The Ethical Line: 10 Leadership Strategies for Effective Decision Making

by Toni Osborn Faddis

Overview

Be the leader your school community needs.

The responsibilities of today’s school leaders—providing a world-class education while serving as the moral compass of diverse communities—requires deep insight and understanding of communities, cultures and integrity. In this book, real-life vignettes, mental exercises, reflections, checklists, and other templates provide you with practical strategies to:

• Understand how ethical standards and core values drive your leadership choices
• Approach problems through the lenses of equity, ethical standards, and your own moral compass
• Recognize when urgent action is called for and when it’s better to methodically consider your actions and their consequences

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781544337883
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	06/27/2019
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Toni Faddis joined Corwin as a full-time professional learning consultant in 2021. Before that, she was a bilingual teacher in elementary and middles schools as well as a Reading Recovery specialist before becoming a principal and principal coach in San Diego, California. In addition, Toni served as the Director of Equity, Access, and Leadership Development at the district level. Toni holds teaching and administrative services credentials in California and earned her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from San Diego State University.

Toni is the co-author of Collaborating Through Collective Efficacy Cycles: Ensuring All Students and Teachers Succeed, PLC+ for Instructional Leaders, How Teams Work, and The Ethical Line, as well as numerous professional articles about adolescent literacy.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Douglas Fisher
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Introduction
The Ethical Line
Temptations Lurk Everywhere
Tough Choices
How This Book Can Help
Features You Will Find
Chapter 1: Know Thyself
Strategy #1: Identify and Model Your Core Values
The New Normal
Your Ethical Line
Right vs. Right Situations
When Moral Compasses Falter
Strategy #2: Be Curiously Introspective
Find Kindred Spirits
Practice Self-Care
Express Gratitude
Build Resilience
Take a Cognitive Time-Out
Pause to Regroup
Calm Mental Chatter
Dare to Imagine
Chapter 2: Examine Your Community’s Values
Strategy #3: Listen Generously
Characteristics of Outstanding Listeners
Practice Empathy
Strategy #4: Create an Inclusive School Climate
Promote Emotional Well-Being
Engender Teamwork
Facilitate Collaborative Leadership
Recognize the Signs of an Unhealthy School Climate
Stimulate a Healthy School Climate
Foster Collective Efficacy
Strategy #5: Discover Your Community’s Hopes and Dreams
Explore Community Assets and Examine Your Leadership Privilege
Take the Pulse of Your Community Regularly
Empathic Interviewing
Strategy #6: Unify Around a Collective Vision
Which Values Guide Your Organization?
Making Sense of Norms and Codes of Conduct
Study Colleagues’ Behavior
Chapter 3: Adhere to Ethical and Legal Parameters
Professional Standards for Educational Leaders
Strategy #7: Consider Moral and Legal Consequences of Decisions
PSEL Standard 2: Ethics and Professional Norms
Lead With Moral Courage
A Framework for Making Ethical Decisions
The Seven Steps of Ethical Decision Making
Strategy #8: Ensure Equitable Processes and Outcomes
PSEL Standard 3: Advocate for All
Summary
Chapter 4: Promote an Ethical School Culture
Strategy #9: Walk the Talk
Be an Architect of Equity
Model Innovation and Empathy
Provide Clear Rationale for Decisions
Characteristics of Constructive Dialogue
Strategy #10: Become a Strategic Influencer
Defining Moments
Mental Preparation
Facilitate Win–Win Situations
Never Stop Learning and Growing
Conclusion
Implementation Steps
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

In today’s diverse educational systems, leading through an ethical lens is more important than ever. In The Ethical Line, Dr. Faddis presents thoughtful, practical strategies for navigating the moral and ethical challenges educators face each day.

Janice Cook

An innovative and thoughtful approach to addressing real-life ethical concerns of educational practitioners. With its 10 leadership strategies, The Ethical Line is a must-read for all educators. Kudos to Dr. Faddis for this important contribution to the field.

Jacqueline Stefkovich

This is a must read for any school leader. We face ethical decisions every day. This book provides practical and realistic tools to help every leader who is faced with challenging situations and decisions throughout their school year. The author does a superb job of aligning the leaders heart, head, and ethics in the decision-making process of school leaders. The students and staff reap the benefits from a leader inspired by this book.

Holly Leach

As an administrator, being able to have a tool that supports the conversation around ethics makes a strong impact on our school culture. This book allows everyone in the school setting to have common language and understanding of what an ethical school looks and feels like. This book supports the growth of any leader and school community when dealing with difficult situations.

Dominique Smith

Dr. Faddis skillfully captures the very essence of what leaders at all levels of the organization must do to solve complex issues in which there are no easy solutions. In a time where integrity and ethical leadership is paramount when faced with solving tough issues, Dr. Faddis provides hope and proven strategies to keep leaders from crossing the ethical line.

David Lorden

This book provides useful strategies and structures, drawn from the field, to assist leaders at all levels better understand the complexities if ethical leadership.

Ray Boyd

Dr. Faddis has written an exemplar piece to support and guide school leaders in developing and utilizing an ethical lens when leading diverse schools. The Ethical Line illustrates the need for ethical leadership in a way that is conceivable and achievable, through the implementation of 10 key strategies. This is an essential read for all current and future Pre K–12 leaders.

Sarah Graham

I have come to know and rely on Toni Faddis as an effective equity-driven school leader. I have every confidence that those who read this book will come to the same conclusion. More importantly, the book presents 10 ethically driven strategies to help us become the school leaders that our children, families, educators, and communities deserve.

Ian Pumpian

Toni Faddis provides a vital work for our time. Schooling is not less complex, it is more complex by the day. In The Ethical Line, we are reminded that schools are ‘people places’ and only ethical leaders can build the kind of community necessary for each student to thrive and communities to reach their full potential together.

Bradley Portin

The daily decisions of school leaders are shaped by a set of personal and professional ethics that influence every interaction we have with students, colleagues, and families. Toni Faddis provides clear and coherent guidelines for helping leaders locate and adhere to a set of ethical standards, and interrogate one’s own biases. The outcome is an assurance that all decisions, large and small, are grounded in an ethical frame.

Nancy Frey

Today’s leadership preparation programs aim to create leaders who strive to take personal responsibility for providing the environment that produce empowered, engaged, inspired, and successful learners. In thinking about principal preparation programs, The Ethical Line is the reading that will push your candidates to achieve just this by thinking deeply and reflecting upon who they are and what type of leader they will be once they enter the ranks of school leadership. Dr. Faddis’s easy-to-read, practitioner-friendly text provides activities that enhance classroom discussion and complement any program committed to equity-driven leadership and ethical decision making. I highly recommend integrating this important book into your program.

Lori Rhodes