Let right be done: trying to put ethical standards into practice

The development of ethical standards by professional associations, boards, councils and colleges of teachers, responds in part to a moral imperative t hat teachers and school leaders be accountable to the wider community, and in part to a desire to enhance the overall professionalism of educators' be haviour. This article explores the conceptual and practical complexities in herent in defining ethical standards for the teaching profession with a par ticular focus on their questionable capacity for implementation. In combini ng empirical evidence from previously reported research studies with newly fabricated first person narrative responses to the evidence, the article se eks to illustrate the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of applying eth ical standards to actual situations in any professionally and ethically sat isfying way. It argues further that moral dilemmas facing teachers are pote ntially resolvable only by communities of educators internalizing and apply ing principles of ethics, not formalized codes or standards.