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Understanding Valuation Processes:

Exploring the Linkage Between
Motivation and Action
Paul T. Begley, Department of Education Policy Studies, Pennsylvania
State University, Pennsylvania.

Abstract: This article emphasizes the distinction between understanding valuation processes and
responding ethically to dilemmas of administrative practice. Traditional theories and frameworks
from organizational studies literature on motivation are contrasted with a conceptual lens that
portrays the dynamic linkages between motivational bases, values, attitudes, and action. The case
is made for understanding valuation processes as a primary enabling strategy for authentic
leadership practices. The dynamics of this process are further conveyed by portraying school
leadership as a phenomenon involving seven or more arenas of influence ranging from self, to
profession, to organization, to community and the transcendental. The use of ethics as a basis for
responding to the dilemmas of administration is discussed, and a sequence for the application of
ethical perspectives is proposed using a case problem.

This article is premised on the notion that it is important to make a distinction between
understanding and responding to the ethical dilemmas of school administration. Clarifying this
distinction also facilitates making linkages between two scholarly perspectives on valuation
processes that have historically been at odds with each other. One perspective is typified by the
work of scholars such as Hodgkinson (1996), Willower (1999), and Begley (2003). The other
perspective is best represented by the work of ethics-oriented scholars such as Starratt (2003),
Shapiro & Stefkovich (2001), Strike (2003), Campbell (2003), and Grogan & Smith(1999). For
those familiar with the literature on values and ethics, Hodgkinsons values typology (1996)
exemplifies the first perspective, understanding valuation processes, while Strikes ethics of
administration (Strike, Haller & Soltis, 1998) typifies the second perspective, responding to ethical
dilemmas. Making this distinction highlights the linkage between motivation and action, and
facilitates authentic leadership practices by school leaders. An understanding of valuation
processes enables authentic leadership practices and ethical decision-making within social
contexts of increasing cultural diversity.

Assumptions, Parameters and Delimiters

In this article, effective administrative practice is conceptualized as authentic forms of
leadership. Authentic leadership may be thought of as a metaphor for professionally effective,
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RESPONDING ETHICALLY TO LEADERSHIP 5

ethically sound, and consciously reflective practices in educational administration. This is

leadership that is knowledge-based, values informed, and skillfully executed. These notions
generate the following proposition: Authentic leadership is a function of self-knowledge,
sensitivity to the orientations of others, and a technical sophistication that leads to a synergy of
leadership action (Begley, 2001; 2003).
In essence, authentic leadership is grounded in the understanding of valuation processes. As
such, an examination of these processes yields insight into the components of authentic leadership
and ethical decision-making. This approach necessitates a focus on the perceptions of the
individual in a school leadership role, and how the individual construes his or her role and
environment. Thus, organizational perspectives, the policy arena, and other macro perspectives
are relevant as elements of the context in which a school leader works, but are not the primary
locus of concern. Furthermore, valuation processes involve more than ethics. A focus on ethics, as
worthy as it is, will not necessarily accommodate the full range of human behavior. Ethics are
culturally derived and not always an appropriate basis for decision making in many administrative
situations, particularly those occurring in culturally diverse contexts. Research on principal
valuation processes (Begley & Johansson, 1998) and problem solving processes (Leithwood &
Steinbach, 1995) shows that administrators resort to ethics as a guide to action in times of high
stakes urgency, when consensus is impossible, when responding to unprecedented situations, and
for certain hot-button social issues which quickly escalate debate to a point where people seek
refuge within an ethical posture.
Finally, a full appreciation of ethics should include more than just a concern for the high
ground of ethics-motivated action. The study of ethics should be as much about the life-long
personal struggle to be ethical, about failures to be ethical, the inconsistencies of ethical postures,
the masquerading of self-interest and personal preference as ethical action, and the dilemmas
which occur in everyday and professional life when one ethic trumps another. In order to
comprehensively address the full range of human motivations and valuation processes
encountered by a leader in a school setting, one must think in terms of values and valuation
processes where ethics are one category or component within a broader spectrum of value types.

