Name: Niall Keenan

Article/Reading:
Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers

1. CONCISE SUMMARY OF READING

The Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers “sets out the standards
that teachers should adhere to” (The Teaching Council, 2016) throughout
their teaching career. This article sets out the guidelines as to how good
teaching should be practised. This code is encouraged by The Teaching
Council for the benefit of the teacher and to promote a good learning
environment for students and to “maintain public trust and confidence in
the teaching profession” (The Teaching Council, 2016).

Purpose of the Code:

This Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers provides Teachers

registered with the Teaching Council a threefold purpose:

1. It creates a map for teachers to choose a path towards an honest

and civil direction through their teaching career while in return
earning respect and honour of the teaching profession.
2. It can also be used by the wider community such as the public not
only the education associations to inform them on what is to be
expected of the Irish teaching profession.
3. It carries “important legal standings” and is referred to by the
teaching council when there is a breach of disciplinary and used
when they’re carrying out their investigations “under Part 5 of the

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 Teaching Council Acts, 2001 - 2015, dealing with fitness to teach”.

The teacher should practise by these core ethical values and “professional
standards” and boost and extend the assurance and faith that the
community places in the teacher. The teacher is influenced by core ethical
guidelines which will lead the teacher towards being a competent ethical
teacher. The core ethical teaching profession guidelines are:

 Respect – The role of the teacher is to support human dignity and

encourage equality and promote cognitive development while being
aware of emotional development. Give respect, get respect.
Demonstrating respect for diversity, cultural values, freedom,
democracy and the environment are aspects that should be
implemented over the teaching profession.
 Care - The teacher must keep a positive influence in the teaching
profession. Through professional judgement the teacher will keep
the consideration of the class and in return stay motivated
throughout the lesson.
 Integrity - Teachers implement integrity through their professional
personality and actions. Showing good leadership and sticking by
what you say can build integrity.
 Trust – Maintaining a professional student-teacher relationship can
gain you the trust of a class through honesty and openness and help
you earn trust with colleagues and parents. Involvement with extra-
curricular activities can help you earn trust by showing good
practice and reliability.

No matter what position the teacher has the Teaching Council have set out
standards that all registered teachers need apply.

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  Professional Values and Relationships.
 Professional Integrity
 Professional Conduct
 Professional Practice
 Professional Development
 Professional Collegiality and collaboration

Complaints relating to registered teachers

Current nationally agreed course of contact for dealing with complaints at

school level will still apply. Complaints of a “serious nature” will be
brought forward to the teaching council where an inquiry will take place. A
complaint to the teaching council can be made by anyone but can only be
made in regard of registered teachers on the grounds the grounds defined
in “section 42(1) of the Teaching Council Acts, 2001 – 2015”. Conduct
contrary to the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers, professional
misconduct, poor professional performance, and in certain circumstances,
convictions are included in the grounds. Complaints will be treated in
accordance with the “Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015” and in some
cases a hearing may be held.

Conclusion

The Code of Professional Conduct is a set standard that has to be met as a

teacher. It lays out the rules and regulations for professional teachers to
adhere to and includes legal actions in certain circumstances. This
document includes the core ethical values with professional teachers must
practice by and incorporate into their lessons and with their colleagues
the community to achieve a successful education experience. These
documents are not only for the teacher but also used by the teaching

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council to make clear how the teaching profession is run.

2. CRITICAL REFLECTION

After finishing this article a few points really jumped out at me that made
me see that the role of the teacher is expressed professionally and
positively. I appreciate that it makes the parents/guardians aware of how
they’re children are taught in school and in the event of an incident it will
be taken care of professionally and assures them, by reading this
document and seeing how the code “makes explicit the values and
standards” (Ruairc, 2016) that teachers need to adhere to, that the old
fashioned gloomy classroom is gone. The points I’m referring to are the
standards and ethics laid out by the teaching council for the teacher to
adhere to. The teacher in all aspects of education is the role model to their
students and this should be practiced through their teaching as this will
have influence on the students in their community.

I feel the code sets out a clear guide or pathway for teachers to follow and
help them progress to be a competent teacher. “As a professional
educator, it’s essential that you take the time to promote student growth”
(Cox, 2018), I find this an important quote because as the educator your
role is to promote positive learning and a positive atmosphere to get the
students to reach their full potential in the classroom and even outside the
classroom. From my experience what worked well when I was on school
placement I felt that by building a good student-teacher relationship it can
motivate the students and yourself as the educator, “A student would
work better in class if they felt that their teacher valued and cared for
them” (Maison, 2017), and help you get that respect you deserve to carry
out a successful lesson. There are plenty of ways you can develop this
relationship with the students like asking them about a football match

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they had earlier or just asking them how there day was, etc. I believe that
not only should a good relationship be built with the students but also with
teachers and other staff because a positive atmosphere is always more
efficient.

After reading the “Code of Professional Conduct and Practice” UK I feel

that it doesn’t seem to come across as positive as the Irish code as the UK
code seems to be very black and white where the Irish code includes
colour and the ethical values in these coloured circles (Respect, Care,
Integrity and Trust) which promotes a positive feel from reading the
document. The UK document is discouraging looking where it lays out the
codes legal like, for example it states “The teacher should...” (CDET, 2017)
before the points where as the Irish code begins with a positive line, “The
role of the teacher is to educate” (Ruairc, 2016), and I feel this positive
sign is what we need as educators to stay positive and motivated through
this profession.

To conclude I feel that although it can be hard to implement all the ethical
values into a lesson it does have a big impact on how efficiently your class
will run. I feel that the teaching council of Ireland have done a
commendable job on the professional code of conduct by keeping it
positive and also not leaving out any legal matters and concerns.

3. LIST OF REFERENCES

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References:
CDET. (2017). Code of Professional Conduct and Practice. London .
Cox, J. (2018). Professional Development Tips for Teachers. Retrieved from Teach Hub:
http://www.teachhub.com/professional-development-tips-teachers
Maison, E. (2017, April 27). THE IMPORTANCE OF POSITIVE TEACHER-STUDENT
RELATIONSHIPS IN CLASSROOMS. Retrieved from The Educator:
https://www.theeducator.com/blog/importance-positive-teacher-student-relationships-
classrooms/
Ruairc, G. Q. (2016). Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers. Kildare: The Teaching
Council.

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