Assessment, Plagiarism, Cheating, Freedom of Expression and Religion in School

Research Legal/Ethical Issues in Education
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Research Legal/Ethical Issues in Education
Introduction
The teaching profession involves significant legal and ethical issues, and teachers must understand how both law and ethics play an important role in their practice. Law and ethics are closely interrelated, but they also diverge in some aspects. While law comprises rules and regulations, ethics define principles and guidelines informing people on how to co-exist with others in society. Ethics is broadly defined as a system of morality adopted by people to help them establish productive relationships with others within their communities. Since teachers are central influencers to their students, they should understand the code of ethics in their profession. Besides, teachers also encounter an array of legal issues and understand how the law affects their profession. It will serve as a protection of their profession as well as their students. Teachers need to understand how liability and due process relate to their profession. In their everyday work, broad aspects of law ranging from copyright to contracts and religion to self-defense permeate teaching as a profession. Under the law, students have rights such as privacy and due process, and teachers should have a clear understanding of these rights and uphold them in their practice. This paper discusses assessment, plagiarism and contract cheating, and freedom of expression and religion in school as frequent ethical and legal issues that teachers encounter in their profession.
As one of the ethical issues in education, teachers should provide their learners with effective assessments and agree on ethical practices in testing. Almost a third of the time teachers spend with their students is used in administering tests to students (Tyler, 2013). However, an important aspect of adhering to responsible assessment practices is rarely covered during professional development or pre-service lessons. As a result, an educational environment that operates without an accord on the developing or delivering assessments was created. Policies that define the practices of assessment creation and delivery are formulated by school boards and politicians without the involvement of teachers. This leaves teachers with no clear guidelines and principles that can guide them in their profession. Two major issues arise in assessment, including tests and grading. Teachers tend to disagree on the implementation of standardized tests. In most schools, teachers are evaluated based on student's performance in tests. Teachers whose students pass well in tests often receive a salary increment. This practice may motivate teachers to memorize answers to tests before administering assessments to students. Besides, teachers also encounter ethical issues in grading assessments. Some instructors take grades for late submissions and indiscipline, while others modify grades for students who behave well. Therefore, teachers should understand assessment practices in education to uphold ethical standards.
Plagiarism and contract cheating have become serious forms of academic misconduct in learning institutions, and teachers frequently encounter cases of cheating. The contract cheating...