The ethics of the teaching profession have been given little systematic analysis than those of other professions. While the ethics of medicine, business, and journalism receive more instruction and attention and are widely analyzed and debated, there is a shortage of literature and examination of the ethics of higher education, particularly in the classroom. What is considered fair evaluation? How does one respond to an offensive student? When may faculty date a former student? Written for faculty throughout higher education, this book puts forth a set of principles for college teaching, and concludes with practical analyses of the ethical dilemmas facing professors in the classroom today. Topic-by-topic, this book covers * Academic ethics: sources, principles, and responses to objections * Teaching advocacy and indoctrination * Conflicts of interest * The ethics of classroom grading * Offensive speech and behavior * Faculty-student relationships Rights and Wrongs in the College Classroom develops an ethic that integrates concerns for student rights, social goals, and academic freedom and helps faculty to understand what values are at stake and how to make better decisions when confronted with moral dilemmas. There is a need for both institutional and faculty support of such a code of ethics, whose cultivation and observance has intrinsic rewards for faculty as individuals and professionals.

Table of Contents

About the Authors. Introduction. 1 Academic Ethics: Sources, Principles, and Responses to Objections. 2 Teaching Controversy: Advocacy, Indoctrination, and Neutrality in the Classroom. 3 Conflicts of Interest. 4 The Ethics of Classroom Grading. 5 Professional Conduct: Respect and Offense in Teaching. 6 Faculty-Student Relationships. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

Author Biography

Jordy Rocheleau is associate professor of philosophy at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he teaches courses in ethics and contemporary philosophy. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy at Michigan State University, with a dissertation on the political implications and viability of Jurgen Habermas' discourse ethic. His publications include articles on the future of critical theory, the implications of political liberalism, democratic approaches to environmental problems the nature of racial justice, and the role of recognition in politics. Rocheleau turned his attention to education ethics after teaching a course in professional ethics to future teachers seeking their certification at Austin Peay. He has also served as a Volunteer In Service to America with a literacy consortium and taught English in Costa Rica. Jordy lives with his wife, Miyo Kachi, and cat, Smokey. He is looking forward to having his commitment to ethical education tested afresh in the near future by the arrival of a first child. Bruce W. Speck is provost and vice president for academic and student affairs at Austin Peay State University (APSU). At APSU he teaches a course in leadership ethics in the President's Emerging Leaders Program. He has served as dean of the college of Arts and Sciences and associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of English at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke; acting director of the Center for Academic Excellence, professor in the Department of English, and coordinator of the writing-across-the curriculum program at the University of Memphis. He was an assistant professor in the Department of English and Linguistics at Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne. In addition, he worked in industry as a technical writer. He has published two monographs, Facilitating Students' Collaborative Writing (Jossey-Bass, 2002) and Grading Students' Classroom Writing: Issue and Strategies (Jossey-Bass, 2000); coedited nine volumes, including Spirituality in Higher Education (Jossey-Bass, 2006); Service-Learning: History, Theory, and Issues (Praeger, 2004); Identifying and Preparing Academic Leaders (Jossey-Bass, 2004); Assessment Strategies for the On-Line Class: From theory to Practice (Jossey-Bass, 2002); Approaches to Teaching Non-Native English Speakers Across the Curriculum (Jossey-Bass, 1997); authored or coauthored six book-length annotated bibliographies for Greenwood Press; and authored 13 book chapters and authored or coauthored 47 articles.