1
The Ethical School Newsletter
November 2009
Volume 1, Iss ue 1
From the desk of the Editor
A Multicultural Approach to
Ethics:
Multiculturalism involves an
understanding, appreciation and valuing
of one’s own culture, and an informed
respect and curiosity about the ethnic
Contents cultures of others. It involves a valuing
of other cultures, not in a sense of
Principal’s News 1 approving of all aspects of those
cultures, but of attempting to see how
Dear Parents 1
a given culture can express value to its
own members.
Case #1 Christmas 2
Case #2 Gender 4 (Lawrence Blum, 1991)
Case #3 Racism 6 The purpose of this newsletter is
Case #4 Poverty 8
to offer a variety of perspectives
on particular classroom
Editorial 10
situations. What these situations
References 11 all have in common is a conflict
that is rooted in the diversity of
cultural contexts that are
focalized in the classroom.
Dear Class
This newsletter is divided into 4
specific case studies which
reflect broad issues. For each
situation, some background
information is presented followed
by perspectives which could be
said to reflect popular opinions
on either side of the issue.
Following that, there is some
discussion where theoretical and
literary perspectives are offered
followed by a synthesis of some
The Ethical Newsletter, November, 2009
Wr itten by Thomas Fenton
Ethics is the study of the
principles of conduct which
govern individuals and groups
(Mahoney, 2008), but it also
seeks to identify the morally
correct standards (Shafer-
Landau & Cuneo, 2007) on
which these principles are
based.
There lies the challenge of
multicultural ethics; who is to
say which set of moral
standards are correct for which
group? Are these standards
universal? Or are they relative
and reflect the diversity of the
archipelago of cultures that
form a multicultural society?
The challenge is to find
compromise and agreement
among competing standards
and beliefs.
implications; points to move
forward from.
The newsletter in no way
offers final solutions to the
dilemmas that are discussed.
Rather, it attempts to present
a collection of quotes, stories
and perspectives which
elaborate on the ethical
terrain in which these
situations are embedded.
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CASE #1 HOLIDAYS & HOLY DAYS IN THE CLASSROOM

The Situation:
Several parents from non-Christian backgrounds have complained about the
inclusion of Christmas themes in the school. Other parents have responded
against what they call a “War on Christmas” and that either a) the
celebration is not religious at all and an integral part of Canadian culture,
or b) other religions are acknowledged but because Christmas is associated
with dominant culture, Christian holy days are excluded from classrooms.

Background
- The controversy surrounds the acknowledgement of religious practice
in secular educational environments, and the extent to which
Christmas has been legitimately secularized (Holiday vs. Holy Day).

- Several legal battles in the US have resulted in the government

sanctioning both the inclusion and exclusion of religious themes linked
to Christmas (Lynch v. Donnelly 1984, Skyros v. City of New York 2006).

- In 2007, Elmdale public school in Ottawa planned to have children sing

a version of “Silver Bells” that omitted the word “Christmas”. National
media coverage prompted public outcry with angry letters, phone calls
and even the school being closed due to a bomb threat.

Perspectives

Government should respect the separation of church and
state. Schools are government funded and taxpayer’s money
should not be spent on religion.

Christmas is a secular, federally acknowledged holiday which

Irving Berlin revenged upon
Christendom by composing
“Easter Parade” and
“White Christmas,”
converting the most sacred
days on the Christian
calendar into, respectively,
a fashion show and a
holiday about snow.
Tom Flynn
The Trouble with
Christmas
promotes peaceful, family oriented events. It has been a part
of Canada’s culture and economy for a long time.

Christmas is just a retail phenomenon; all it does is put money
in the pockets of commercial fat cats and make poor people
poorer.

If Christmas is not to be acknowledged in the
classroom, than it is only fair that all religious
celebrations and ceremonies be excluded as well.