Understanding Valuation Processes

In the wake of the recent dot.com scandals, waves of international terrorism justified by the
perpetrators as ethical action, and the increasing cultural diversity of our societies, a significant
resurgence of interest has occurred in the study of value-based leadership, ethical leadership, and
human motivation processes generally. Indeed, a recent issue of Harvard Business Review (January
2003) is devoted totally to a re-examination of motivation in organizational settings.
As a way of exploring the notions associated with understanding valuation processes, a
conceptual lens is presented here that portrays the dynamic linkages between motivational bases,
values, attitudes and the actions which result. This values perspective is the outcome of an
interdisciplinary integration of administrative theory about valuation processes with information
processing theory derived from the field of cognitive psychology (Begley 1996). The dynamics of
this process are further conveyed by portraying school leadership as a phenomenon involving at
least seven arenas of influence ranging from self, to profession, to organization, to community and
the transcendental.
Comparing this valuation process lens to that of many of the traditional theories of motivation
reveals the latter to be relatively static linear models, often totally organizational in perspective.
They are also limited in scope, often focusing totally on productivity and efficiency as objectives,
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6 ISEA Volume 32, Number 2, 2004

and grounded in traditional hierarchical organizational structures. They are particularly unsuited
to the cultural diversity of school and community settings, democratic forms of governance, the
demand for inclusiveness in our public school system, and the general critical perspective that is
the mark of good scholarship. The implications for the preparation of school leaders is that
traditional theories of motivation should not so much be discarded as placed within a more
comprehensive valuation framework. The framework presented in this article, and applied to
research by others (see articles by Sun and Zaretsky in this issue of ISEA), more robustly conveys
the relationships among motivations, values, attitudes and leader actions, as well as the dynamics
of such valuation processes across the various arenas of school leadership activity.

The Place of Values in Educational Administration

Values can be concisely defined as a conception of the desirable with motivating force
(Hodgkinson, 1996). Given the purposes of this article, further explication is required. Within the
administrative context, it is necessary to distinguish the values manifested by individuals from the
more collective social values of a group, profession, society or organization. Doing so highlights
the interactive relationship between the formation of personal values and social values, implying
an answer to the question about which comes first. Values appear to be derived from both within
the individuals psychology as well as from the individuals interaction with collective groups,
organizations and societies (Hodgkinson, 1996). For this reason, it is important to establish a
balanced appreciation of the relationships among personal values, professional values,
organizational values, and social values. The bulk of the literature of leadership and management
has not been helpful in this regard, as it reflects a predominantly organizational perspective, to the
extent that individual and professional values are often ignored, assumed to be the same as, or
fully subordinated to an organizational imperative. The current preoccupation of some educators
with macro perspectives like organizational learning stands as a shining example of this
pathology. Sophisticated administrators wisely and consciously distinguish among the multiple
arenas of personal, professional, organizational, and social values in their work environments (see
Coombs, 2004; Zaretsky, in press).

Valuation Processes of Individuals

To understand the relationship between motivation and values, and between values and
administrative action, it is helpful to conceptually situate values within the broader context of one
persons being. Basic questions might include the following: Where do values fit in as a component
of human nature? What is their relationship to the other dimensions of an individuals or a groups
identity? What is the relationship of actions, speech, and attitudes to values? What is the
relationship of values to psychological motivations? One of the simplest ways to illustrate the
relationships among these terms is through the use of an onion figure which illustrates a syntax of
values terminology. Figure 1 (Begley 2003) is an adaptation of a graphic found in Hodgkinsons
books (e.g., 1991, 1996). When considering the figure, it is important to keep in mind that one
person is portrayed one individual, not a group or organization or collective social context.
Beginning from the outside, the first ring represents the observable actions and speech of the
individual. Most people intuitively rely on the clues provided by the actions and attitudes of others
to make predictive insights into the nature of values they hold. This is a generally sound strategy, but
it has the same limits to its reliability in day-to-day life as it does in a research context. As political
leaders, principals, teachers, parents and children regularly demonstrate through their speech and
actions, the observable actions they manifest may or may not be accurate indicators of the persons
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RESPONDING ETHICALLY TO LEADERSHIP 7

underlying values. This is particularly the case when individuals articulate or posture certain values
while actually being committed to quite different values. This implies the significant limitations
associated with the reliability and validity of conventional research as a source of information about
anything, as well as a cautionary note to individuals as they interpret day to day events.

