Unit 1

Soft Skills for Teachers

Assignment 1

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Soft Skills for Teachers - Assignment 1- F N Shazia Ihthisam – L4 Batch 26
 Learner name

Course title Professional Diploma In Teaching (Level 4)

Assessor name Hasini Gajadeera

Assessment agreed by
Internal Verifier or Agreed
other comments

Internal Verifier name Dharshini Mirigama

Unit number and title 01 Soft Skills for Teachers

Assignment title Ethics and the Role of the Teacher

P 1.1 –1.4 Understand the role of the professional in a

Outcome number(s)
teaching organisation
and statement(s)
P2.1 – 2.2 Understand strategies for meeting learner needs

Date set 19/10/2019 Hand-in date 07/12/2019

Review dates 19/10/2019 02/11/2019

Learner declaration

I confirm that the work submitted for this assignment is my own.

Learner Signature Date

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Soft Skills for Teachers - Assignment 1- F N Shazia Ihthisam – L4 Batch 26
 Ethics and the Role of the Teacher

Educators require support from various areas in order to successfully grow, teach, and
perform to the best of their abilities. In doing so, ethics, team work and support from other
educational professionals are detrimental to the success of teaching.

Analyse the role of ethics in the teaching profession and write a synopsis on what ethical
rules you should follow, in relation to at least two standards taken from professional
bodies. (P 1.1)

Ethics are moral conducts which distinguish right from wrong practiced by a person or a
group of people which has a significant place in all parts of life (Sultana, 2014). Education is
an important process of human life. Therefore, ethics play a vital and an effective role in
teaching.

According to (Elizabeth, 2004) the teacher should portray ethics through her behavior and
conduct. Ethics are displayed through verbal and non-verbal communications. The key
attributes of ethics are honesty as well as impartiality, which a teacher needs to impart during
her teaching profession.

Teachers help students learn the academics and guide them by setting positive examples of
life lessons. As role models, teachers must follow two roles of ethics which are formal and
personal.

A teacher who follows the Australian professional standard of ‘know the students and how
they learn’ mainly encompasses areas such as focusing on the learners growth of their mental
and physical development along with their unique individualities and tailoring contents
according to students diverse backgrounds. It also encapsulates learning styles of each
student, their expertise, their strengths and weakness and also catering to special need
learners (AITSL, Oct 2018).

When exercising the above standard, a teacher should not forget to display and demonstrate
exemplary personal ethics such as perseverance, honesty and patience when dealing with the
learner’s mental and physical development. Also, when addressing diverse backgrounds, the
teacher needs to bear in mind to be respectful and treat students with dignity. Responsibility,
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fairness and empathy are some of the key ethics that needs to be portrayed when catering to
special need learners. Also, in general, a teacher should treat every student with equal
opportunity and needs to be impartial.

When considering the standard ‘Fulfil wider professional responsibilities‘, a ‘Teachers

Standard in England’, it focuses on a teachers impact to the beliefs and values of the
professional institute, attitude towards other co-workers and effective communication. It also
articulates on optimizing resources effectively, continual improvement of the teaching
techniques and also focuses on the positive parent teacher relationship (Department for
Education, 2011).

Personal ethics such as integrity and respectfulness should be widely used when adhering to
the above standard. These key attributes should also be used on respecting beliefs and values
of the educational institute. In addition, when continuously improving teaching techniques,
ethics such as commitment, responsibility and impartiality plays a complementary role.
Concern for the students well-being, protecting the civil and human rights of all individuals
and Implementing legal requirements are some ethics a teacher should display when building
relationships with colleagues and parents of the students.

These ethics make sure that students receive neutral, honest and uncompromising education.

Whilst ethics are very important in the education system, so does the roles and
responsibilities of teachers and other educational professionals.

Compare your professional role from that of others professionals in your organization and
discuss the difference with examples. (P 1.2)

Who is a teacher? Though the dictionary defines a teacher as “A person who teaches,
especially in a school”, A teacher plays a much more vital and various roles such as trainer,
mentor, coach, instructor, tutor, planner and a resource manager. Along with these duties a
teacher is also responsible for a learner’s mental and academic growth.

A teacher is an expert who possess sound competencies to convey knowledge, skills and
morals to students to utilize and achieve desired outcomes (Senge et al., 2012)

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The other professionals in an educational institute play a vital and a critical role in creating an
enriched, safe and supportive learning atmosphere.

A school principal is one such professional, who helps the students to achieve quality
education.

As per the (Victoria State Government Australia, 2017), a principal is a leader in the school
community, who manage, plans, deliver and evaluate strategic arrangements within the
resources provided by the department of the education. A principal’s key role is to look in to
the development of the knowledge base of the teachers and their improvements in their
teaching techniques.

