Statement of Beliefs

Schools of the Future: Ethical Excellence

 

We believe that:

1. Our society is at a critical crossroads that calls for the ethical leadership of independent schools.

2. Each of us bears the responsibility to become the best person we can, and to use our talents to make the world a better place.

3. Independent schools can play a leadership role in preparing tomorrow's ethical leaders and demonstrating that schools of all types can nurture ethical and intellectual excellence in an integrated way.

4. Educating for ethical excellence involves not only learning to think ethically but also learning to act ethically in every area of our personal and public lives. Schools must, therefore, provide opportunities for ethical action as well as ethical reflection.

5. Culture shapes character. Schools must take steps to create, assess, and continually build a culture of high standards in both ethics and academics.

6. A school's professional community-administrators, faculty, and staff- must provide ethical stewardship in all their community interactions.

7. All these efforts must be guided by research, informed by practitioner wisdom, and supported by individual school administrators and staff, within a larger network of schools committed to shared goals. 

8. Goals should include a culture of recognized best practices; they should consider both specific community needs and Essential Capacity 7 (Integrity and Ethical Decision Making) from the Guide to Becoming a School of the Future (NAIS, 2010). These include:

• Sustaining an empathetic and compassionate outlook
• Fostering integrity, honesty, fairness, and respect
• Exhibiting moral courage in confronting unjust situations
• Acting responsibly with the interest and well-being of the larger community in mind
• Making reasoned and ethical decisions in response to complex problems