Week+6

The Victorian teaching profession code of ethics is a legislative requirement. It is based on core values of personal and professional integrity, respect and responsibility. It is not disciplinary code, but helps to give a framework for our standards and behaviours, provide a public accountability and promotes confidence in the profession. We are in a position of trust and responsibility so it is of utmost importance that we uphold these codes not just with students, but also with parents or caregivers, colleagues and the wider community.

There are 3 sections to the code of conduct: · Professional conduct - which states that teachers are to treat their students with dignity and respect and to act professionally at all times. · Personal conduct - it is expected that we be positive role models whether in the school or out in the community. Teachers are not to exploit their position for personal gain and they are to act with discretion and confidentiality. · Professional competence - teachers must be knowledgeable in their field and committed to continued professional improvement. We all need to be aware of our legal requirements such as mandatory reporting, negligence, privacy, OH&S, registration and so on.

This lecture initially seemed pretty straightforward and to me it appeared to be based on a lot of common sense. However, it wasn't until our Issues workshop that these issues were discussed much more in depth and some lines may appear blurry. It was interesting to get this other perspective as there are a few problems that may arise. Firstly, what may seem as common sense to some may not appear so to others. But also, as Pete mentioned, our own ideas about what is accepted as the norm and common sense may change completely and be harder to apply than we might have thought when we are faced with a difficult situation. It is easy to say that the right and wrong thing to do is black and white, but when confronted with an issue that may be ethically and morally opposed we may change our view. I don’t believe that being ethical and being moral are the same thing; they are similar in that they both have a right and a wrong, but I do believe that they differ and when this happens we will experience some conflict about what we should do. The example that made me think about this was when Greg made the point about the grade 1 students walking home from school in the pouring rain lugging bags and a huge science experiment. Morally you would want to pick him up and help, but ethically we all know that we are not to do that. I think that we are going to come across many grey areas in our time teaching and it is good to have a code of conduct to base our decisions on.

Another point that interested me was the point about not being there to rescue children. We will come across situations that I’m sure we would love to do more to help, but at the end of the day a lot is out of our control. Often their school life may be the only stable thing in their lives and we have the opportunity to create a safe, caring environment where children can learn and enjoy themselves. This may be the best thing that we can do for these children.  We have a duty of care towards our students and this means that we are to act like a professional teacher at all times above all else.

Katrina Lee