What are the similarities and differences between Chinese and American teachers' professional ethics and ethical norms?

First, a comparison of professional ethics of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China and the United States

Looking back at the development history of teachers' professional ethics in China and the West, we can find that there are distinct differences in the traditions of teachers' professional ethics in China and the West: China's professional ethics is "teacher's morality", which is teacher-centered and emphasizes teachers' own personality cultivation; The professional ethics of teachers in the west is "teaching ethics", which is student-centered and formulated and standardized from the perspective of how to cultivate students. At present, the theories and norms of teachers' professional ethics in China and the West continue and develop respectively, gradually widening the differences between them. Among them, the differences between China and the United States in teacher ethics and teacher evaluation standards are the most obvious, especially in the professional ethics of primary and secondary school teachers. The difference between the Code of Professional Ethics in Education revised by the Ministry of Education of China in 2008 and the Code of Professional Ethics in Education adopted by the National Education Association Congress 1975 profoundly reflects the difference between the professional ethics of contemporary Chinese and western teachers:

First, from the overall framework analysis, there are obvious differences between Chinese and American primary and secondary school teachers' professional ethics. The Code of Professional Ethics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers revised by the Ministry of Education of China in 2006 contains only six articles, which provides a brief explanation. These six provisions highly summarize the methods and means for teachers to adjust the relationship between teachers and students, between teachers and schools, between teachers and the state, and between teachers and society, which are teacher-centered. The regulations of "teaching and educating people", "teaching by example" and "lifelong learning" all put forward high-level requirements for teachers' knowledge quality and moral cultivation, and continue the tradition of teachers' morality in China. In contrast, 1975 The Code of Educational Professional Ethics adopted by the National Education Association Congress is more detailed and clear, which highlights the students' dominant position in education. The Code of Professional Ethics in Education is divided into three parts: The first part is the introduction, which clearly defines the significance, nature, objectives and scope of application of teachers' professional ethics; The second part is "commitment to students", which specifies in detail the obligations and responsibilities that teachers should perform to students in the teaching process; The third part is "commitment to the profession", which is the public's trust and responsibility for the teaching profession and high expectation for the education service.

Secondly, from the nature analysis, the professional ethics of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China and the United States show their own characteristics. China teachers' professional ethics is virtue morality, which is an affirmation and extension of the traditional "teachers' morality". Contemporary American primary and secondary school teachers' professional ethics is a kind of normative ethics. The "Code of Professional Ethics in Education" adopted by the National Education Association Congress mentioned in the preface that "educators realize the great responsibility inherent in the education process. Desire for the respect and trust of colleagues, students, parents and members of society is the internal motivation for educators to maintain the highest moral standards. The code of professional ethics in education is not only the ideal of all educators, but also provides a standard for judging their behavior. " It can be seen that the purpose of formulating the Code of Professional Ethics in Education in the United States is not only to let teachers establish lofty moral ideals, but more importantly, to standardize and evaluate teachers' professional behavior. Teachers should realize the importance of education in teaching activities, and teachers need to gain the respect of students in carrying out education and teaching activities. This fully shows that American teachers' professional ethics is "teaching ethics", which focuses on teaching activities and students, focusing on standardizing teachers' ideological and professional behaviors, and its essence is a normative ethics.

Third, from the perspective of the construction subject, there are obvious differences in the professional ethics of primary and secondary school teachers between China and the United States. The central government and the Ministry of Education are responsible for the compilation and revision of teachers' professional ethics in China, although in the process of revising the Code of Professional Ethics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers in 2008, the Ministry of Education issued the Code of Professional Ethics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers (draft for comments), which extensively solicited the opinions of the public including educators. However, the code was finally promulgated and implemented by the Ministry of Education and the National Committee of China Education, Culture, Sports and Health Trade Union on September 1 2008. The overall framework and specific contents are basically consistent with the draft for comments. 1975 The Code of Educational Professional Ethics adopted by the National Education Association Congress was mainly revised and formulated by educators working in the front line. Moreover, the American Code of Professional Ethics in Education was revised according to the Code of Professional Ethics in Education formulated by the National Education Association of America 1968. At that time, the Code was promulgated and implemented with the consent of about 2 million professionals engaged in education. It can be seen that the main body of American teachers' professional ethics construction is many educators working in the front line, which can make teachers' ethics closer to teaching life and conform to educational practice.

