The tensions identified in earlier chapters are part of the fabric of life and work in service organisations, such as schools. They can be very challenging, even frustrating, but cannot be wished away or ignored. Part of the responsibility of working in a service environment is to engage in positive, productive and ethical ways with these tensions. Decisions have to be made based on informed judgement, and educational leaders need to develop processes that will provide them with ‘a foundation for probing the ethical depths of each situation that calls for a judgement’ (Rebore, 2001, p. 31). The framework described and discussed in chapter 4 will help educational leaders to analyse challenging situations and better understand their complexity and multidimensionality. The framework assists educational leaders to consider multiple contestable values dualities, as represented by the double-headed arrow (e.g. care ↔ rules), to understand tension situations. In addition, however, educational leaders will benefit from understanding how values and ethics can help inform such decisions. That understanding is the focus of this chapter.

Values and decision-making

Values are important for determining our sense of who we are. They develop over time and are influenced by family, education, peers and a whole range of experiences, both good and bad, that have helped shape us. Even though we share many of our values with others, there will always be differences; whether in the degree of intensity with which we hold our values or the way we prioritise them.