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Case Study #1 HOLIDAYS & HOLY DAYS IN THE CLASSROOM

Discussion
- “Should teachers enculturate all
students into what is regarded as
mainstream values and behaviors…? Or
should the values and beliefs of differing
ethnic communities be respected in
order to ensure that children from these
communities are not alienated from
their families or made to feel inferior?”
(Greenbaum et al., 1997)
- “It is absolutely criminal to bring
anyone up in this culture who doesn’t
understand what Christianity is and what
it stood for. To have people not
understand what Christmas – which is not
Santa, it’s Christ – is to be willfully
ignorant. And schools have no business
being willfully ignorant” (Bernard
Shapiro, former principle of McGill
University, as cited in Sweet, 1997).
- “Schools should be able to acknowledge
a religious holiday without subscribing to
it” (Sweet, 1997)
- For children, schools are extensions of
the family system which is not just a
collection of individuals but an emotional
unit. This unit functions according to the
level of differentiation within the group
and their capacity to cope with their own
diversity. Students are linked physically,
socially and emotionally to one another
much like families are (Mahoney, 2008,
Bowen, 1978).
For various reasons, a distinction has
been created between “Santa’s”
Christmas and “Christ’s” Christmas.
In Canadian and U.S. culture,
Christmas represents measures of
both; retail and spiritual, holiday and
holy day, period of rest and a period
to affirm religious and family values.
This distinction is not clearly No Christmas for my
recognized by everyone, but mostly Children.
affords some political validation to a
status quo (ei. school closures). “No Christmas for my
children,
While either interpretation of No husband for my bed,
Christmas has been employed in
No money for tomorrow,
arguments, Christmas is unavoidably No place to lay my head,
a religious tradition.
No tree with mounds of
As such, it is no more or less
significant than any other religion in presents,
No ornaments or lights,
the eyes of the law.
No smiles on Christmas
morning,
No feast on Christmas
night,

For me I have no pity,

My sorrow stronger
Implications proves,
Because for my sweet
• Religion and culture are abstractly distinct, but socially children
inseparable. The classroom is not a place for religious I've nothing but my love.
practice, but neither is it a place for cultural censorship.
Anonymous

• Distinction needs to be made between teaching about

religion and teaching religion. Classroom exposure to
religious holidays and holy days should be educational,
not indoctrinal.

• School boards, teachers and concerned parents should

work together and come to a consensus. Either all
religious calendars, even those that are not represented
in the community, be equally included, or all of them be
equally excluded (this would even include birthdays).

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The Ethical Newsletter, November, 2009

CASE #2
The Situation:
In a government funded after school program in the American
Midwest, several parents and students have expressed disapproval
of a male instructor teaching female primary school students. The
students enrolled in this program and their families are Somali
refugees who have recently immigrated to the U.S.
Un home peut braver
l’opinion; une femme
doit s’Un home peut
braver l’opinion; une
femme doit s’
soumettre.[1]
Mme.de Staël
Delphine (1802)
If once in a dozen
years the conditions
of eligibility exclude a
fit person, there is a
real loss, while the
exclusion of thousands
of unfit persons is no
gain.
J.S. Mill
On the Subjection
of Women (1869)
[1] A man can defy public opinion, a
woman should submit to it
4
GENDER DIVISION
Background
- The students and their families are struggling to adjust to life in a new
country. The students (aged 8-12) are bused to various public schools in
the city. As English is a second language, many of them struggle with
their studies.
- The after school program is part of the “no child left behind” policy of
the Bush administration and is run in a community center in a section-8
government housing neighborhood. The students are walked the short
distance home by the instructors after the program is completed.
- In the program, the students are separated into groups of boys and
girls, they are helped with their homework or complete developmental
exercises. Parents and students often complain when girls and boys are
made to work or play together.
Perspectives

In order to accommodate the community’s preference, the
after school program will have to engage in illegal hiring
practices. Should a female teacher leave, they would have to
hire or transfer another female instructor to take her place

The program is situated inside the community where these
families are trying to adjust to a new culture while coping with
the trauma implied by their refugee immigrant status. The
ultimate purpose of the after school program is to ensure that
none of these children are “left behind”.