Action
Attitude
Va l u e
erstanding
nd otiv
U M e s

Self

Figure 1: Values Syntax

The next ring or layer of the figure represents attitudes. Attitudes can be thought of as the thin
membrane between values and the observable actions or speech of an individual, or the permeable
boundary of personality that acts as the interface between the psychological and physical world.
Attitudes can be formally defined as the predisposition to act specifically as a result of values or
value systems acquired previously and elsewhere (Begley 2001). For example, a school principals
attitudes towards the children in the school may change when he or she becomes a parent with
young children of his or her own. Similarly, when we look across a career we can see that the
values of an individual in one role as a teacher, principal, or professor readily spill over as attitudes
into other social roles like army reserve officer, scout or guide leader, school district trustee,
municipal politician and so on. The strength of this extended influence can be residual in nature,
a significant spillover of effect, or intrude to such an extent that it overrides or neutralizes the
influence of a second value or value system. Attitudes can also be reflected in the body language
of posture, gait, or unconscious muscular tensions. They are outward and visible signs of inward
and invisible inclinations.
The next layer represents a domain, or conceptual placeholder, for the actual values held or
manifested by an individual. For example, an individual might value a Budweiser beer over
Australian red wines. Another might prefer a chat with friends over reading the paper, working
independently over working with others, a monarchial system of government over a republican
system. If the individual is an educator, he or she might value phonics over the whole language
approach. A principal might gravitate towards relatively controlled approaches to delegating
authority over more open styles of distributed leadership. A teacher might prefer computer
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8 ISEA Volume 32, Number 2, 2004

mediated instruction over workbook exercises, or instruction individualized to students needs as

opposed to a teacher-centered curriculum. However, it is important to emphasize that identifying
these values is one thing, while knowing why they are held is quite another. This matter resurfaces
later in the paper in the context of discussing ethical responses to administrative situations.
Between the values layer and motivational base layer of the figure is a category labeled
available knowledge or understandings. The kinds of knowledge referenced here are acquired
through life experiences, training, and reflection, and provide the linkage between the basic
motivational bases and the specific values adopted and manifested by the individual. The
contention here is that as a result of experience, training and/or reflection, an individual responds
to basic motivations by adopting particular value positions that will support the fulfillment of that
basic motivation in a specific way. These responses are manifested through actions or speech
selected by the individual to achieve the valued objective. People vary, of course, in terms of the
skills and sophistication they can bring to bear on achieving their objectives. This is generally
applicable to all aspects of human enterprise, and an infinite number of examples can be offered.
However, for the moment consider how a sophisticated school administrator, consensually
motivated as a professional to achieve a complex set of educational objectives, might employ a
carefully orchestrated collaborative school improvement project to achieve those educational
objectives. By contrast, a less experienced administrator, with the same consensus-building intent,
but responding to different knowledge or the absence thereof, might decide a memo is all that is
required to achieve the same objective.
The motivational base layer of the onion figure provides the key to understanding the nature
and function of values. This is the motivating force dimension behind the adoption of a particular
value which, working out through the layers of the figure, shapes attitudes and potentially the
subsequent actions. For the purposes of this article, and consistent with Hodgkinsons original
value framework, four basic motivational bases can be identified. These are: personal preference
or self-interest; an inclination towards consensus; an inclination towards or concern for
consequences; and an inclination towards trans-rational ethics or principles. These four
motivational bases are relatively broad and arbitrary distinctions. In application, individuals can
manifest a predisposition towards one motivational base over another, or adopt more than one
motivational base when responding to a given situation. Recent research, conducted in several
countries, on the valuation processes of school administrators (Begley & Johansson, 1998)
suggests that the normative motivational bases for administrative decision-making are the rational
domains of consequences and consensus. Self-interest is infrequently acknowledged as a
motivation, possibly because professional activity is publicly accountable. Ethics and principles
tend to be employed under special circumstances. Further discussion of the particular
circumstances where ethics are employed by administrators in their valuation processes is
provided in succeeding sections of this article.
The final layer at the centre of the figure is the self, or essence of the individual the biological
self as well as the existential or transcendent self. There is not a great deal known or that can be
said about this inner core of the individual. Some would describe it as the soul, the life-force or
spark of life. It is included in the figure primarily as a conceptual placeholder.

