CA2

Current Trends in Education: Tutorial Papers: Template

Leader: Kevin Maye

Student Name
Áine Birch

Tutorial Paper Number (1 or 2)

1

Reading Article Reference

Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers

Article Summary (1 A4 page)

The Teaching Council is the professional standards body for teaching, it promotes and regulates
the teaching profession, it also supports teachers’ learning. The Teaching Council works on the
premise that advocacy and regulation are interdependent.
The Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers was brought into action in 2007, in accordance with
The Teaching Council Act, 2001, which states that the Council shall ‘establish, publish, review and
maintain codes of professional conduct for teachers, which shall include standards of teaching,
knowledge, competence and skill’. In 2012, the Council approved a 2 nd edition of the Code of
Professional Conduct for Teachers.
The Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers applies to all registered teachers. The purpose of
the code is threefold:
1. Educators can use this document to help them maintain the honour and dignity of the
teaching profession while navigating an ethical and respectful course throughout their
careers.
2. It may be used to inform people of the expectations of the teaching profession in Ireland.
3. It is used by the Council as a reference point in exercising its investigative and disciplinary
functions under part 5 of the Teaching Council Acts, 2001-2015, dealing with fitness to
teach.
The code begins by setting out the ethical foundation for the teaching profession. The core
values reflected throughout the code are, Respect, Care, Integrity, and Trust.
The code then sets out the expected standards for registered teachers. The standards identify
the teachers’ professional responsibilities, they are frames as statements under 6 headings:
values and relationships, integrity, conduct, practice, professional development, collegiality,
and collaboration.
The code is in accord with the Council’s Policy on the Continuum of Teacher Education. It sees
teachers as members of professional learning communities and advocates a role for the
profession in supporting student teachers and newly qualified teachers.
The council is mindful of the myriad factors beyond teachers’ control which have a bearing on
 their work.
Respect – uphold human dignity, promote equality and emotional and cognitive development,
demonstrate respect for spiritual and cultural values, diversity, social justice, freedom,
democracy, and the environment.
Care – positive influence, professional judgement, and empathy in practice.
Integrity – honesty, reliability, and moral action, exercise integrity through professional
commitments responsibilities and actions.
Trust – relationships with students, colleagues, parents, school management and the public
are based on trust, trust embodies fairness, openness, and honesty.
On page 7 of the document, Professional Values and Relationships, Professional Integrity, and
Professional Conduct are looked at more closely.
Anyone can make a complaint to The Teaching Council regarding a registered teacher on any of
the grounds set out in section 42(1) of The Teaching Council Acts, 2001 – 2015.
A complaint may be investigated when any of the following matters are concerned:
(a) Breaching any provision of this Act, the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 the Education for
Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 or the Education and Training Boards Act
2013;
(b) Professional misconduct;
(c) Inadequate professional performance;
(d) Acting in a manner that violated a professional conduct code adopted by the Council in
accordance with section 7(2)(b);
(e) A dishonest, fraudulent declaration or misrepresentation caused his or her registration to
be incorrect;
(f) A registered teacher is not medically fit to teach;
(g) if he or she has been found guilty of an offense that can be tried by indictment in the State
or of an offense that, if committed or made in the State, would be punishable by an
indictment outside the State;
(h) that he or she has disregarded a commitment or neglected to take any action called for
under a consent granted in response to a request under section 43(6).

Critical Reflection on the Article (1 A4 Page)

The Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers clearly lays out a set of guidelines for how teachers
should fulfil their responsibilities to students, parents, colleagues, the community, and the
profession of teaching. The code establishes boundaries for what is deemed appropriate for the
profession of teaching. After reading The Code of Professional Conduct I understand more about
what is appropriate behaviour for an educator. It is important that student teachers have an
understanding of the code of ethics that will apply to them as professionals (Maxwell, 2017).
One thing I like about the code is how some of the ethical values of being a teacher are laid out,
there is a graphic in the code that clearly shows the core values that a teacher should keep in
mind; being respectful, caring, trusting and being trustworthy, and having integrity, these four key
values should be shown in all aspects of a teachers work. I think having a graphical representation
in a text-heavy document makes it much clearer and easier to remember. Shabiralyani, Hasan,
Hamad, and Iqbal (2015), found that using visual aids effectively, stimulates thinking and enhances
learning environments.
After reading the document carefully I have a good understanding of what it means to act
professionally as an educator, and I am aiming to remember many of the points in this document
as I progress in my career.
On pages 7 and 8 of the document, the standards that apply to all registered teachers are clearly
written out, I found that this section was not difficult to read or comprehend, I think if a member
of the general public were to read pages 7 and 8, they would quickly understand what is expected
of a teacher. Page 7and 8 refers to 1. Professional Values and Relationships, 2. Professional
Integrity, 3. Professional Conduct, 4. Professional Practice, 5. Professional Development and 6.
Professional Collegiality and Collaboration.
I thought parts of the section on complaints relating to registered teachers, page 9, was not as
easy to grasp as the rest of the document, in the second paragraph of this section it is stated that
only complaints of a serious nature can progress to an inquiry, I think this could be open to
interpretation as different people may have different ideas about what is or is not serious enough
to formally complain about. I also think it is unclear where a person should go if they want to
make a complaint against a registered teacher, although the document does say to refer to the
Professional Standards section of the teaching council website for more information.
After analysing the document carefully, I do think it would be beneficial for a lot of people to take
the time to also read it, I think there is important information in the document and for people to
know and understand the information that is provided in the document.

List of References
Maxwell, B. (2017). Codes of Professional Conduct and Ethics Education for Future Teachers.
Philosophical Inquiry in Education, 24, 323-347.
Shabiralyani, G., Hasan, K. S., Hamad, N., & Iqbal, N. (2015). Impact of Visual Aids in Enhancing
the Learning Process Case. Journal of Education and Practice, 233.