Fourthly, from the specific content analysis, the professional ethics of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China and the United States have their own characteristics. China's "Code of Professional Ethics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers" (revised in 2008) has only six brief provisions and corresponding brief explanations, but it contains relevant provisions on teachers' obligations and responsibilities to the country and society, teachers to majors, teachers to students, teachers to colleagues, teachers to parents and teachers to themselves. American Code of Professional Ethics for Education focuses on teachers' obligations to students, teachers' responsibilities to majors, and teachers' lack of obligations to the country, society and parents. This difference between Chinese and American primary and secondary school teachers' professional ethics reflects the differences between Chinese and western teachers' ethical traditions. The traditional professional ethics of teachers in China is the virtue of teachers. It pays attention to teachers' own moral cultivation, emphasizes teachers' responsibility to students and society, highlights teachers' social moral image, and requires teachers to become social models and play an exemplary role. This makes the teachers' morality in our country become a part of teachers' personal morality. Teachers' profession, like teachers as members of society, must be responsible to all departments and personnel, especially to the state, society and parents, and treat teachers' profession specially. However, the United States does not professionalize teachers as China does. On the contrary, the United States believes that the profession of teachers, like lawyers, actors, doctors and scientists, is also one of many occupations in society, so the professional ethics of teachers, like their professional ethics, should belong to the field of social ethics. Based on this idea, the American Code of Professional Ethics for Education classifies teachers' professional ethics as social ethics, which does not emphasize teachers' obligations to the country and society, nor does it require teachers to become social models.

Fifth, from the analysis of standard terms, the professional ethics of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China and the United States are operable to varying degrees. China's Code of Professional Ethics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers (revised in 2008) consists of six highly generalized principles, but the description of these rules is quite brief, lacking a detailed description of the specific operation of the provisions. The United States has detailed regulations on teachers' professional behavior, and describes in detail what teachers should and should not do in the process of education and teaching. In the "commitment to students", the American "Code of Professional Ethics in Education" stipulates: "In the process of students' learning, students' independent actions have to be reasonably restricted"; Students should not be unreasonably prevented from being exposed to different viewpoints. Students' progress should not be deliberately concealed or distorted; When students' study, health and safety are threatened, they should make appropriate efforts to protect students "and should not deliberately put students in an embarrassing or degrading position." "These rules are concrete descriptions of even professional behaviors, which are conducive to standardizing the practice in teaching activities and making the norms more operable.

Second, the reflection on the professional ethics construction of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China.

In the comparison of contemporary Chinese and American teachers' professional ethics, the shadow of traditional Chinese and western teachers' ethical thoughts emerges; At the same time, in the process of comparison, the hidden defects in China's contemporary teachers' professional ethics norms and systems are gradually exposed, which makes people begin to reflect on the professional ethics construction of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China.

1. Defects in the professional ethics construction of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China

(1) The regulations on professional ethics of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China are not systematic, hierarchical and targeted. Revised by the Ministry of Education in 2008

The Code of Professional Ethics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers has only six short provisions (patriotism, law-abiding, dedication, caring for students, teaching and educating people).

