Professional virtue may be dangerous

In his column The Moral Diet David Brooks writes about Dan Ariely’s new book The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty:

 ... most of us think we are pretty wonderful. We can cheat a little and still keep that “good person” identity. Most people won’t cheat so much that it makes it harder to feel good about themselves.

... these days, people are more likely to believe in their essential goodness. People who live by the Good Person Construct try to balance their virtuous self-image with their selfish desires. They try to manage the moral plusses and minuses and keep their overall record in positive territory. In this construct, moral life is more like dieting: I give myself permission to have a few cookies because I had salads for lunch and dinner. I give myself permission to cheat a little because, when I look at my overall life, I see that I’m still a good person.

You can buy a weight scale to get an objective measure of your diet. But you can’t buy a scale of virtues to put on the bathroom floor. And given our awesome capacities for rationalization and self-deception, most of us are going to measure ourselves leniently ...

I worry that is is especially true about educators and others in "virtuous" professions - health care, ministry, librarianship, social services, etc. Those fields in which one has purposely chosen to accept fewer financial rewards in exchange for the belief one is doing good in the world.

Being in a helping vocation, or more likely avocation, never excuses a person for small cheats. You may spend your days helping children, but if you cheat on your taxes, ignore your own family, or don't give every day your full effort, your virtue ought to be called into question.

The press spends a lot of time on the maligant and malicious acts of the powerful. The Ponzi schemers, the Wall Street crew gambling with inventors' money, and high profile coaches and clergy abusing trust all are regarded as downright evil. But do all the little cheats committed everyday, even by those of us who are virtuous by our career choices, somehow add up as well?

Off to the vendor exhibit at ISTE. I will try not to be unduly influenced by the free pens.

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From my forthcoming book, The Indispensable Librarian, 2nd ed.:

ALA Library Code of Ethics Statement VI: We do not advance private interests at the expense of library users, colleagues, or our employing institutions.

In a school setting, I can’t say that I’ve had much chance to violate this sixth standard. I’ve never been offered a huge sum of cash or an exotic vacation in exchange for purchasing a grossly inferior encyclopedia instead of the World Book. Probably just as well.

Is accepting vendor purchased meals at conferences, adding vacation days to out-of-town conferences, or working on professional organization duties during school time a violation this ethical standard? These infractions seem to be small potatoes in a world of political “contributions” and school boards being wined-and-dined in luxurious settings by big technology companies. But I also believe that there are no small lapses of integrity, so if any doubt exists, I will do nothing that may call my actions into question – or keep me awake at night with a guilty conscience.

Regardless of the amount of discretionary funds at our disposal, we do have an ethical obligation to practice open service and equipment procurement practices, thoughtful collection development, review-driven material selection practices, and detailed budgeting. When budgets are tight, the selection of resources for their specific value to students and the educational program becomes even more critical. Convenience, charm of salespersons, or the lure of that free calendar simply should not enter into the choice of one product over another.

A combination of new and expensive technologies, modest pay in the teaching profession, and a national spirit of entrepreneurship has created an environment in which some educators, including librarians, may be tempted to use school resources for personal gain. Establishing a website for a personal business on the school server, using school e-mail to close a deal, or using computer equipment to do non-school projects for pay certainly qualify as advancing “private interests at the expense of … our employing institutions.” We need to carefully separate the time, equipment, and supplies we use as school employees from those we use for any private business or non-school volunteer activities we may undertake.

Our time is also a resource. Ethically we are bound to use the time we are at work in the service of our school, our staff and our students.

Most of us work in tax-supported institutions and have the obligation not just to be wise and honest in our expenditure of public funds, but avoid the appearance of any wrong-doing as well.