An Adventure in Excellence:	E. Todd
A Community Portrait	Revised, 1999

Rationale for Care Statement: . . . . . . . . . ."

Definitions: "Ethics . . . ." "Ethical Behavior . . . ." "Truth . . . ." "To be ethical . . . ."

"Code of Ethics . . . ." "To be civilized . . . ."

" Ethics are a set of societal behaviors which evolve from the values and morals held by a community as they strive toward a quality existence for all community members." *

Consequences: If the human beings whose lives are affected by the school accept these definitions

the following consequences will occur at _____________________________________:

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"Whatever we do in a public school depends upon what we think civilized human beings are capable of accomplishing in their lives. The goals we seek, the things we do, the judgments we make, even the experiments we are willing to try, are determined by our beliefs about the nature of an individual and his/her capabilities." (Todd, 1985, 1995).

1. A. Belief: If we believe that third millennium citizens are uniquely different--in physical growth, in intellectual power, in social maturity, in emotional stability, in ethical habits, in readiness to become futurists, in any human attribute--then every effort should be made to facilitate ethical growth in those human beings whose lives are affected by the public school. (Todd, 1963, 1996).

B. Needed Actions:

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2. A. Belief: If we believe that third millennium citizens should control their lives, their society, and the universes of the future--then every effort should be made to equip these citizens with the intellectual, social, emotional, and political skills to be ethical activists in the 21st century. (Todd. 1996).

B. Needed Actions:

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3. A. Belief: If we believe that civilized and caring human beings are capable of ethical exhibitions of purposeful anger--then every effort should be made to develop and maintain decision-making communities." (Todd, 1996).

B. Needed Actions:

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4. A. Belief: If we believe that school board members should be willing to share power with those human beings whose lives are affected by the schools--then every effort should be made to develop a system of educational ideas which can provide centrality of purpose for the ethical sharing of power with school advisory councils. (Todd, 1996).

B. Needed Actions:

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5. A. Belief: If we believe that . . . .

B. Needed Actions:

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6. A. Belief: Belief: . . . .

B. Needed Actions:

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A public school has the potential for becoming an ethical community when the following conditions exist:

1. The system of educational ideas establishes an ethical framework which reflects appropiate values, morals and ethics of the entire community.

2. Faculty, administrators, and support personnel are employed not only because of professional competence, but also for their willingness to support and model the ethical behaviors described in the codes of ethics of their professional organizations.

3. The decisions of the school community must come from a position of knowledge and recognition of the inherent consequences associated with those decisions. The school staff must fulfill the expectations of the community in a scholarly way providing a link to the current professional literature.*

4. The policies of the school must flow from consensus of the school community. The minority in any decision-making process must be given the opportunity to be respectfully heard and reacted to in a responsible manner.*

5. Communication between each area of the school community must be established to ensure that an information exchange can be garnered in an efficient, consistent and equitable manner.*

6. In all of the interactions within the community it is assumed that the individual members of the community behave with integrity, truth, and responsibility.*

7. The members of the community have as a high priority the equality of educational opportunities for each individual. The school must be established within an environment that stress the equality of educational opportunities for all.*

8. In recognizing the primary goal of the educational community as the education of the community's youth, the governing body must work together in an ethical environment of mutual respect, flexibility, unselfishness, and cooperation.*

9. The members of the community recognize the value and the need for purposeful change and adaptation in a dynamic society. The members of the community agree to practice adaptive strategies, evaluate the need for change and implement change in a scholarly and ethical way.*

10. All actors in the school community must be aware of the variation in values of the community, culturally sensitive in their behavior and in their expectations of other community members, and tolerant of the diverse values the community brings together.*

11. The school policies must be established and maintained with diligent care for ethical consistency. Inconsistent execution of policy would reflect an attitude of tolerance for non-ethical behavior.*

12. Human beings whose lives affected by the school design a decision-making process which helps establish and maintain productive relationships between these groups of human beings.

13. Numerous opportunities for carrying out appropriate leadership responsibilities are available to the members of the different groups whose lives are affected by decision-making activities.

14. Human beings whose lives are affected by the school must realize that uncontrolled anger by decision-makers can result in decisions with unfortunate consequences.

15. School advisory councils . . . .

16. The development of school improvement plans (Blueprint 2000) . . . .

17. School board members . . . .

18. Local, state, and federal agencies . . . .

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"In discussing curriculum, it is important to recognize the many layers of values that are involved in curricular decisions. Some of these layers are easy to recognize, because they have been the focus of widespread debate. These include issues such as evolution versus creationism, the treatment of homosexual lifestyles, and sex education. Other layers of values are more subtle, embedded in the particular discourse conventions that govern how students will learn to make meaning withn a given curriculum--in the kind of knowledge-in-action that the curriculum encourages. Goals for education that emphasize thoughtfulness and independent thinking treat discourse as open to alternative interpretations and meaning as relative. For some communities within the United States, however, such a treatment of discourse runs counter to deeply held personal and religious convictions...." (Applebee, 1996.)

The activation and successful implementation of a community portrait provides an opportunity for appropriate curriculum development activities. The implications are as follows:

Elementary Schools:

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Secondary Schools:

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 For a complete model of an individual classroom community see Appendix A.

"The curriculum can be defined as the planned educational experiences offered by a school which can take place anywhere at any time in the multiple context of the school, e.g. public schools as caring communities, as changing communities, as ethical communities . . . (Todd, 1965, 1992).

"The physical boundaries of ethical classrooms exist only in the minds of those human beings whose lives are affected by the public schools." (Todd, 1956, 1995). "Teaching and learning can take place anywhere at any time." (Todd, 1963). "The world is the classroom." (Todd, 1969). "The universes are the classroom."(Todd, 1981, 1989, 1996).

"The opportunities for demonstrating appropriate ethical behavior in changing classrooms are inseparably linked with the opportunities for students to demonstrate technological literacy during instructional activities carried out in scholarly communities." (Todd, 1996).

"The opportunities for demonstrating ethical behavior in civilized classrooms are inseparably linked with the opportunities for students to demonstrate technological literacy during instructional activities carried out in ethical communities." (Todd, 1996.)

Since we can only speculate about the unlimited possibilities for educational experiences which could facilitate the nurturing of ethical human beings who are collegial decision-makers in the third millennium we believe that scholarly classrooms can be described as follows:

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"Imagine all the people whose lives are affected by their school. . ."

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"Changes in a school system are often in direct conflict with the changes taking place in the community, thus creating a highly complex and political situation." (Todd, 1969).

Since there are different groups of human being whose lives are affected by the public school there are political risks for these persons responsible for the development and implementation of the community portrait. These risks are as follows:

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Appendix A

*Note: Some content of this portrait (indicated by an *), was developed by EDG 6931 students during the 1994 fall semester. These experienced teachers were as follows: Mr. Hartman, Mr. Howard, Mr. Kepler, Ms. Manger, Mr. Myers, Mr. Spechalske, and Ms. Taylor.