People, Teachers as Teachers, Lifelong Learning) and the corresponding brief explanations, trying to adjust the relationship between teachers and the country and society, teachers and occupations, teachers and students, teachers and colleagues, teachers and parents, teachers and themselves. In the Code, the six provisions are equivalent, and there is no question of who has the final say. On the other hand, these six clauses are neither major clauses nor minor clauses, and there is no distinction between important clauses and minor clauses. In this way, there is no relationship between the six provisions, but they are tied together, which makes the whole specification fragmented. At the same time, there is no distinction between norms, which can not highlight the particularity of norms as a teacher's professional ethics system. In addition, there is no emphasis on teachers' professional ethics, which leads to the lack of pertinence in the norms and the vague system of corresponding clauses, which can not effectively guide teachers' teaching work.

(2) The main body of professional ethics construction of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China is misplaced. The central government and the Ministry of Education are responsible for the compilation and revision of teachers' professional ethics throughout the country. 65438-0984 The Ministry of Education and the National Education Trade Union formulated and promulgated the Professional Ethics Requirements for Primary and Secondary School Teachers (Trial Draft). 199 1 The Ministry of Education and the National Education Union have formulated and promulgated the Code of Professional Ethics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers, which was revised in 1997. In 2008, the Ministry of Education revised the Code of Professional Ethics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers, and innovatively released the Code of Professional Ethics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers (Draft for Comment).

",solicit opinions from the public, including educators. However, the code was finally promulgated and implemented by the Ministry of Education and the National Committee of China Education, Culture, Sports and Health Trade Union on September 1 2008. The overall framework and specific contents are basically consistent with the draft for comments. It can be said that the main body of the construction of teachers' professional ethics in contemporary China is still the Ministry of Education, and front-line educators have failed to directly participate in and influence the construction of teachers' professional ethics. In fact, this is a denial of grassroots educators, ignoring the main position of educators in the formulation and implementation of teachers' morality norms. At the same time, teachers' professional norms are formulated by managers who lack rich teaching experience rather than educators, which leads to the separation of norms from educational practice activities, and the corresponding normative system is huge, empty and extensive, which can not meet the actual needs of education and teaching and is difficult to implement.

(3) The professional ethics of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China confuse social morality with personal morality. As mentioned above, the traditional professional ethics of teachers in China is "teachers' morality", which pays attention to teachers' own moral cultivation. It not only requires teachers to carry out education and teaching, but also requires teachers to be "respectful, knowledgeable, sincere, upright, self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world", to become a gentleman, to influence students with their words and deeds, and to set an example for students to inherit.

Cultivate teachers' lofty aspirations and ideals. At present, the professional ethics of primary and secondary school teachers in China continues this tradition, emphasizing teachers' responsibility to students and society, highlighting teachers' social moral image, and requiring teachers to become social models and play an exemplary role. This makes our teachers' professional ethics private, but it is a wrong orientation of teachers' professional ethics. Teachers are also a profession. Teachers' professional ethics, like those of doctors, lawyers, actors and scientists, belong to social ethics. Teachers' profession should belong to social life and should not involve teachers' personal life. The dislocation of teachers' professional ethics in China makes teachers' social life and private life intertwined. Teachers need to undertake social obligations while educating students and carrying out teaching activities, and teachers need to be able to act as social models. Therefore, teachers' professional ethics needs to involve social and national aspects, the scope of standardized management has become larger, and the requirements for teachers' quality, especially teachers' personal moral literacy, have increased, resulting in a wide range, wide content and strict requirements for primary and secondary school teachers in China, and a lack of humanistic care for teachers.

(4) The formulation of professional ethics standards for primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China lacks maneuverability. In the process of formulating teachers' professional ethics, China's Ministry of Education failed to accurately grasp the particularity of teachers' profession, the content of the norms was difficult to be concrete, and the normative system lacked operability. For example, Article 2 states: "Love your post and be dedicated. Loyal to people's education, ambitious, diligent and dedicated, willing to be a ladder, willing to contribute ... "This clause stipulates the requirements for teachers' professionalism. However, as mentioned above, this is also a requirement for teachers' professionalism. In "Attitude towards Professionalism", American Code of Educational Professional Ethics stipulates six things that teachers should not do in the process of fulfilling their educational duties, and regulates teachers' words and deeds in detail. Compared with the United States, China's teachers' morality is rough, only some principled provisions, lacking specific descriptions. On the other hand, teachers' morality in our country pays more attention to teachers' political stance and ideological level, and lacks regulations and requirements for teachers' educational and teaching activities and teachers' responsibilities to students, and fails to clarify the particularity of teachers' profession and make detailed and specific norms for teachers' professional behavior.

