SAILS
Principle 3: Integrity

The strong professional has…learned to persuade others of an ethical vision through example, by living that set of beliefs.
- Barone 1996

Theme: Developing personal and professional honesty
Personal and professional integrity includes: (1) self-valuing; (2) an appreciation of diversity; (3) recognizing the worth of special learners; (4) honesty in the dealing with others; (4) morality; (5) an ethical framework within which to cast personal and professional decisions; (6) respect for others and for the opinion of others: and (7) self-discipline in all facets of life. Candidates must develop and reflect upon their personal and professional integrity to fully understand the role of educators in today’s schools and to more clearly model their role in becoming lifelong teachers of others.

While American society is rich in its diversity, the fact is that all children do not have an equal opportunity to learn and succeed in school. We must ensure that all children, regardless of where they live, what color their skin is, what language they speak at home, or how they learn will be valued as individuals and will be given the opportunity to maximize their learning potential. To accomplish this, we seek to prepare educators who understand how learning occurs, and are able to apply that wisdom to a range of students who possess different learning styles, different cultural values and dispositions, and different abilities and exceptionalities.

Integrity also means being able to maintain one's own sense of values in the face of an educational bureaucracy that may seek to compromise them. We seek to prepare educators who are aware of the organizational issues within their respective schools and are able to function effectively within them, and who are also able to maintain their own personal sense of values that will allow them to become agents of change within these same communities.

Learning Outcomes
The candidate:

• Acts in a professional, ethical and moral manner.
• Demonstrates honesty and empathy both professionally and personally.

Knowledge Base
Integrity denotes the provision of an ethical framework within which candidates are able to critically reflect on, test out and clarify their own sense of values and principles that will guide their professional practice. It illustrates a set a basic assumptions and shared normative values that are present within each area of study (VanTassell-Baska, 1987). Integrity connotes a self-directed professional who employs critical reflection and seeks personal meaning and clarity among competing value frameworks to arrive at action. A teacher candidate who possesses integrity illustrates an individual who thinks and acts inclusively, who values—albeit, celebrates—diversity, disability and difference, who helps students discover and understand the ethical dimensions in any area of study, and who regards others as valuable and contributory members of their community (Cronon, 1999; Covey, 1989).