A School principal, also known as headmasters are wardens of the educational institute; they
instil a peaceful, excellent and a safe environment for learners. A principal is also the
manager of the school who is responsible for decision making and development of the
institute (Meador, 2019).

In addition to the above roles of a teacher and a principal, a librarian too contributes and
provides support to the educational organization.

A librarian is someone who manages the function and actives of the library in a professional
institute.

A librarian is also in charge for a vast quantity of information, organization of books and
journals to more modern responsibilities such as maintaining audio and video recordings as
well as preserving and providing digital resources (Wikipedia contributors, 2019). A
Librarian’s responsibilities differ considering the size of the library. However, most share
common responsibilities.

A teacher, a principal and a librarian works towards uplifting the students’ knowledge, even
though there are differences in their responsibilities. The following table compares the
differences of their respective roles.

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Soft Skills for Teachers - Assignment 1- F N Shazia Ihthisam – L4 Batch 26
Responsibility Differences

Teacher Principal Librarian

Planning Planning curriculum, Strategic planning for Sorting, organizing,

lesson and unit plans the school
selecting and
for a specific subject
development developing library
or class
resources such as
books, films and
journals

Recording Observe, evaluate Appraising teachers Maintaining library

/documentation and record students’
records
academic and

psychological
development

Communication Positive Positive Assisting and

communication
communication responding to the
between teachers,
between learners, co-
readers queries
workers and parents learners, parents and
the community.

Welfare Looking into the In charge of Ensure the library

well-being of the implementing meets the requirements
students, of the specific group of
disciplinary actions
implementing users such as staff,
and executing rules
student safety postgraduate learners
and regulations
standards and special needs
according to the
students.

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Soft Skills for Teachers - Assignment 1- F N Shazia Ihthisam – L4 Batch 26
 department standards

Management Helping the Heading the school Managing the

management and financials, library
management to
finance support staff and their
execute successful
activities
management
policies.

Critically compare the advantages and disadvantages of working in a team as opposed to

working individually, in your school/college and analyse how interpersonal relationships
can affect your professional role (P1.3); (P1.4)

Team working according to (Wikipedia-contributors, 2019) is a collective work of a group of

individuals to attain a common goal or a mission in an effective manner.

In a professional institute some either choose to work individually or in teams. Both working
in teams and individually has its advantages and disadvantages.

Few benefits of team working as opposed to individual work are that it promotes creativity
which offers the institute with a range of ideas, vision, views and new opportunities. A good
team always permits individuals to brainstorm together, which successfully helps them to
solve problems more effectively and efficiently.

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Soft Skills for Teachers - Assignment 1- F N Shazia Ihthisam – L4 Batch 26
On the other hand, an individual working alone has to take the full responsibility of a given
task. Lack of new ideas or methods is a disadvantage of working alone.

Working in teams also encourages healthy relationships and loyalty which helps to build a
supportive and a motivated environment.
However, when working alone, you’ve got to be self-motivated. Also, absence of healthy
relationships or communication can make one stressful and lose enthusiasm in the work,
which is a disadvantage of working alone.

Team work opens up new avenues for wider thought processes and may provide better
insights for improvements and new innovations. Also, when having a diverse team, it
provides access to better resources. However, when working individually, you may not be
able to reach out for help or have access for better resources, insights and may lack novel
ideas for improvements.

At times working in a team may not be the best idea comparing to working as a sole
individual. Interpersonal conflict is one such disadvantage. A team effort can go wrong
when there is a great difference in the techniques of working styles, behaviours and ideas of
each team member. In such instances it becomes difficult to coordinate within the team.
Working alone gives you the opportunity to make your own decisions. It also helps you to
finish a task at your own pace and time.

Compatibility Problems are yet another disadvantage a team could face. When working in a
team it is vital for every team member to have team spirit. It turns into a disadvantage when
individuals try to outsmart the other team members. When each member starts placing their
desires before the needs of the team, the team cannot perform efficiently. Being able to
focus at ease and work faster is an advantage of working individually. When working in a
familiar project, one could make decisions immediately instead of needing to get the consent
of other team members.

Unequal involvement and contribution towards the team is another challenge a group could
face. Inadequate participation of team members make it difficult to work in a group.it
burdens the group members who put an extra effort to complete the task whilst some prefer a
free ride. When working as an individual during a task, one gets the whole credit for the work
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which has been completed. Circumstances where one does less but gets the same recognition
won’t exist.

It is also important to analyse the interpersonal relationships and how it could affect your
professional role. Interpersonal relationships are social relationships and connection between
two or more people.

A good strong relationship between members working in the same environment is known as
interpersonal relationship. To build constructive working environment members of the
organization should share a healthy relationship amongst each other. Honesty and patients are
a vital interpersonal relationship in an organization. (MSG, 2019).

