Being a leader in education comes with all sorts of ethical dilemmas - often we face situations for which there is no clear playbook for how to respond.
However, the , developed in 2018 through a commission involving the Association of School and College Leaders and the Chartered College of Teaching, among others, aims to give leaders a set of top-level approaches to ensure that any decisions are made in the best interests of all involved.ÌýThe cross-sector Ethical Leadership Alliance, chaired by Dame Alison Peacock, now leads this work. ÌýÌý
In a new series on Tes, leaders will share a dilemma they faced and how they used the FELE to help guide their response. In this first instalment a leader discusses a tricky recruitment issue.
What was the issue?
Our school - a large secondary in a densely populated city area - had advertised for a physics teacher. We did not expect a huge pool of applicants and, indeed, received only one clearly suitable candidate.
While that meant the recruitment challenge looked to have been solved, an ethical dilemma presented itself: we would be recruiting the only physical science specialist from another local school.
Is it acceptable for a thriving school to adopt an asset-stripping approach, knowingly taking the best talent from local schools that may already have significant additional challenges?
What we did next
The first thing we made sure to do was follow due process for the application. Even when there’s only one candidate, a record of sound HR decision-making is essential.
As such, the candidate was called to interview and the standard full recruitment process was followed. The candidate was offered the job, which they accepted.
That was pleasing for us - but we had to be mindful that the consequences of our actions could exacerbate challenges in another setting. So, what could we do?
How the FELE values helped
Looking at the FELE values helped me to consider several of the important elements.
In this case, the need to have high-quality teaching staff for all pupils aligned directly with the overriding principle of selflessness - extended in this instance beyond our own school.
Next honesty and integrity demanded that the situation should be recognised for its second-order consequences, as well as our first-order need and the need to recognise the issues beyond our own school.
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This meant leadership was being tested: would we simply succumb to the convenience of our own problem being solved or work to extend our responsibility to the trail of difficulties we were leaving behind us?
We acted, as best we could, with kindness towards the staff and pupils in the other school; with courage to step beyond the normal behaviours that might have arisen, with justice and service extended across the community of local schools.
We applied wisdom in recognising the potential depth of the issues and optimism as we sought to find an improved outcome for all.
What happened next?
As a result of considering all this, we took three additional steps beyond simply appointing the new teacher.
First, having made the job offer, we contacted the senior team at the school where the teacher was currently employed. We talked openly about the situation and how we had followed appropriate processes to appoint the new member of staff. We also discussed the consequences and explored how we might help to resolve the unfolding challenges.
After this discussion, we arranged for our team of physics teachers to provide additional twilight sessions - for students and, in some instances, teaching staff - in a number of neighbouring schools; providing all those attending with the additional expertise they may not have been able to access otherwise.
Secondly, we worked in collaboration with our local Science Learning Centre to spread that expertise even wider in the region’s schools by sharing our physics knowledge and curriculum design.
Finally, recognising the depth and strength of our physics teaching provision, we expanded the sixth-form offer and provided another physics class so that more local students could enjoy the expert provision post-16.
With this decision we faced the ethical consideration that our increased intake might have an impact on other providers, so it was discussed locally with other providers.
Schools helping each other
The key question in this situation is whether, as school leaders, we have an ethical responsibility for the consequences - in other schools - of making the right decision in our own.
It’s not an easy question to answer, but it has to be considered if our interest is in the system as a whole, rather than only our immediate community.
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