Abstract

Effective and responsible educational leaders must also be ethical leaders. By this I mean not only that their leadership decisions and practices must be based on ethical values and principles, but also that they “lead with ethics” in the sense of being committed to, and taking a leadership role in, ensuring the development of moral literacy throughout their communities. Effective ethical educational leadership, the focus of this handbook, is grounded in the recognition that ethical leadership, in the sense of putting ethics in the foreground of all activities, is essential for the entire educational community. It is not possible for one person, no matter how ethical or how effective a leader, to make a community ethical. An ethical community exists because the commitment to ethical leadership permeates the entire community. Too often, the focus on ethical leadership is limited to the education of the leaders of a school unit but neglects the second, and I would argue, more essential component of educating the entire community to lead with ethics. Such a limited focus can result in the mistaken impression that the field of ethical leadership should focus on the education of principals and administrators, rather than being a key element of education for all teachers at all levels.