Week+6

= Teacher Code of Ethics & Code of Conduct =



Hello All,

While we are all so stressed with assignments this week I am not expecting any of you are the least bit concerned about Codes of Ethics as teachers, it all seems like a distant dream.

Nevertheless, you shall have my rant....I mean, my discussion opener.

If any of you have done the readings you may find that they are rather like reading a phone book this week. Rather dry. But...if you would just cast your minds back to the tutorial we had a few weeks ago- the memorable one, when a student stormed out after another student expressed an opinion that seemed to contradict the whole focus of this course. This whole episode and the discussion that followed brought to mind the importance of a code of conduct and also a code of ethics. For you could see from that dispaly that despite what it seems, despite how much their is a shift in the perception of attitudes and opinions on what is our responsibility as teachers, and how best to assist students to learn and grow, some attitudes of some people will remain quite stubbornly stuck in the past (some would say almost quite backward) or at least very different, to our own. We all carry our own opinions, beliefs, judgements, backgrounds, and these do strongly influence our attitudes and way of going about things. So it seems that despite the code of ethics being so dry and dull to read, some even suggested that they were "common sense", we have to remember that it **does need to be spelled out** for many people. Some people need to have old attitudes very much stamped out of them or at least strict rules spelled out for them if they cannot or will not change their opinions, and I believe a specific document outlining "guidelines" is a necessity.

What do you think? Should these documets exist? Are they common sense? Have another look at some of the readings....The fact that these things need to be spelled out makes me wonder what kinds of things have children, teachers and parents had to go through in the past in order for guidelines to be formed. We've heard some of the major incidences on the news, teachers having sexual encounters with students for example. But there are probably many other things that were not newsworthy. Can you think of any stories that make a Code of Conduct and Ethics seems like a necessity to you?

I went to a country school in NSW in the 1980's, and was in Prep. It was here I was hit with a ruler daily for being left-handed. Many people think that I was at school in the Dark Ages, but no, this was just the 80's.

What I am concerned about is how being a teacher is going to affect my private life. Greg already mentioned that he lived next-door to a student and the student would see him in his yard mowing the lawn, etc. If we are expected to be a professional at all times- **how can we live**? Are we suddenly like politicians or famous people, where our **private action**s are seen as **"influencing" the younger generation**? Always in the limelight? How do you feel about this? Does it bother you? Are you confident that it won't be an issue? DO you have any stories of seeing teachers outside of school in "questionable" activities? I know I've heard that one of my school teachers was lying drunk in a gutter one night and was greeted by two of my friends, who had not long finished school. So, even as young adults, they were amused by this, and quickly realised that the teacher was a human being too. But as a student, what would have happened? What would the parents have done had they seen him there?

I am not really of the opinion that teachers cannot be humans. Two of my teachers came to my 18th birthday a long time ago. We are still friends. One is a senior lecturer now at USQ. We all had so much respect for these teachers who were on our level too, but I know there needs to be some line. Steiner schools, again, don't draw lines as much. Teachers come to your home and meet the kids, if parents agree, so they can get a better picture of the individual child. My son's teacher came for his birthday and played and gardened with him. My daughters teacher came over and read her a story book, her favouite. Her Class 1 teacher came over and let her show him her room and her favourite toys. Teachers in a Steiner school are concerend with establishing long term connections with students and their families, building bridges between home and school life to make learning more effective and suited to individual children as they are teaching the child for 7 years.

So, I think we need to know the rules, and then find out with individual schools and parents, how best to work with these rules. And yes, Pete is right, it needs to be fair for male and female teachers.

Kari O'Gorman

Alexia: I wanted to share with you an example of how important code of conduct is in schools. I was on yard duty with my mentor when we discovered that one of our students had left her lunch inside and hadn’t eaten it. This student had been causing some concern lately about not eating, so my mentor sent me inside to collect her lunch. I set off to the classroom. The student asked if she could join me. I agreed. I reasoned that it would better for her to get her lunch then sit down straight away to eat. I didn’t want her to be sided-tracked with other play. We went into the school building and she ran to get her sandwich. When we came out my mentor explained hurriedly that I couldn’t do that. I was so confused. Couldn’t do what? She explained that I’d been inside with the student alone and this was something that you had to be very wary of. There’d been another student teacher inside with me at the same time, but that was just luck. I hadn’t even considered this as something to be wary of, but as she explained I remembered our lectures; 1. Ask another teacher to wait back. 2. Ask students to stay in twos. I was a little embarrassed and a little upset. What was she implying? Nothing of course, but I think that sadly this is just the world we live in. Being aware of situations like that is part of being a modern teacher. It was an excellent learning experience for me and I will more aware in the future.

Image Sourced: []

**Home**| Week 1 - Sir Ken Robinson "Ideas Worth Spreading" | Week 2 - Classroom Management| Week 3 - So You Want To Be A Teacher? | Week 4 - Planning for Learning | Week 5 - Models of Teaching and Learning| Week 7 - Who Are Your Students?  | Week 8 - Issues from the coalsface - VIt and planning