Ethics - Explicit Vs Implicit

On Monday night I joined a group discussion with a module 1 focus on Consideration of Ethics. I feel that this process so far has broadened my understanding of Ethics, not just the rights and wrongs that make up our own moral compass but also how to think of the ethical impact of what I do and how I present myself.

We first discussed how ethics apply to our day to day practice. As a teacher for the ISTD I have been educated in their code of conduct and have studied different areas of safeguarding and best practice. These are the things that I explicitly do, make sure I am teaching competently, I am professional, I think about the safety of my students be it prevention from injury or ensuring they are released to parents correctly or not left unattended. But there are many things that I do that are implicit. Considerations I make that are not specifically outlined in a code of conduct. 

For example, I teach ballet to students aged 15-17, I am aware this can be a very self-conscience period in a young students life, for this reason, I will think twice before publicly ordering a student to remove a big baggy jumper. I will ask them on a 1-2-1 basis if there is a reason they are wearing a jumper and gauge my response by their answer. I understand that uniform is very important especially in ballet, but another consideration is why are my students here? Are they planning to become professional dancers, or are they simply there for fun and recreation, this answer changes my approach as a teacher, level of discipline used and motivational techniques.

There are many examples of how my inner compass guides how I fill in the gaps ethically that are not outlined in a code of conduct but after our group discussion, I am now excited to explore where these morals come from.

I think my personal dance history has guided my ethical considerations.  I was a chubby kid and remember being made to wear a neon lycra crop top and cycling shorts for a dance performance. I was only about 8 years old but felt so self-conscience, I couldn't smile or perform and spent the whole dance trying to pull down my crop top. This feeling has always stayed with me so as a dance teacher I always promised myself and my students that I would never insist they wear something that made them feel physically embarrassed. I have many tragic costume memories, guess which one is me in the below picture. Another reason why I feel strongly about making my students feel happy and positive about how they look!!!

You guessed it the Jester! I think the laugh was on me.

Throughout dance college, I witnessed many acts of unfairness, while this was maybe preparing full-time dance students for the realities of the professional performance world, favouritism was prevalent. Students were picked for solos based on personal relationships with teachers, this has made me aware of my own relationships with students and how having ' favourites' can be damaging to a students confidence. 
I really am an advocate of treat others how you wish (or wished) to be treated.

I feel our personal ethical standpoint is ever changing with the things we experience. I am now a mum of 2 and this has had a big influence on my ethical considerations. I am more protective over my students as I see them now as someone else's babies no matter how big they are, and I am more aware of how my actions can be perceived by a young mind and what impact my words can have on them. 

I have really enjoyed delving into my own experiences to help ascertain where my ethical behaviours root from. I have previously been considering the bigger ethical picture, the things that are a discourse between the professionals in my practice but are not necessarily things I have control over. However I was pleased to discover that there are dance ethicists out there, they recognise that there is not enough unity amongst dance teaching professions and a need for continuous professional development.

Such academics are Julia Buckroyd and Sho Botham, their work has been very inciteful and helped my understanding of ethics in relation to dance teaching. Follow the link below for a selection of articles available to download. 

Ethical issues in the Training and Development of Dance Teachers in the Private Sector

A Question Of Ethics

I have really enjoyed spending time broadening my knowledge of Ethics. The dictionary defines Ethics as - 'moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.' (Anon, 2018) Initially this makes me think of the safeguarding and health and safety considerations that apply to my practice, Dance Teaching. The things that are very much recognised as bad on pretty much anyone's moral compass. For this reason there are now laws in place to ensure the line is never crossed. 

But Ethics isn't so black and white, often Ethics are a personal opinion or depend on a persons own moral values. Hence why guidelines, codes of conducts and laws are put in place. 

