Abstract

Ethical dilemmas and their possible resolution are a consistent issue facing educational leaders at all levels in today’s pre-K through graduate schools. While these dilemmas are serious, they are not all of the same magnitude, and the question often relates to the intensity of any given issue. It is in this vein that turbulence theory ¹ has been successfully applied as an aid in understanding and responding to challenges of ethical decision making in educational settings around the world. This chapter will examine the origins of turbulence theory, the four levels of turbulence, and the use of the turbulence gauge, the underlying dynamics that escalate and reduce levels of turbulence, and turbulence theory’s relevance to ethical decision making for educators.