In choosing to live in this country, these families
have also chosen to follow its rules. They cannot
pick and chose which ones suit them.

Society is based on the respect, tolerance and
inclusion of the values of all of its citizens; through
conscientious acculturation, not forced
indoctrination
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Case Study #2 GENDER DIVISION

Discussion
There are several ethical
issues involved in this
situation:
1) Sovereignty of the family
and community.
-The family itself is a school of
mental cultivation and a moral
training ground which should not
have to compete with socially
dominant moral paradigms in the
classroom.
2) The social contract
between the
family/community and
society.
- “Though society is not founded on
a contract,… everyone who receives
the protection of society owes a
return for the benefit, and the fact
of living in a society renders it
indispensable that each should be
bound to observe a certain line of
conduct towards the rest” (J.S. Mill,
On Liberty, 1859).
3) The division of gender.
- Most Muslims, consider men's and
women's roles as complementary
rather than equal, the separation
of the sexes and gender divisions
are legitimized in general on
religious grounds, and education is
entrusted with their maintenance.
(El-Sanabary, 1994)
11
A woman should learn in
quietness and full submission. 12I
do not permit a woman to teach
or to have authority over a man;
she must be silent.
(Timothy 2:11)
- “And this, indeed, is what makes
it strange to ordinary ears, to hear
it asserted that the inequality of
rights between men and women
has no other source than the Law
of the Strongest.”
(J.S. Mill, The Subjection of
Women, 1869)
Khaled al-Radihan
quietly enters a booth
where he clips a lapel
microphone onto his
starched dishdasha
and sits in front of a
closed-circuit Sony
video camera.
And with that, his
class in nomadic
sociology begins. The
physical gap between
Mr. al-Radihan and the
five female graduate
students is roughly the
distance of 50 camel
paces, but this is the
closest he'll ever come
to interacting with
them.

Implications In Saudi Arabia, the

dominance of an
• The separation of gender unavoidably indicates inequity. extremely
However, the equitable treatment of women is not only conservative
interpretation of Islam
an ideal of Western culture; it is also embedded in legal (called Wahhabism in
and constitutional codes. the West but Salafi
here) tightly restricts
• Families and communities have the freedom and right to social interactions
between men and
follow their own moral and social norms, these freedoms women who are
are also embedded in legal and constitutional codes. unrelated or
unmarried.

• Education is an arena which is both a point of (Del Castillo, 2003)

convergence for the diversity of the participants, and a
platform for acquainting students with the greater social
contexts where they will vie for membership

• When these norms compete, the dialogue extends beyond

the classroom to the community.

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CASE #3 RACISM & PARENTING

The Situation:
A child in a third grade primary school classroom has been heard making
racial utterances and discriminatory remarks about other students in the
class. After speaking with the child’s parents, the teacher learns that these
views are not only shared, but also encouraged by the parents.

Background
- The parents state that they are protecting their child from what they
perceive is a racist society and that they are free to raise their child in
any way they see fit.

- The freedom of opinion and expression is protected under article 19 of

the Universal declaration of human rights, the First Amendment of the
US Constitution, and Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms.

- The Supreme Court of Canada, in a landmark 1990 case, ruled against

All are equal before the James Keegstra’s right to free speech for the offence of willfully
law and are entitled promoting hatred. Mr. Keegstra was a high school teacher and a
without any discrimination holocaust denier.
to equal protection of the
law. All are entitled to
equal protection against Perspectives
any discrimination in
violation of this Declaration
and against any incitement
Children are legally entitled to a classroom environment free
to such discrimination
from discrimination and hatred that is directed at an
Article 7 Universal identifiable group.
Declaration of Human
Rights

At what age should children be taught about racism? Should we
try to preserve their “innocence” as long as possible, or
Everyone has the right to expose them early on?
freedom of opinion and
expression; this right
includes freedom to hold

Young children are not yet able to critically choose
opinions without their beliefs, Parent’s have an obligation to raise
interference and to seek, their children free from hatred and racism
receive and impart
information and ideas
through any media and
As long as they are loved and cared for, parents
regardless of frontiers.
have the right to raise their children in any way
Article19 they see fit.

