Mathematics teachers' ethical considerations in instructional decisions: A multiple case study

The aim of this study is to determine how the secondary school mathematics teachers' decisions in teaching processes are shaped based on their ethical considerations.The research was designed as a multiple case study. Three mathematics teachers working at secondary level participated in the study. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with teachers in series. Questions and scenarios with related to identifying the teacher, instructional planning, practices and assessment processes were used in the interviews. The data were examined with a blend of disciriptive and content analysis. While examining the ethical tensions in teachers' practical decisions, it focused on questions and queries about rights, values and obligations. Then, in each ethical tensions' structures and the participants' ethical considerations in each tensions were determined. When ethical tensions were analyzed according to their similarities and differences, it was observed that tensions occur in four different ways: ethical uncertainty, ethical dilemma, ethical conflict, ethical distress. According to the findings which were obtained from the research, it was seen that the participants who faced an ethical tension in their educational decisions, acted with different two ethical approaches: rational approaches and non-rational approaches. Rational approaches are deontology, teleology, virtue ethics and principlism. Non-rational approaches are experience, obedience, feeling-desire, intuition and imitation. Based on the conceptual frameworks identified regarding ethical tensions and the ethical considerations process, a model was developed that explains the decision making process of teachers who faced an ethical tension. The findings suggest that mathematics instruction is not only shaped with pedagogical or educational concerns but also with ethical considerations. Keywords: Mathematics education, ethical tension, ethical consideration, teacher's decision making process.