Ethical theory serves as the foundation for ethical solutions to the difficult situations people encounter in life. In fact, for centuries, philosophers have come up with theoretical ways of telling right from wrong and for giving guidelines about how to live and act ethically.( Panza and Potthast, 2010)

There are many Ethical Theories but I feel the below are most relevant to my practice - 

Virtue ethics states that character matters above all else. Living an ethical life, or acting rightly, requires developing and demonstrating the virtues of courage, compassion, wisdom, and temperance. It also requires the avoidance of vices like greed, jealousy, and selfishness.

Contract theory proposes thinking about ethics in terms of agreements between people. Doing the right thing means abiding by the agreements that the members of a rational society would choose. So for contract theorists, ethics isn’t necessarily about character, consequences, or principles.

Care ethics focuses ethical attention on relationships before other factors. As a result, acting rightly involves building, strengthening, and maintaining strong relationships. Acting rightly thus displays care for others and for the relationships of which they are a part. To care ethicists, relationships are fundamental to ethical thinking. (Panza and Potthast, 2010)

As a teacher I have developed and demonstrate compassion and wisdom towards my students as in Virtue Ethics. I also fit into the Contract Theory, teaching under a dance society I uphold their ethical values and code of conduct. I also have a duty of care towards my students ethically, ensuring I build and maintain strong and trustworthy relationships.

Above I have mentioned Code of Conduct, as a teacher for the ISTD I adhere to their code and principals, to maintain the reputation of the society, demonstrate personal best practice and teaching and act with integrity, courtesy and consideration. The code highlights 11 principals of practice, they are all equally as important but I feel some lead to more common discourse among dance teachers.

• Acknowledge their own professional limitations at any point at time, and not agree to do work in which they are not competent but engage in continual professional development to maintain and improve their professional competence.
• Use best endeavours to ensure that all teaching staff are of an appropriate level of competence. All members should encourage constructive communication between teachers and students and foster professional attitudes to work and Dance, acknowledge physical variety and limitations in a positive manner and seek to resolve problems by effective communication with students. (ISTD, 2016)

Have you ever experienced anything that may question the practice principals above? 

Dance teaching hasn't always been so well monitored, and there are many questions surrounding the methods used. Within the media dance teachers are often portrayed as pushy and as bullies. For example - Abby Lee Miller on Dance Moms, uses humiliation, favouritism, and threats to supposedly better her students.  The second episode of season 1 was even entitled ' Wildly Inappropriate'  However this would not be acceptable in any dance school I have worked in.

At vocational college dancers are exposed to more extreme methods of 'motivation' such as weekly weigh ins, punishments of extra physical workouts and verbal warnings of showcase numbers being pulled if not perfected.

I remember at college being made to dance 1 by 1 the opening of the showcase in front of everyone to prove we had the timing correct, this was a form of humiliation. I have been pushed into the splits and been left with pulled muscles from rigorous 'Bikini Body' workouts.

Are these methods acceptable? Should more be done to regulate dance training in a college setting? Often 'guest teachers' are professionals who have not gone through the in depth training required to teach and may not adhere to the same codes of conduct, leading them to teach how they were taught. 

Do you feel that 'tough love' made you the performer you are today? 

There is now so much support and material available to educate and inform Dance Teachers on how to provide best practice, but is there enough governing bodies to ensure this is being adhered to? Or do you think it is becoming too rigid? 

Bibliography 

Anon (2018) [online] https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ethics [accessed October 2018]

ISTD Codes of Professional Standards and Practice (2015) [online] available at https://www.istd.org/site-search/?keywords=Code+of+Professional+Conduct+and+Practice+for+Teachers+of+Dance [accessed October 2018]
Panza, C Potthast, A (2010) Ethics for Dummies [online] available at https://www.dummies.com/education/philosophy/a-snapshot-of-key-ethical-theories/  [accessed October 2018]


References
Dance Moms (13th July 2011) [TV Programme] Network Lifetime

Image
Pixabay (2018) [online] available at https://pixabay.com/en/business-idea-style-concept-goals-1753098/