Sources of values and value conflicts

Much of the traditional leadership literature is fundamentally organizational in context and
emphasis. However, the full environment of administration is actually much more complex. Any
school administrator who attempts to lead and manage without reference to the broader
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RESPONDING ETHICALLY TO LEADERSHIP 9

environmental context will quickly encounter difficulty. The values of profession, organization,
community and society are not necessarily consistent or compatible with each other. A second
onion figure (see Figure 2) can be used to illustrate what can be termed the arenas of valuation.
These are the interactive environments within which valuation processes and administration
occur. There are also important dynamics that occur among these arenas. Seven or more arenas
can be identified to conceptualize the environment of administration.

scendental
Tr a n
Culture
munity
Com
g ization
a n
Or
fession
P ro
G ro u p

Self

Figure 2: Arenas of Administration

Within the figure, the individual is represented within the center ring as self. The individual
can also be thought of as extending through all the rings, a formative amalgam of influences from
multiple arenas. In a practical sense, this central arena highlights the potential role of the
individual as an entity with a unique influence within a social or organizational enterprise. It also
conveys the notion of the intensified influence of one individual when he or she is a leader. This
highlights the power of one the capability of one person to have impact as a leader with or
without the benefit of vested authority.
The second ring from the center represents the arena of groups, and other collective entities.
This arena acts as a place-holder for collectives such as family, peers, friends and acquaintances.
The third ring, profession, represents a more formal arena of administration that is closely related
to the second ring, but is given special emphasis here because of its relevance to school
administration. Research conducted by several scholars (e.g. Begley & Campbell-Evans, 1992;
Normore, 2001; Slater, 2001, Johansson-Fua, 2003; Duquette, 2003) highlights the distinctions
which can occur at particular career stages between personal and professional, as well as
organizational socialization. The literature of educational administration on socialization processes
(e.g. Hart & Bredeson, 1996) has tended to conflate professional and organizational socialization,
or use the terms interchangeably. More recent scholarship demonstrates that there can be
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important distinctions, especially across a career. As illustration, consider the hypothetical case of
a 20 year veteran of American school administration with well-internalized progressive education
norms about instructional leadership. When this individual encounters the new organizational
expectations associated with school district policies emerging from the Federal No Child Left
Behind legislation (see Faircloth article in this issue of ISEA), it is not hard to imagine a potential
conflict between his or her well internalized professional socialization and the organizational
socialization espoused by the school district for newly appointed administrators.
The fourth ring represents the arena usually of most concern to academics and practitioners in
the field of educational administration, the organization. Indeed, much of the traditional literature
of educational administration and most of the corporate literature are grounded within the
organizational perspective, adopting it as a primary reference point for administrative activity. As
such, a degree of over-weighting vividness (Leithwood & Steinbach, 1995, p. 202) is often
attributed to this arena.
Moving further outwards in the figure, one encounters the arenas representing the greater
community, society, and culture. Within the last decade, school administrators have learned that
it is necessary to pay a lot more attention to the community as a relevant administrative arena and
source of influence on school leadership (Leithwood, Begley, & Cousins, 1992). The increasing
diversity of our societies and a general trend towards globalization has highlighted society and
culture as relevant arenas of administrative activity.
A final, seventh ring is included to accommodate notions of the transcendental God, faith,
spirituality, even extra-sensory perception. Spirituality is of considerable importance to many
individuals, even though it does not get a lot of attention in the traditional literature of
administration. Administrators who do not subscribe to a spiritual dimension as a source of
influence in their own daily lives may be inclined to dismiss the relevance of this arena. However,
all leaders are well advised to keep this arena in mind, if only because at least some individuals
associated with their professional role certainly do. A leader who wants to understand the
motivations of those they are supposed to lead will be sensitive to this potentially significant
category of influence.
Thinking in terms of the arenas of administration serves two important functions. It suggests
the various sources of values, conveying how values can be derived from multiple external and
internal environmental sources in dynamic ways. The notion of arenas also conveys the
potential sources of value conflicts. For example, although value conflicts can certainly occur
within a single arena of administration, consider how the personal values of the individual
might conflict with those of the community, or professional values might conflict with
organizational values.

