Abstract

Ever since Foster (1986, p. 284) so insightfully declared: “Leadership must be ethical [because] it carries a responsibility not just to be personally moral, but to be a cause of ‘civic moral education’ which leads to both self-knowledge and community awareness” tertiary institutions throughout the world have striven to inculcate ethical decision-making units into their educational leadership courses. Yet our current educational leadership literature is still brimming with calls to recognize the place of ethics in the professional development of leaders (Begley, 2006; Duignan, 2006; Fullan, 2003; Greenfield, 2004; Hollimon, Basinger, Smith, & Leonard, 2009; Richmon, 2003; Starratt, 2003; Tuana, 2007). Why, after more than 20 years of knowing that ethical decision making is integral to appropriate leadership behavior, does it still remain a major concern within our educational leadership literature? Surely, this is a clear indication that we have yet to find the most effective way to help prepare our current and future educational leaders for being able to confidently and effectively deal with their complex, problematic, and unavoidable ethical decision-making responsibilities.