Installing an Ethics Pledge within K-12 Academia: A Restoration of Humanism

In May 2009, 33 Harvard M.B.A. Candidates proposed and published an ethics pledge entitled the M.B.A. Oath. It is a “voluntary student-led pledge that the goal of business managers is to 'serve the greater good.' It promises that Harvard M.B.A.[s] will act responsibly, ethically, and refrain from advancing their 'own narrow ambitions' at the expense of others” (Wayne, 2009, p.1). As of 2009, 450 of 900 graduates have signed with thousands of supportive fans on Twitter and Facebook. As of 2012, more than 6500 students support this Oath (M.B.A. Oath Website, 2012). In the wake of the Enron scandal, Wall Street disaster, and subsequent fiscal “Depression,” students should view teachers and administrators as ethical beings. Any K-12 or college setting has always been a “sheltered entity,” preparing students for the future but in a fashion that does not force them immediately into reality. This review of the literature will analyze the eight tenets of the M.B.A. Oath,while dividing them into three applicable areas: personal maintenance, accountability, and aiding student progression. The first two areas must be effectively monitored before progressing to the third: ultimately concluding that moral will and reason must align to the human connection (Johannesen, Valde, & Whedbee, 2008).