The Challenge of Responding Ethically

A quote from Starratts scholarly work provides an insight into what has made the demands of the
school leadership role profoundly more challenging in recent years:

ethical behaviour, while always involving interpersonal relationships, is shaped by the

circumstances and status of the persons involved. Acting ethically requires one to be sensitive
and responsive to the other person within the circumstances as well as the context. So it is
not simply a question of one person in relation to another person; the relationship is
supported as well as limited by the culture in which the two parties live their lives (Starratt,
1994, p. 34 & 35).
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RESPONDING ETHICALLY TO LEADERSHIP 11

The achievement of consensus on educational issues among even traditional educational

stakeholders has become more difficult in many communities. School administrators increasingly
encounter value conflict situations where consensus cannot be achieved, rendering obsolete the
traditional rational notions of problem solving. Administrators must now often be satisfied with
responding to a situation since there may be no solution possible that will satisfy all. Such value
dilemmas can occur within a single arena of administration or among two or more arenas. The
most difficult dilemmas occur when one ethic literally trumps another.
The conditions of social ferment and diversity characteristic of our times also confound any
notion that we might develop a prescriptive guide to ethical or value-added leadership a
catalogue of correct values which school administrators ought to adopt without question. This will
disappoint those who might hope that ethics can be used as some sort of silver bullet solution for
the dilemmas of administration. Unfortunately, the processes of valuation in school leadership
situations are much too context-bound to permit this kind of quick fix. It is not enough for school
leaders to merely emulate the values of other principals currently viewed as experts. Leaders in
schools must become reflective practitioners and authentic in their leadership practices. The first
step towards achieving this state is, predictably enough, to engage in personal reflection (see
Coombs, 2004). The adoption of a values perspective on school leadership can transform this
rather vague advice into something specific enough for school administrators to act upon.
However, once a degree of improved self-knowledge has been achieved through personal
reflection, administrators must then take the next step towards authentic leadership. That is, they
must strive to develop sensitivity to the values orientations of others in order to give meaning to
the actions of the students, teachers, parents and community members with whom they interact.
The pay-off to this authentic form of leadership occurs when understanding the value orientations
of others provides leaders with information on how they might best influence the practices of
others towards the achievement of broadly justifiable social objectives.

Ethics as Cultural Isomorphs

One of the outcomes of working with school administrators from many countries is discovering
the extent to which ethics that appear common to a variety of cultures are actually isomorphic. By
isomorphic is meant social conditions or value postures appearing to share the same shape or
meaning from country to country, but actually structured of quite different elements. For example,
school administrators in countries such as the United States, Sweden, Canada and Hong Kong are
much inclined to profess a belief and commitment to democratic processes and democracy in
general. Yet the nature of democracy in each country is clearly based on sharply contrasting
notions of what constitutes free speech, social consensus, and appropriate political participation
by the citizenry. A comparison of the acceptable standards of free speech in the United States and
China is an obvious example. However, isomorphs can occur even within a single nation or
culture, not just among nations. Consider how in the United States citizens continue to debate the
nature of personal freedom in terms of the proper relationship between the right to bear arms and
democracy. Some citizens view the private ownership of firearms as a threat to democracy, others
as a prerequisite. Yet, both groups definitely consider themselves patriots of democracy. Isomorphs
aside, such is the nature of ethics when they are adopted as guides to action. Trans-rational values
(Hodgkinson, 1996) of any sort, and ethics and principles in particular, are rather vulnerable to
multiple interpretations in application from one social context to another.
In a more educational context, consider the isomorphs that can be detected within school
improvement processes. When one examines the nature of school improvement processes as
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12 ISEA Volume 32, Number 2, 2004