2. Enlightenment from the professional ethics construction of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China.

(1) With reference to the relevant concepts and norms of the professional ethics of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary America, we will further enrich and improve the contents of the professional ethics of teachers in China. Teachers' professional ethics in contemporary China can't distinguish between key and non-key terms, and can't accurately grasp the particularity of teachers' professional ethics, which makes teachers' professional ethics lack of systematicness, hierarchy and pertinence. Therefore, in the process of building and perfecting the professional ethics of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China, we should learn from the successful experience of other countries' professional ethics construction and correctly solve the existing problems. The American Code of Educational Professional Ethics defines teachers' professional ethics and teachers' behavior from two aspects: teachers' attitude and responsibility to students and teachers' profession. This paper discusses in detail the two parts of "commitment to students" and "commitment to career", highlighting the professionalism and particularity of teachers' profession and the key points of evaluating teachers, making teachers' ethical norms more systematic and targeted, close to teachers' professional life, and making teachers willing to accept and implement them. In the future, in the construction and revision of teachers' professional ethics system in China, we should absorb the successful experience of American teachers' professional ethics construction, break through the limitations of the current teachers' professional ethics framework, focus on standardizing teachers' obligations and responsibilities to students and teachers' professions, make the formulation of teachers' professional ethics meet the teaching needs, let teachers focus on students' education, and make the construction of teachers' professional ethics more targeted and effective.

(2) Correcting the main body of teachers' professional ethics construction in China. Teachers' morality has always been formulated and revised by managers who are far away from the front line of education and teaching, which makes teachers' morality unsuitable for teachers' professional life, difficult to implement and a mere formality. In order to change this situation, China should decentralize the power of teachers' professional ethics construction, and let more educators in the front line of teaching directly participate in the construction of teachers' ethics. Only by correcting the main body of teachers' professional ethics construction and letting teachers at the front line of education and teaching directly participate in the construction of education and teaching system can education be more effective and the teaching process be smoother.

(3) Clarify the relationship between social morality and personal morality, and correctly position teachers' professional ethics. Contemporary teachers' professional ethics in China confuses social ethics and personal ethics, and wrongly classifies teachers' professional ethics into the field of personal ethics. While educating students and carrying out teaching activities, teachers also need to undertake social obligations and act as social models, which leads to the wide range, wide content and strict requirements of contemporary primary and secondary school teachers in China and the lack of humanistic care for teachers. In order to solve this problem, China can learn from the experience of American teachers' professional ethics construction, clearly distinguish social life from private life, and classify teachers' professional ethics as social morality. Teachers need to pay attention to the relationship with students, fulfill their obligations and responsibilities to teachers' profession, ensure the normal teaching order, do not overemphasize teachers' obligations to the country and society, emphasize teachers' political stance and ideological level, and avoid politicization, conceptualization and dogmatism of professional ethics.

(4) Enhance the operability of the professional ethics norms and systems of primary and secondary school teachers in contemporary China. Recognizing the characteristics of teachers' profession requires teachers to pay attention to both students and majors. Accordingly, teachers' professional ethics should focus on solving the relationship between teachers and students, teachers and majors, and standardizing teachers' responsibilities and obligations to students and majors. In addition, we can learn from the specific contents of the American Code of Professional Ethics for Education, specify teachers' professional behaviors in detail, standardize teachers' actions and omissions in the process of education and teaching according to teachers' teaching needs, highlight teachers' obligations and professional responsibilities to students, and refine and concretize the principled provisions.