Professional ethics, morals and codes of conduct, traditional values and cups of tea!

Thinking about professional ethics and codes of conduct  - I realise my line of inquiry has raised some ethical issues about the teaching practices in dance colleges particularly vocational institutions which I think are relevant and useful in my professional practice and for my future career.

“Put the kettle on – I think this is going to be a long blog!”

I was interested in other blog postings regarding ethics and codes of conduct. Mark wondered if the fact that he took a job in Malaysia when he did not agree with the rules on homosexuality in that country made him ‘unethical’.

My understanding of ethical is whether something is morally right or wrong. For example if I witness an accident I might stop to phone the emergency services but I am not professionally qualified or have the required knowledge  to  perform any type of rescue or medical assistance but if I was a doctor in the same situation it would be considered unethical of me not to help as I would have the relevant professional training to do so.  We cannot be held accountable for failing to do something that we do not have the ability to do.

Therefore I think in Mark’s situation he is not able to change the position in Malaysia so it is just a personal issue for him based on his own moral judgement and his own principles. He has no power to alter the situation in a professional sense.

I have often wondered how a defence lawyer can defend a murderer or rapist or paedophile  in court when they know they are guilty because they have confessed to their crime,  but our laws say everyone, regardless, has the right to a competent defence, is innocent until proven guilty and that the rights of the accused form part of our justice system. So the defense’s job is to make the prosecution prove its case with sound arguments, real evidence, and reliable testimony. In a sense, the real client of a defense lawyer isn't the defendant at all but the integrity of democracy and the justice system. And within the criminal justice system there is a strict code of professional ethics for both prosecutors and defenders.( As any regular CSI junkie will know (like me) that this doesn’t mean that they always follow these rules!)

In my blog posting of  Friday 10^th December, ‘Do we reap what we sow?' for the first Module I discussed morality,

“It is our moral development from childhood that motivates our behaviour and gives us the ability to imagine ourselves in the place of another and to feel their emotions and this then triggers our behaviour.”

http://emilyrose91.blogspot.com/2010/12/do-we-reap-what-we-sow-i-have-been.html?showComment=1300103508087#c2047127002162899684

I think this links into ethical considerations in our profession as often our decisions morally are deeply rooted in our personal virtues and beliefs from our upbringing and some of the decisions we make professionally and the principles that guide our behaviour are rooted in our upbringing, education and personal experiences.

Adesola suggested I further develop a quote from another blog I made in the previous module which I also think links to how I develop my own personal virtues and beliefs ;

“............ embedded in my culture, geography and historical time and I have been influenced in my thoughts and opinions by my upbringing, my parents, peers, education and tutors and this all plays an important part in how I learn and the conclusions I draw from that information and any experiences." 

http://emilyrose91.blogspot.com/2010/11/reflective-theory-how-i-learn.html

I think our values inform our principles and all our experiences influence our thoughts and opinions. We develop a behavioural conduct that sets our own standards and principles.  

As I discussed in my blog , “Was I born to dance or taught to dance?” our genetics play some part in our development not only physically but socially and psychologically too. On top of that many of our influences come from our parents and peers and our teachers.

My love of dance and the desire to perform came I think from my early influences watching productions my Mum was involved in and accompanying her to rehearsals and performances and also numerous trips to the theatre to watch musicals, plays, ballets, pantomines etc. Because my Mum loved theatre my childhood was full of it – our house was, and still is, always full of piano students or singing students having their lessons so it is bound to influence me one way or the other I think. I was bound to grow up to either love it or loathe it !
One of my early memories is a trip to London for my 8^th birthday to ride the London Eye and see ‘Cats’ and this has influenced me ever since. I still dream of being the white cat and  I think if I had to pinpoint a moment, that was the moment I wanted to be a dancer!

I noticed throughout my blogs as I looked back at the above that I do “quote” my mum and grandma a lot and their little sayings and these do follow me through life and influence how I look at things. They are my own little personal ‘code of conduct’, my inspirations and beliefs.

I think we all have a code of conduct which we apply in our personal lives and these are based on our influences as we grew up and our life experiences. Many of mine are based on Christian beliefs. I wasn’t brought up in a strict religious family but with ‘Christian’ morals and beliefs. Many of my family are involved in charitable and voluntary work and I think this sort of ‘rubs off’.

I suppose then the ten commandments were the first ‘code of conduct’. These Commandments came at a time when the Israelites as a tribe of nomads, living as one large community, needed some basic rules of conduct and a belief in a higher power than Moses who would enforce them.

Pretty much like the laws our governments make today.

Many of those commandments still provide the basic laws in our society (murder, stealing, not giving false testimony) which give us, a set of rules and regulations in law that we must all abide by. We all know it is a criminal offence to commit murder or to steal or lie and cheat and that we have to take individual responsibility for our actions if we break those laws. For example if we are caught lying in court it is ‘perjury’.

It is the greyer areas that perhaps are harder to explain, eg: greed and envy, social injustice. The issues that have no black or white and are open to individual  interpretation. Therefore my upbringing, I strongly believe, not only taught me to respect these rules and regulations but also influenced my beliefs in respect for others and injustice and why I probably struggle with some of the issues I have witnessed and experienced pursuing dance as a vocation and why I want to pursue as a line of inquiry that being a dancer should not be at the expense of the person. A dancer is a person who dances for a profession but most importantly they are a human being with the same capacities of ‘personhood’ as any other human being in any other profession and I think they deserve the same respect as a professional.  

This is what I meant in my statement about how cultural, geographical and historical influences affect how I think ‘morally’, my principles and decisions. Some are traditional values that refer to those beliefs and moral codes that are passed down from generation to generation within a family, culture or community. Traditional values give us an identity, ‘it’s who we are’, without seeking any notion of whether they are good or bad, they are not universal and give us identity, something we belong to and feel a part of where we feel secure and safe. These traditions help us develop values.

Besides the once-a-year-type birthday or holiday traditions, there can be shorter-range traditions. Some cultures and many families have religious traditions on Saturday or Sunday. There can be traditional ways of cooking a particular meal or of getting ready for school or of packing for a trip, eg: the traditional family roast with Yorkshire puddings on a Sunday in my part of the world, a turkey at Christmas etc. Some traditions are real rituals, involving a particular sequence of events. There is comfort and security in these rituals. I was always encouraged to have open and free communication and we always sat down together to eat our meals and discuss ‘our day’ and give our opinions on what was happening in the world.   

 I can think of a little quirky example. On Friday I was out to lunch with some friends and we were discussing this very issue and why our parents always said that we shouldn’t eat meat on Fridays. None of us really knew why. We knew it had some biblical connection but weren’t sure what but it is a ‘code’ that has passed down from one generation to another but these things stick in our sub conscious. Without thinking I ordered fish but then I don’t eat much meat anyway and usually do choose the fish, but it was uncanny that most of us did the same.

So how does this fit in with codes of conduct and professional ethics in dance?

I think I will let you go get another cup of tea, have a comfort break and then I’ll continue in a sequel as I’m conscious I do write a lot when I get going and this blog is probably long enough already and as my Grandma would say,"Enough is as good as a feast!" and my Mum "Always leave with them wanting more!"

[P.S.   Just on a little light note, my Mum’s friend is Dutch and when she came to stay she found it really funny how we English deal with everything served with a cup of tea! It’s as if a cup of tea is the answer to everything whatever the news, good or bad. The answer is to put the kettle on. Another traditional value?]