they occur in various countries, one discovers that the syntax and procedures seem very
similar at least on the surface. Practitioners in Hong Kong tend to cite the same literature as
those in Sweden or Canada, usually American in origin. For example, they may speak of goal-
setting, establishing consensus on shared objectives, and implementation strategies. However,
Russian school administrators mean something very different from their Canadian or
American counterparts when they speak of establishing consensus. For the Russians the
consensus has traditionally been something handed down in fully approved form from a
centralized authority, whereas in Canada or the United States consensus is usually something
established by a group of professionals working together locally. The same term and concept
is employed, but it is assigned a meaning composed of different elements. The Russian
meaning reflects their more collective cultural norms. The American meaning reflects their
social emphasis on norms of personal and professional autonomy.
These examples of cultural isomorphs illustrate how quite distinctive social conditions
may be obscured, veiled, or blurred by the perspectives adopted to describe social processes.
In many respects this is a natural outcome and limitation of language as a means of assigning
meaning to concepts and events. It is also an outcome of generalizing the specifics of one
context to a set of abstract principles. A number of scholars, notably Allan Walker and Clive
Dimmock, believe the field of educational administration has developed along ethnocentric
lines, dominated by Western perspectives emanating mostly from the United States and
United Kingdom (Dimmock & Walker, 1998; Walker & Dimmock, 1999; Walker, 2003). The
consequences are a risk in that the generalized experiences of one country may be
inappropriately assumed to be instructive to practices in radically different contexts. As
societies becomes more globalized, and as the exchange of information among international
scholars becomes more widespread, the implications become more urgent. Many
administrators are discovering that some of the most cherished ethical foundations, including
those derived from a Western Judeo-Christian tradition, sometimes must be carefully re-
examined in terms of their appropriateness to social circumstances. As our communities and
societies become more diversified, school administrators must become more sophisticated in
their leadership, and more sensitive to the value orientations of others. For their part,
researchers must move beyond their traditional orientation towards generalization and
description to consider the deeper matters of intent and motivational base.
For these reasons ethics represent a particular category of social / collective values of a trans-
rational nature. Furthermore, the press for accountability in decision making generates an effect
on how and when principals will employ ethics as guides to professional decision making. Because
ethics are often interpreted in culturally exclusive ways, they can be a very troublesome category
of values to employ as guides to action in our increasingly culturally diverse schools and
communities. As a practical consequence school administrators naturally gravitate towards values
grounded in rational consequences and consensus as guides to action and decision making
whenever that is possible. This is such a pronounced inclination that one could describe it as
ritualized rationality. Even when a situation evokes an ethical or personal preference response on
the part of the principal, what gets articulated to the stakeholders will be usually grounded in the
rhetoric of rational consequences or consensus.
Roches (1999) research illustrates these patterns. He found that school administrators
routinely confront moral and ethical dilemmas that demand a response. His inquiry focused on
how school administrators actually respond to moral and ethical dilemmas, the most difficult
value conflicts they encounter. He identifies four primary ways in which principals respond to
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RESPONDING ETHICALLY TO LEADERSHIP 13