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Case Study #3 RACISM & PARENTING

Discussion
There are three ethical dimensions the child's or his or her parent's or legal
to consider with this scenario: guardian's race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion...”
(Article 2(1), 1989 UN Convention on the
1) Freedom of opinion and rights of the child)
expression
3) How and when should
Limitations on the right to freedom of
speech are based on J.S. Mill’s Harm teacher’s address racism in the
classroom? 'Racist' parents fight
Principle:
That the only purpose for which power for children (Edmonton
can be rightfully exercised over any - “Attitudes do come about when we’re Sun, May 24, 2009)
member of a civilized community, very young, before we even consciously
against his will, is to prevent harm to know what we’re thinking, so the more WINNIPEG — A child
others. His own good, either physical work you can do on very young people, custody battle begins
or moral, is not sufficient warrant.... the better.” (Bloom, 2008) Monday for two
(On Liberty, 1859)
The Harm Principle is concerned with children whose parents
- “Thus parents and others concerned
public expression and has no bearing on with the care and upbringing of young are accused of teaching
people’s freedom of opinion. children…are dealing with creatures who them that black people
are potentially and increasingly capable and other minorities
of holding, and being objects of, the full deserve to die…a girl
2) What about the parents? range of human and moral attitudes …” and boy who were
- Parents are responsible for taking care (Strawson, 1974).
seized from their home
of their child’s physical and emotional - “Certainly, moral and ethical values are
needs…Children have the right to be safe
last year after the girl
instilled in children by their parents. showed up at her
from abuse and neglect. (Child, Family Therefore, it would be plausible to
and Community Service Act, B.C.) conclude that racism in children could be elementary school with
imitated from their parents” (Smith & symbols used by white
- “States Parties shall respect and ensure
the rights set forth in the present Ross, 2006). supremacists drawn on
Convention to each child…irrespective of her body.

The boy’s father,

meanwhile, is fighting
Implications back, saying the seizure
of his children violates
• Both parents and teachers have well-established legal and his freedom of
ethical responsibilities for the children in their care. conscience, belief and
association under the
Charter of Rights and
• For teachers is not a question of when, but whether to Freedoms.
teach their students to be colour-blind, or colour-
conscious. Steve Lambert,
the Canadian
• For parents their responsibilities lie less in the letter and Press
more in the spirit of the law. They and their children’s
freedom of opinion are protected; however, legal code in
Canada is essentially consequentialist and no freedom is
absolute when it comes to the rights of others.

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CASE #4 The Ethical School

POVERTY & STATUSNewsletter

The Situation:
In a primary school, teachers provide school supplies to the students and do
not, as a matter of policy, ask students to bring their own in. In one class,
several students from more privileged families have been bringing their
own supplies, books and materials. Many of the underprivileged students
have, in turn, asked their parents to buy them similar supplies saying they
feel inferior.
Background
- 85% of the students in this school are on a free or reduced lunch
“States Parties
plan [2].
recognize the right of
the child to education,
and with a view to - While differences in the socio-economic backgrounds are often quite
among children, this situation involves more privileged children having
achieving this right
access to classroom materials that others do not.
progressively and on the
basis of equal
- Teachers in this school district provide students with school supplies for
opportunity”
the year out of their own pockets.
1989 UN Convention on
the Rights of Children - To what extent can and should teachers attempt to mitigate economic
inequities in the classroom?
Article 28[1]
Perspectives

Socio-economic status is; itself, a reflection of the equal
Estimated percentage of
students eligible for free opportunities available to those who would take advantage of
and reduced lunch in US them. Successful families should be able to provide whatever
charter schools (1998-99) is in their means for the education of their children.
Alaska – 4.3

