Campus Session - 21/02/11

The focus of this session was 'Ethics', referencing Course Reader 5.
We began by discussing our interpretations of the word 'ethics' :


- good and bad
- fair and just
- rules
- protection
- core values
- regulations
- virtues
- right and wrong
- morals
- code of conduct


Ethics ----->>> 'Ethos' - Greek for 'Character'.
We established that it can be a fine line between an ethos and a purpose/mission. E.g. in a school, the purpose/mission is WHAT is done, the ethos is HOW.


Virtues - values, good-bad qualities. E.g. kindness, patience, honesty.


Once we had established the terminology, we put it all into practice, firstly by exploring our own personal values -


Personal Values
* Determination/drive
*Optimism (see the good in everyone and everything)
*Honesty
*Respectful - treat others as you want to be treated.


Professional Values
*Determination/drive
*Motivation
*Respectful
*Always give 100% effort, no matter what


From comparing eachothers' professional ethos, we could determine that a 'good professional' in any career field requires qualities such as:
*Determination
*Reliability
*Ruthlessness, where necessary


Conflicts with Personal Ethics
*Salesmen often find themselves facing a moral dilemma, having to push-sell items they don't necessarily believe in, as a way of paying their bills. Mark gave a brilliant example of  this, from his own experience.
Doctors also face ethical issues on a daily basis - they take the Hippocratic Oath, and yet personally, their compassion must urge them to put terminally ill patients out of pain and misery.
I am also no stranger to brushing certain morals under the carpet, if it means I can pay my bills or afford to go to an audition that week. It has made me think how many personal ethics we have to forfeit, in order to be a successful professional.
The reader highlights a thought provoking example of this. For those of you who haven't got around to reading this, here's a short extract:
'In 1993, Kevin Carter, a documentary photographer, came across an impoverished girl in Sudan struggling to crawl towards water where everyone else had headed. As he was observing her, a vulture landed near the girl. Carter waited for nearly 20 minutes for the bird to spread its wings in order for a good photograph, but it never did. After taking some photos anyway, he did not help the girl reach the feed station and instead left her to die. The controversy continued when in 1994 Carter won a Pulitzer Prize for the photograph. Sadly, he committed suicide on July 27th, 1994 due to the extreme guilt that he felt for letting the Sudanese girl die when he knew he could have prevented it. His suicide note read, "The pain of life overrides
the joy to the point that joy does not exist."
There have been many arguments that Carter’s lack of intervention on the girl’s
behalf was fully justified. Before leaving on the assignment, he and the other
photographers were instructed not to touch anyone for fear of epidemics.
Furthermore, the ethical role and duty of a photographer is to observe and not
interfere.' (BA Professional Practice Course Reader 5, Professional Ethics, 2010/11).


We also discussed the affects law has on ethics, i.e. enforcing ethics. Comparative ethics can be seen between countries with different laws and different cultures. Examples of this include polygamy and homosexuality.


We were then given the following passage -
" The film 'Billy Elliot' tells the story of a boy in a mining town in the North of England during the miner's strike and his fight to study ballet. One scene showed 'Billy' practicing pirouettes over and over again in his quest to get them right. The delight on his face was obvious when he showed his dance teacher his achievement but the delight instantly turned to disappointment when no praise was offered. Instead his arm placing was criticised."
We were given three theoretical approaches to ethics, with which to 'make sense' of this passage, so to speak. They were :


*CONSEQUENCIALISM - e.g. an approach used by Utilitarians - 'The greater good'. e.g. killing one person to save nine lives.


*DEONTOLOGIST APPROACH - There is no 'grey' area, where morals can be reasoned, depending on circumstances. Something is either right or wrong, black or white. e.g. All lying is wrong, no matter how small or big the lie.


* VIRTUE ETHICS - Assessing the situation and the character of the person, before making a moral judgement. e.g. Crimes of passion.


Looking at these three approaches, my group came to this conclusion:
Consequencialism - small disappointment for Billy, but correction makes him a better technical dancer
Deontologistical - No positivity about the pirouettes, just negative about the arm lines.
Virtue Ethics - The teacher was doing what she believed to be ethically right, in her role as Billy's teacher, and she knew he would respond well to this method of teaching - 'Body Centered Approach', as opposed to a 'Person Centered Approach'.
Leading on from this task, we briefly discussed our own experiences with these two main teaching techniques,  which worked best for us, and why.




Case Study


Once we had explored these examples, we were given case studies of our own. My group was given an Internet article dating June 2009, about an alternative outreach dance project, organised by a team from the Royal Opera House. A team flew out to China, to teach an intensive creative dance course for a week. The course included students of all ages and abilities, some disabilities, and students suffering the affects of the recent earthquakes. The issues being dealt with included:
- language barriers
- cultural/religious differences
- the approach needed to teach a variety of ages and standards
- the handling of delicate subjects, including disability and the earthquake
- the consequence that their visit would have on the students
Therefore, a good Ethos for this particular project would include the following virtues:
- Appropriateness, and an ability to cater for all needs
- Sensitivity
- Good communication
- Patience


Final Task


Our final task of the day was to re-group, and come up with an appropriate code of conduct for our profession. My fellow 'performers' and I came up with this:


CODE OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS - PERFORMER.


1. Performers must have consideration and respect for the Ethos of those they work for/alongside.
2. Performers must be dedicated throughout, including during the preparation, rehearsal and product stages.
3. Performers must conscientiously use sheet music and choreography, in an appropriate way, during teaching and audition processes.
4. Performers must have a responsibility to deliver to the best of your ability at all times.
5. Performers are obligated to fulfill contract requirements.
6. Performers must strive to not deliberately endanger oneself. e.g. reckless/avoidable accidents.
7. Performers must have a responsibility for the safety of themselves and others in the work place.
8. Performers are obligated to take care of all legalities involving self-employment, i.e. taxes, national insurance.


Conclusion


I found this session extremely helpful on so many levels. I began the lecture at a complete loose end with regard to my inquiry, but this has really whetted my appetite for going down the routes of ethical links and how far people would be prepared to go, to become 'successful'. That also raises the question, 'by which standards are we measuring success?' I left this session feeling that I have gained a lot of tips and aids for my teaching job too, which I will definitely try out next week. Overall, an extremely useful campus session, once again. Now I need to organise my thoughts enough to establish my inquiry.