moral dilemmas. Once again, the press for accountability appears to heavily influence such
processes. Listed in order of frequency of use by the administrators in the study, the strategies
principals use in response to the professional dilemmas they encounter are: avoidance, suspended
morality, creative insubordination, and taking a personal moral stand. Avoidance (re-interpreting
the situation so it no longer involves an ethical dimension) is the most frequently employed
response among the administrators in this study. Suspended morality, the second most common
strategy, illustrates the ability of administrators to set aside some of their personal value
orientations, and consciously respond to situations from a professional or organizational
perspective. This is the same phenomena that Campbell (2003) identifies as common
administrative practice and condemns as immoral when student needs are subordinated to
organizational imperatives. The third category of response identified by Roche is creative
insubordination. As a strategy it is an opposite response to suspended morality. In this case
organizational dictates are set aside, or creative approaches to compliance are found, that favor
more humane concerns. The taking of a personal moral stand was the least frequently employed
response, usually adopted only when the administrator assessed a high likelihood of successfully
challenging the competing demands of the profession, organization or society.
To summarize, the relevance of principles or ethics to a given administrative situation seems
to be prompted in the minds of school administrators by particular circumstances. These
circumstances include: where an ethical posture is socially appropriate (e.g. the role of the arts);
where consensus is perceived as difficult or impossible to achieve (e.g. an issue involving ethnic
bias); or when high stakes and urgency require decisive action (e.g. student safety).

Is there a Proper Sequence for Applying Ethical Perspectives?

A number of scholars have focused their inquiry on the study of administrative ethics and written
extensively on the application of ethics to the dilemmas of school leadership. These include
Starratt (1994), Shapiro and Stefkovich (2001), Strike (2003), and Gross (see Gross & Shapiro in
this issue of ISEA). In reviewing their work it becomes apparent that the ethics of administration
tend to be conceptualized in particular ways. The key ethical orientations articulated by these
scholars include: the ethic of justice; the ethic of critique; the ethic of care; and a hybrid multi-
dimensional model, the ethic of profession (see Gross and Shapiro in this issue of ISEA). Strike
(Strike et al, 1988) is well known for his work grounded in the ethic of justice with its familiar
dualistic tension between maximizing benefits and respecting individual rights. Apple (1990),
Bates (1980) and Giroux (1992) are good arch-types for an ethic of critique orientation. Noddings
(1984) writing is a good representation of the ethic of care orientation. And finally, Starratt (2003),
and Shapiro and Stefkovich (2001) are proponents of a multi-dimensional model that subsumes
the ethics care, critique and justice into one ethic of profession.
Although Starratt, Shapiro and Stekovich propose the use of multiple ethics as a basis for
responding to the dilemmas of school leadership, they stop short of proposing any particular
sequence for applying those ethics. In the paragraphs that follow a case problem is used as a way
of proposing a sequence of application for the professional ethics of critique, care, and justice. The
author and two ethics scholars, Starratt and Shapiro, present their reaction to the case problem.
In this manner, a concrete illustration yields insight into the process of authentic leadership and
the considerations addressed in assessing peoples ethical perspectives through reflection on their
motivation and actions. This discussion invites the reader to form his or her own judgment about
whether there is an appropriate sequence for applying these ethical meta-organizers to the
dilemmas of leadership.
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The Case of the Reluctant Chef

