

 
San Diego State ‘Roadshows: With support of the Wallace Foundation, the Educational Leadership Department at San Diego State is currently engaging in a redesign of the Administrative Services Credential program.  One of the core courses of the program is EDL 655, which was redesigned from a focus on teamwork to ethical preparation.  The tenets of ethical leadership are no longer isolated and are now woven throughout the other six core courses of our program.  SDSU’s program redesign includes instruction related to the new California Administrator Performance Assessments (CalAPA’s) that are required before licensure.  Our program redesign has been recognized by California’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the state-wide licensing body, as a model for other credentialing institutions in California.  We are currently presenting and sharing our course sequence, syllabi, and all materials to the other universities in California.  These ‘roadshows’ occur three times per year; higher education faculty from each university attends, hears our presentation, and is given access to all materials in our program.

 

Further, the Stuart Foundation is supporting this statewide educational leadership program redesign by selecting 3 to 5 universities in California for SDSU faculty to partner with and lead their redesign efforts.  I am a part of these processes and envision sharing my EDL 655 syllabus and required reading with higher ed faculties.  If I were to publish with Corwin, I would have numerous, excellent opportunities to personally share the book with the higher education faculty who teach courses on ethical and equity-driven leadership as well as the other core courses that are necessary for aspiring principals to fulfill the requirements for an Administrative Credential in California.

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