Socio-economic status is often determined by factors beyond a
Arizona – 32.2
family’s control (immigration status, high rates of
California – 31.1 unemployment, single parent income, race, gender), and
Delaware – 15.9 should not impact the quality of education that all children are
Louisiana – 75.3 entitled to.
Minnesota – 60.1

Who cares about some fancy Hannah Montana
North Carolina – 34.3
lunchboxes, or sparkly sticker books, all children
South Carolina – 94.5
are given the same basic access and materials.
Texas – 62.2
Wisconsin – 28.4
I child’s self-esteem and sense of belonging are
vital to a learning environment; they should not be
Source: confronted with social class distinctions in the
National Center for school.
Education Statistics

[2] To qualify for free lunch, a family of four must earn $27,560 or less; a family with a
maximum income of $39,220 qualifies for reduced-price lunches.

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Case Study #4 POVERTY & STATUS

Discussion
Economic equity is not a part of
western political ideology. The free
enterprise system promotes equal
opportunity and access to
competition, not equal access to
capital resources.
- “Clearly, the concept of pure justice
produces an infinite regression to
absurdity…We are all descendants of
thieves, and the world’s resources are
inequitably distributed. But we must begin
the journey to tomorrow from the point
where we are today. We cannot remake the
past” (Hardin, 2003).
- “The traditional distinction between duty
and charity cannot be drawn, or at least,
not in the place we normally draw it…If it is
in our power to prevent something bad
from happening without thereby sacrificing
anything of comparable importance, we
ought, morally to do it” (Singer, 2003).
The classroom presents a
problematic paradigm for these
principles as education is
acknowledged as providing children
with the basic means for social and
economic prosperity.
- “Differences in school facilities and
curriculum, which are the major
variables by which attempts are made
to improve schools, are so little related
to differences in achievement levels of
students that, with few exceptions,
their effects fail to appear in a survey
of this magnitude”…it was revealed
that family background is much more
important than school characteristics in
explaining differences in achievement
among children.
Coleman et al. (1966) commenting on a
study of some 570,000 children and
60,000 teachers from 4000 American
schools.
Thus, low socio-economic status,
in its effect on children’s
scholastic achievement, sustains
itself in a vicious circle. Despite,
if Coleman et al.’s comments are
to be believed, any attempts to
improve school and classroom
quality.
…but why?
A Modest Proposal
It is a melancholy object
to those who walk
through this great town
or travel in the country,
when they see the streets,
the roads, and cabin
doors, crowded with
beggars of the female sex,
followed by three, four, or
six children, all in rags
and importuning every
passenger for an alms…
…and, therefore, whoever
could find out a fair,
cheap, and easy method of
making these children
sound, useful members of
the commonwealth,
would deserve so well of
the public…

Practice I shall now therefore

humbly propose my own
• The classroom is not only an extension of the family thoughts, which I hope
emotional unit; it is also the medium and the means by will not be liable to the
which children actualize themselves and their futures. least objection…

I have been assured by a

• On the one hand, socio-economic class distinctions are very knowing American
unavoidable. On the other hand, the values that may of my acquaintance in
accompany those distinctions are not. London, that a young
healthy child well nursed
is at a year old a most
• Arguably, it is not the socio-economic status of a delicious, nourishing,
student’s family that poses a barrier to achievement; it is and wholesome food,
the student’s perception of themselves that holds them whether stewed, roasted,
baked, or boiled…
back.
Jonathan Swift, 1729
• Teachers can work to improve parental involvement in (Satirist)
their child’s education, but they should never work to
discourage it.
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The Ethical School

EDITORIAL Newsletter
Closing Remarks

The preceding case studies and discussions have all focused on

conflicts that occur within classrooms and among the communities and
social contexts that are invested in them. Conflicts involve a power
imbalance; between the student and teacher, teacher and parent,
community and school…etc., and addressing this power imbalance is the
starting point for resolution.
The situations presented in this issue reflected a number of broad
social issues; religion in the classroom, gender, race and socio-economic
inequity, and there are some important considerations that apply to
them all:

1) The classroom as an extension of the family/community.