Jimmy is a 25-year-old man who has Downs syndrome. He skis, he bowls, he goes out with
friends, and has a girlfriend who also has Downs syndrome. He has job skills and soon will be
independently employed. He lives in a nice house with three other young people with
developmental disabilities. They receive support from a counselor who stays with them from 4:00
pm to 11:00 pm daily.
His circle of support meets once a month, or once every two months, to discuss Jimmys
progress in life in general. Dialogue focuses on school, on home life, on social life, successes,
challenges and next steps towards more independent living. His brothers, his mother, two of his
mothers friends, his aunt, an uncle, a cousin, a lawyer, and an educator/friend all participate in
the circle of support at various times to help Jimmy solve problems as they occur. Jimmy is
encouraged to actively partake in the problem-solving.
One evening at Jimmys final annual Learning Plan Circle Meeting, the members of the support
group in attendance review Jimmys year. The group home supervisor reports that Jimmy has been
resisting doing the Tuesday night dinner preparation. Tuesday is his night to prepare dinner for
the roommates. A typical pattern for Jimmy is described: He comes home from college classes,
takes out the chicken from the freezer, puts it on the counter, then leaves or gets busy on the
phone, forgetting to cook. This leaves the room mates waiting for a dinner at 6:00 pm that is not
going to appear.
The support group members discuss this situation. Ideas are offered such as an alarm on
Jimmys watch, and easy recipes so Jimmy can sustain focus. The strategizing goes on. Then one
of Jimmys younger brothers, who attends university and is familiar with residence life says, You
know what Jimmy? Either you stay in the damned kitchen and make dinner when its your turn
or maybe your roommates get to order in pizza for everyone, and you have to pay for it from your
monthly entertainment spending account, and you dont get to eat any of the pizza. And, you still
have to make yourself something to eat. Upon hearing this Jimmys head sinks to the table top.
He understands his brothers message quite clearly. The other members of the group were being
the nurturing yet firm supporters, especially the female members of the group, and this young
male sibling just cut to the chase, stripped away all the manipulations, pretensions, and protective
devices, and laid it all out so very clearly. Jimmy now honors his responsibilities of cooking dinner
on Tuesday nights without fail.
Three reactions to the preceding case situation follow, each one proposing a sequence for
applying the ethical postures to the problem at hand.
Begleys response (2003): This is a classic ethic of justice orientation employed in a situation
where it was most appropriate. If Jimmy was being asked to do something beyond his capacity,
the brothers solution would have been harsh. What I take away from this is that the proper ethical
sequence is: ethic of critique to understand all perspectives on the situation, ethic of care to assess
capacity and responsibility in a humane way, and then the ethic of justice to maximize benefits for
all while respecting Jimmys individual rights. If the sequencing of ethical perspectives was
adopted as a conceptual framework it would need to be very fluid and dynamic as an initial
organizer. A good motivation for doing something like this would be to mature the moral
processing of administrators when responding to ethical dilemmas. Most school administrators
dont adopt ethical perspectives as specific guides to problem solving and the few that do often use
one posture (justice, care or critique) as some sort of absolute moral rubric accompanied by great
gusts of self-righteousness and moral superiority.
Starratts response (2003): I think the sequencing of the application of the three ethics
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RESPONDING ETHICALLY TO LEADERSHIP 15

depends on the developmental maturity, and perhaps the race, class, sex, and religion of the
person involved, as well as the situation they are grappling with. In a real situation, I suspect that
sometimes all the ethics are involved; in other situations, two are involved, sometimes in a
complementary, sometimes in an oppositional fashion. I would argue that the more mature moral
conscience sees aspects of all three ethics in many situations.
Shapiros response (2003): You asked about a sequence for the application of justice, critique,
care, and I must add the profession. As far as I know, we have yet to discover a set sequence
for everyone; however, there seems to be a sequence for each person. In other words, some of us
may favor the ethic of justice, while others may favor the ethic of critique. It has also been said,
by some scholars, that women tend to favor the ethic of care over the other ethics. But I do think
that this is too general a statement. In this particular case, the females did indeed favor the ethic
of care, while the male went straight to the ethic of justice. Although this was a classic reaction, I
know that in my class this last semester, a male principal thanked me for making the ethic of care
legitimate. He said that he always used it first in making decisions, but he did not feel that he
should let anyone know this.

Conclusion
This article proposes that administrators must develop a values-informed sophistication in their
practices in order to move beyond what Greenfield (1999) describes as the rhetoric of moral
leadership. The new reality of school leadership is responding to value conflicts. This has become
the defining characteristic of school leadership much like instructional leadership was the
dominant metaphor of school leadership during the 80s. Examples of these value conflicts and
ethical dilemmas were provided and used to illustrate the contested nature of educational
problem-solving. A number of implications were outlined. These include: the problem of value
articulation by individuals as opposed to actual value commitment; the tendency towards ritual
rationality in administration; the cultural isomorphs that are apparent in administrative practices
when East meets West; and finally the possibility that there may be a sequence for the application
of ethics to the dilemmas of administration.

Notes
1. See Woolfolk Hoy & Kolter Hoy (2003) for an excellent chapter length review of theories and conceptualizations
of motivation in educational administration.

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Author
Paul T. Begley
Professor of Educational Leadership
Department of Education Policy Studies
Pennsylvania State University
207B Rackley Building
University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
Email: ptb3@psu.edu