Week+6

Week 6 - Teacher code of ethics and code of conduct

Todays lecture was really good. I found it really valid and easily understandable. In general it was all about how a teacher needs to have 3 codes of conduct: - a professional conduct - a personal conduct and - professional competence As teachers we need to rely on our own ethics, and those ethics need to be on par with the schools code of conduct and ethics. When we first arrive at our schools when we get jobs, we may not be handed the code of conduct and ethics. We need to go hunting for it. It is very important to be familiar with the schools personal conduct and also to be involved in tweaking it from time to time in accordance with our peers. We are publicly accountable for our actions. We are not teachers 24/7 but we have a responsibility to maintain a respectable front. Children and parents will see us in most things we do outside of school and they gossip. Greg highlighted that this can be a good thing too. If you prove yourself as a good teacher in a community, the parents will defend you to others and spread the good word about you. It is a good idea to become involved in community based volunteer work. Children will see what you do and respond accordingly. If you are an upstanding citizen then it is easier to teach them to be one too. This includes apologizing for things you do which you later regret such as loosing your cool at a child. They need to know that violence and aggression are never the answer and that everyone makes mistakes and thats ok. There will always be a team of peers to back you up with issues. Sometimes issues need to be referred onto other adults such as counsellors or the schools nurse but if you do need to be alone with a child who has a query or issue, make sure another teacher is around or pete had a good idea, before the child explains their problem, ask if they have told anyone else in the class, like maybe their best friend, if they have ask if it is ok for the friend to stick around whilst they talk to you. The readings from this week all focused at some point or another that you need to know your schools code of conduct because you will be putting it into place everyday but in the end use your own discretion to handle each individual issue.

Annalei