Despite conflicts between parents and teachers, or school boards and
communities, the classroom is a significant milieu for a child’s
emotional, intellectual and moral maturation. A child’s development in
I will be good the class should reflect their development at home and within their
communities. Division as a result of conflict can only serve to alienate
I will not yell in class. all who are involved.
I will not throw things.
I will not get mad. 2) The roles of both parents and the teacher are complimentary.
I will be good Some families from lower socio-economic sectors; or others who have
recently immigrated are challenged to find a voice in their children’s
classroom often not realizing they can have a say in decisions that
Because I'm the affect their child’s development. Teachers often do not realize they
teacher. too have a voice in the families and communities of their students.
Neither parent nor teacher has autonomy over a child’s education.

***

While this newsletter has attempted to include perspectives from

many sources, the reader will doubtlessly recognize that a dominant
ethical perspective underlies the discussion. The charters and
constitutions that articulate our rights and freedoms are founded on a
consequentialist utilitarian philosophy. That is to say, the emphasis of
law is on the results of our actions and not our intentions, and our
freedoms are often negatively defined by what we should not do.

In many if not all of the situations discussed today, the resolutions

cannot be found in the letter of the law. It is through our intention;
the ways in which we perceive and actualize ourselves not only as
educators, but as members of the same communities and families that
are students belong to, that we can best address the moral and ethical
demands of the classroom.
Ed.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

References:

Bloom, A. (2008). Never too Young to Learn that Racism is Wrong. TES news, accessed 14:23;
11/08 source:http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6005405

Blum, L.A. (1992). Antiracism, Multiculturalism, and Interracial Community: Three Educational
Values for a Multicultural Society. In L. May, S. Collins-Chobanian, K. Wong (Eds.),
Applied Ethics, A Multicultural Approach. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Bowen, M. (1978). Family Therapy in Clinical Practice. NY: Jason Aronson.

Coleman, J. and others (1966). Equality of Educational Opportunity. A report for the National
Center for Educational Statistics. Accessed 17:13, 11/07
source:http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/
80/33/42/82.pdf

Del Castillo, D. (2003). Teaching Through an Electronic Veil. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
49(29)
Source:<http://find.galegroup.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/gtx/start.do?prodId=
EAIM&userGroupName=utoronto_main>.

El-Sanabary, N. (1994) Female Education in Saudi Arabia and the Reproduction of Gender
Division. Gender and Education, 6:2, 141-150.

Flynn, T. (1990). The Trouble with Christmas. NY: Prometheus.

Greenbaum, S., Martinez, Y., Baber, M. (1997). Culture and School Based Policies. In J. Paul,
N. Berger, P. Osnes, Y. Martinez, W. Morse (Eds.) Ethics and Decision Making in Local
Schools. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

Hardin, G. (1974). Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor. In L.P. Pojman (Ed.)
Moral Philosophy, a Reader. Cambridge: Hackett.

Mahoney, D. (2008). Ethics in the Classroom. Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield.

Mill, J.S. (2006). On Liberty and the Subjection of Women. London: Penguin Classics.

Mme. De Staël (1802). Delphine. (As cited in Mill (2006) p. 159)

Shafer-Landau R., Cuneo, T. (2007). Foundations of Ethics. Malden MA: Blackwell.

Singer, P. (1972). Famine, Affluence, and Morality. In L. May, S. Collins-Chobanian, K. Wong

(Eds.), Applied Ethics, A Multicultural Approach. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Smith, S., Ross, L. (2006). Environmental and Family Associations with Racism, Journal of
Applied Social Psychology, 36:11, 2750-2765.

Strawson, P.F. (1974). Freedom and Resentment and Other Essays. London: Metheun and Co.

Sweet, L. (1997). God in the Classroom. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.

Swift, J. (1729). A Modest Proposal and other Satirical Works. NY: Dover.

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