Teaching Ethics Isn't Enough: The Challenge of Being Ethical Teachers (Forum: Reflections and Epiphanies‪)‬

Last year I faced yet again an ethical dilemma similar to those you probably face. I had a good student who stopped coming to class and writing the assignments. Eventually, I heard through the advising office that his mother was near the end of a long struggle with cancer. It could have been some other tragedy: a rape, car accident, home fire. Near the end of the semester, the student returned and tried to make up the work; he managed to get a "C," and I thought a sad incident was closed. But it wasn't. He was soon back again, telling me he had lost his scholarship. Because of the enormous medical bills, his family could not afford to give him any more money for school; his scholarship was essential to his continued education. And yes, you guessed it. He was so close that he needed only one grade changed to get his scholarship back. He offered to do any work I requested to get a higher grade. I checked his story, and every word was true. What would you have done? Would you have given him extra work, an opportunity no longer available to other students in the class? Would your answer change if he were one of several students in your class in the same situation? Would it matter that most, if not all, of your "C" students could probably bring their work up a grade notch with similar special consideration? These questions, of course, are ethics questions. And for me, they seem to be occurring more and more frequently.