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This paper presents an ethical-checking process designed to distinguish principled decisions from arbitrary or self-serving ones. Drawing on a model of artistic insubordination and connecting language with steps from Martin Luther King’s nonviolent action framework, it builds a structured method for leaders balancing administrative authority, democratic citizenship, and human responsibility under real-world policy tensions.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-role-of-personal-ethical-checking-in-courageous-school-leadership/601725/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-role-of-personal-ethical-checking-in-courageous-school-leadership/601725.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"ahduag","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-02","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What problem does the ethical-checking process aim to address in school leadership?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It helps leaders differentiate ethical decisions from arbitrary or self-serving choices when professional and organizational codes conflict.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How do professional ethical standards create difficulties for leaders?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"They may simultaneously demand student well-being and obedience to laws or governing-board policies, while offering limited guidance on resolving conflicts of duty.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What sources and frameworks does the paper use to build the process?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It draws from the authors’ model of artistic insubordination and links language-based steps to Martin Luther King’s direct action model to develop an ethical-checking procedure.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},601725,1792208849,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":46},3985747870414,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","The Role of Personal Ethical Checking in Courageous School Leadership  \nFrederick C. Buskey  \nClemson University  \nEric M. Pitts  \nAshville, North Carolina  \nWhen school leaders make calculated decisions to deviate from hierarchical or cultural directives and norms, they may be viewed as mavericks or brigands. This paper details a process of ethical checking to help differentiate ethical decisions from more arbitrary or selfserving decisions . The paper examines conflicts inherent in many professional codes . We use our model of artistic insubordination (Buskey & Pitts, 2009) as a departure point and examine the relationship between language and steps from Dr . Martin Luther King’s direct action model with concepts already found in educational leadership. We use both to develop a process of ethical checking. The process should help school leaders attempting to balance the demands of being administrative leaders, democratic citizens, and human beings (Starratt, 2004) .  \nJust as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of  \nunderstanding and brotherhood.  \n-Martin Luther King, Letter from Birmingham City Jail, 1963  \nIntroduction  \nMany would argue that today’s dark depths in education are reflected in the pressures of testbased accountability, decreased building level autonomy, and a consistent erosion of resources . We assert that it is only through the consistent efforts of gadflies that students can remain at the center of schools’ actions . However, being a gadfly is more than being a squeaky wheel; it requires a careful and thoughtful application of ethical principles and decision-making. Previously, we suggested that principal licensure programs needed to prepare leaders to do good, and that this inherently meant preparing them to work from positions where their power was either hierarchically insubordinate to principals and  \nNCPEA Education Leadership Review, Vol. 14, No. 3– October 2013 ISSN: 1532-0723 © 2013 National Council of Professors of Educational Administration  \nsuperintendents (in the case of grade level leaders, lead teachers and assistant principals, for example), or powerfully insubordinate to elements such as school tradition, politics, and culture (Buskey & Pitts, 2009). Citing the need to creatively work around such power in order to either prevent harm or do good (Starratt, 2004), we referred to the idea of Artistic Insubordination .  \nWhile we were able to offer a concrete model based on King's (1963) four steps of non-violent protest, the article was written largely as a proposition and offered little in the way of specifics . We concluded with three important questions, the first of which this article attempts to address in some functional detail. In suggesting that leaders need to become more independent in making decisions our first question is of paramount importance: \"What is the difference between a maverick and a brigand?\" (Buskey & Pitts, 2009, p. 60) .  \nMavericks and Brigands  \nThe existence of professional and organizational codes of ethics is intended to provide ethical guidance, yet such codes rarely address conflicts between the organization and the organization's values . For instance, the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) lists conflicting charges in its ethical standards. The code emphasizes that principals must make, \"the well-being of students the fundamental value in all decision making and actions . \" However, principals are also charged with obeying laws and carrying out, \"the governing board of education's policies and administrative rules and regulations\" (NASSP, 2001, p. 1) . Similarly, the American Asso","cbCaiaIseDmXg5gz","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiaIseDmXg5gz","pdf",224598,"English","# Introduction\n# Mavericks and Brigands\n## Ethical codes and conflicting directives\n## Multi-step decision-making phases","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the ethical-checking process aim to address in school leadership?\",\"answer\":\"It helps leaders differentiate ethical decisions from arbitrary or self-serving choices when professional and organizational codes conflict.\"},{\"question\":\"How do professional ethical standards create difficulties for leaders?\",\"answer\":\"They may simultaneously demand student well-being and obedience to laws or governing-board policies, while offering limited guidance on resolving conflicts of duty.\"},{\"question\":\"What sources and frameworks does the paper use to build the process?\",\"answer\":\"It draws from the authors’ model of artistic insubordination and links language-based steps to Martin Luther King’s direct action model to develop an ethical-checking procedure.\"}]","The Role of Personal Ethical Checking in Courageous School Leadership | PDF",1792093314]