Ethics.
For weeks now this word has caused shivers down my spine. I have been continuously researching ethics; ethics surrounding dance, education and our every day lives, but for some reason it has taken me much longer to become engrossed in this topic. Even now I don’t feel like I completely understand, but wanted to share some of my research and also hear other students' thoughts to help improve my knowledge;
So, what are ethics?
"a system of accepted beliefs that control behaviour, especially such a system based on morals" - Cambridge Dictionary
I often get mixed up between ethics and morals. I thought that the Cambridge Dictionary definition would help me understand, instead it caused more confusion. However, I came across a video online of a lady who spoke about when she joined the army. She felt conflicted because she believed killing was morally wrong, but the army’s ethical code encourages taking lives for the sake of the mission. Similarly (but of far less importance), in an audition situation if the person next to you falls over mid-dance, we don’t stop and ask if they are okay, we continue because ultimately, we want/need the job. Ethics aren’t always moral. This helped me understand that morals are concepts that we have to help us be good people, but we don’t have to use them, whereas ethics describes behaviour that is right or wrong. Additionally, this prompted me to recall ethical situations that I faced whilst growing up in the dance world. For example;
- Being told I would never be a Ballerina due to my body shape (at the age of 11).
- Then, contradictory being suspected of having an eating disorder (also at the age of 11).
- Being told I shouldn’t audition for certain dance colleges because I wouldn’t get accepted (I auditioned anyway and proved them wrong).
- Competition judges judging unfairly.
- Favouritism (or in some cases being unfavored).
The journey to become a professional dancer isn’t a walk in the park, and these are only a few examples of unethical situations that I had to deal with during my training. I have also had to deal with similar situations in my professional career, however I feel that it would be unethical of me to discuss these on my blog.
To help my understanding of ethical considerations, I watched a TedX Talk by Michael D. Burroughs called 'The Significance of Ethics and Ethics Education in Daily Life'. As I am now working in a new field of practice, it was very helpful to learn about everyday ethics that can be found in a classroom situation. It also cleverly pointed out that children go to school to participate in a variety of different subjects and extra curricula activities to encourage maximum chances of learning, however there is no training in ethics education. I can relate to dealing with children who ask ethical questions in class, but these questions are not always answered; maybe because we think these questions are inappropriate, or maybe we try to avoid controversy. But we should not be teaching children to avoid issues and to pretend they will go away on their own. I believe to be affected by this now - not only have I been struggling to get my head around ethics in my current learning, I also sometimes chose to ignore certain issues, either because I don't fully understand or I don't want to stress myself. Borroughs describes children to be imaginably present. Adults seem to lack this skill; maybe I should take this opportunity to learn from the children in my class.
I am also currently having to deal with another matter in my new job - trying not using my 'dance morals' in the classroom. Dance has taught me many things, not all of which are beneficial in our everyday lives; for example, criticism will lead to improvement, never say no, the show must go on (even when you feel exhausted or ill), always aim to be the best you can be etc. We have adapted to these ideas and were forced to grow a thick skin. But I need to remember that the children in my class are more fragile and they need to understand you don't always need to be perfect. It is okay to get things wrong sometimes. It is also okay to have a break when you feel overloaded. I often think that I am a little hard, but my morals now are as a result of my dance upbringing. I need to work more ethically to ensure my students feel comfortable and happy in class, because this will lead to optimised learning opportunities for them.
So this is my take on ethics. After writing this blog and exploring these ideas surrounding ethical considerations, I can admit that it doesn't feel as daunting anymore. I hope I am on track to understanding ethics correctly, and would love to hear others thoughts about this very interesting topic.
References
Websites
Ethics. (n.d.). In: Cambridge Advanced Learner' s Dictionary and Thesauruses. [online]. Available at: dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ethic. (Accessed 22/10/2020).
Unknown. 2020. What’s The Difference Between “Morals” vs. “Ethics”?. [online]. Available at: www.dictionary.com/e/moral-vs-ethical/. Accessed (22/10/2020).
Video
TedX Talks. 2016. The Significance of Ethics and Ethics Education in Daily Life. [video]. Available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8juebyo_Z4. (Accessed 22/10/2020).
Unknown. 2020. What’s The Difference Between “Morals” vs. “Ethics”?. [video]. Available at: www.dictionary.com/e/moral-vs-ethical/. Accessed (22/10/2020).
I love this blog Alice! For someone who says you don't get ethics you have done an AMAZING job at linking ethics in your dance upbringing to your practice now, and how you have had to reflect on your ethics when working with the children. I can image it must have been a difficult adjustment to almost betray the principals you had as a dancer in your new situation because those principals just weren't appropriate.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking about the phrase 'work ethic' to wrap my head around ethics. Morally, we would say you should work hard, be focused, try your best, have integrity, be fair, put everything you have into something etc., but you also have to consider the ethics of the situation - eg you would not tell the children you work with to be working on something for hours every day, they would need to have breaks and do other things in between. And that doesn't mean their work ethic is less than say a post-grad who is able to spend hours focused on one thing, it means they are working with the best work ethic for them, and their way of getting an optimal result is different to the next person's. Don't know if that makes sense haha.
I just mean that morals are really important principals to have but when it comes to ethical considerations, there is no 'one-size-fits-all' because each situation is unique, which is why it's so hard to really pin ethics down as a concept.
I'm also hoping to be able to form my ideas into writing this week! Great post x
Hi Roanne! It's great to know that you understood my ideas. The way you have spoken about 'work ethic' is also very helpful for my understanding. As dancers, we have had to show an intense 'work ethic' to get through college and to have successful careers, which is great and has given us many 'transferable skills'. However, this is an extreme case of 'work ethic' and is not appropriate in many other situations, especially in a school. We can encourage some of our ethics to our students (ie. always try your best) but not all of them, because it is very important for students to feel comfortable and safe, especially for younger children with differing needs. I think I was finding ethics difficult to understand at first because like you have said ' there is no 'one-size-fits-all'. We are learning that our practices are all completely different, and so are our ethical considerations. Your comment has been really helpful. x
DeleteExactly, and I think that's partly why people are so surprised when they realise how hard dancers actually work! I am the same I find it really interesting reading everyone's blogs and seeing where ethics comes into their practice in different ways. I'm glad it was helpful. x
ReplyDelete