Teaching elementary school children with intellectual disabilities requires skill, patience, and devotion, and those who undertake this task are among the unsung heroes of our society. Their difficult and challenging work rarely brings the prestige or financial rewards it deserves. Mrs. Pettit was one of those dedicated teachers. Licensed to teach in California, she had been working with mentally challenged children for over thirteen years when her career came to an abrupt end. Throughout that career, her competence was never questioned, and the evaluations of her school principal were always positive.Teaching was not Pettit's only interest, however. She and her husband viewed with favor various "non conventional sexual life-styles," including " wife swapping." Because so- called sexual liberation was a hot topic at the time, the Pettits were invited to discuss their ideas on two local television shows. Although they wore disguises, at least one fellow teacher recognized them and discussed Mrs. Pettit's views with colleagues. A year later Pettit, then forty- eight years old, and her husband joined " The Swingers," a private club in Los Angeles that sponsored parties intended to promote diverse sexual Activities among its mem-bers. An undercover police officer, Sergeant Berk, visited one of those parties at a private residence. Amid a welter of sexual activity, he observed Mrs. Pettit perform fellatio on three different men in a one- hour period. Pettit was arrested and charged with oral copulation, which at the time contravened the California Penal Code (although now it does only if one of the parties is under eight-een). After a plea bargain was arranged, she pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of outraging public decency and paid a fine. The school district renewed her teaching contract the next academic year, but two years later, disciplinary proceedings were initiated against her. The State Board of Education found no reason to complain about her services as a teacher, and it conceded that she was unlikely to repeat her sexual miscon-duct. But the Board revoked her elementary school life diploma- that is, her license to teach- on the ground that by engaging in immoral and unprofessional conduct at the party, she had demonstrated that she was unfit to teach.
Explain your rationale for each of your answers to your chosen case study.
Do you believe the Board of Education violated her right to privacy? Were they justified in firing her? Explain two to three (2-3) major reasons why or why not.
Was Pettit's behavior unprofessional or immoral? Do you believe she was unfit to teach? Provide a rationale for your position.
If teachers have good performance inside the classroom, should they also be held to a higher moral standard outside the classroom? Explain why or why not.
Analyze five (5) behaviors you believe would show unprofessional or immoral conduct for a teacher.