Interpersonal relationships at an organization have a great effect on both the institute and the
individual. Study has proved that healthy interpersonal relationships at work can increase
each individual’s attitudes such as job contentment, commitment and apparent institutional
support. (Patricia, 2015).

Interpersonal relationship in an organization can have a positive or a negative impact.

Positivity, respectfulness, honesty, patients, trustworthiness, empathy and good

communication are healthy interpersonal relationship that creates better working
environments. Having healthy interpersonal relationships helps to successfully accomplish
tasks in an organization and it also creates confidence amongst co- workers which builds
loyalty.

When there isn’t any strong association between individuals working in an organization and
display negative interpersonal relationships such as dishonesty, mistrust, animosity,
backstabbing, partiality, jealousy and many more negative interpersonal relationships will
cause clash between the members of the organization which will eventually create an
unhealthy atmosphere to work in.

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Soft Skills for Teachers - Assignment 1- F N Shazia Ihthisam – L4 Batch 26
Bibliography
AITSL, Oct 2018. australian institute for teaching and school leadership limited. [Online]
Available at: HYPERLINK "https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/national-policy-
framework/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers.pdf?sfvrsn=5800f33c_64"
https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/national-policy-framework/australian-
professional-standards-for-teachers.pdf?sfvrsn=5800f33c_64 [Accessed 13 Nov 2019].

Department for Education, 2011. Teachers' standards. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK
"https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-standards"
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-standards [Accessed 19 November
2019].

Elizabeth, C., 2004. Ethical bases of moral agency in teaching. Teachers and Teaching,
10(4), pp.409-28.

Meador, D., 2019. "The Role of the Principal in Schools".ThoughtCo. [Online] Available at:
HYPERLINK "https://www.thoughtco.com/role-of-principal-in-schools-3194583"
https://www.thoughtco.com/role-of-principal-in-schools-3194583 [Accessed 21 November
2019].

MSG, M.S.G., 2019. Management Study Guide. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK
"https://www.managementstudyguide.com/interpersonal-relationship-skills.htm"
https://www.managementstudyguide.com/interpersonal-relationship-skills.htm [Accessed 17
December 2019].

Patricia, O., 2015. Improving Interpersonal Relationship in Workplaces. Journal of Research

& Method in Education, 5(6), pp.115-25.

Senge, P. et al., 2012. Schools That Learn. New York: Doubleday Publishing Group.

Sultana, , 2014. Ethics in Teaching Profession. ABC Journal of Advanced Research, 3(1),
pp.44-45.

Victoria State Government Australia, 2017. Roles and Responsibilities Teaching Services.
[Online] Available at: HYPERLINK
"https://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Documents/Roles_and_responsibilities-TS.pdf"
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Documents/Roles_and_responsibilities-TS.pdf
[Accessed 21 Novemeber 2019].
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Soft Skills for Teachers - Assignment 1- F N Shazia Ihthisam – L4 Batch 26
Wikipedia contributors, 2019. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. [Online] (924612999)
Available at: HYPERLINK
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Librarian&oldid=924612999"
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Librarian&oldid=924612999 [Accessed 22
November 2019].

Wikipedia-contributors, 2019. Teamwork. [Online] (927998741) Available at:

HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Teamwork&oldid=927998741"
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Teamwork&oldid=927998741 [Accessed 10
December 2019].

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 Assessment Criteria/Indicative Characteristic Evidence Achieved Comments
(should be filled by
(Y / N) (to be filled by the assessor confirming
the student) how/why the student has achieved/not
achieved the assessment criteria)

P1.1 Analyse the role of ethics in a teaching and learning context

P1.2 Compare own role with those of other professionals in the teaching
organization

P1.3 Critically compare the advantages of team working with the advantages of
working independently

P1.4 Analyse how interpersonal relationships can impact on the professional role

P2.1 Compare concepts of intelligence and how these can be used to promote
learning

P2.2 Analyse personal, social and cultural factors that influence learning

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Soft Skills for Teachers - Assignment 1- F N Shazia Ihthisam – L4 Batch 26
General Comments

Actions Required

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Soft Skills for Teachers - Assignment 1- F N Shazia Ihthisam – L4 Batch 26
 Assessment has been internally verified for use.

Internal Verifier Name : Dharshini Mirigama

Date
Signature : Dharshini Mirigama
Verified :

Criteria Awarded Pass (P) Refer(R)

Assessed by (name):

Date
Signature:
Assessed :

Marked assessment has been sample verified

Internal Verifier Name :

Signature : Date
Verified :

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Soft Skills for Teachers - Assignment 1- F N Shazia Ihthisam – L4 Batch 26