TUTORIAL PAPER

ID of Student: Dearbhla Mc Devitt G00391296

Article/Reading: Professional code of conduct for teachers

1. CONCISE SUMMARY OF READING

The teaching council established in 2006 and is the regulator of the teaching profession in
Ireland and their main goal is to protect the public. They do this by the statutory registration
of teachers, to ensure that the professionals teaching in Ireland are highly qualified. The code
of professional conduct for teachers is a document guiding professional teachers with their
core values of trust, integrity, care, and respect, through their teaching career, the most recent
updated version was published in 2016. The Teaching Council believe that the trust and
confidence that the general public have in teachers is enhanced by this Code. It states the role
of a teacher is to educate, ethically and honestly. The code discusses professional values and
relationships, and the need to be caring, fair and committed to the students’ best interests.
Teachers need to respect that every student is different and unique in their own way. Treating
all students equally no matter what race, gender, age, disability, ethnicity, civil status, family
status, sexual orientation, or membership of the travelling community, is essential. It is
important to develop positive relationships with students, colleagues, parents, school staff and
management. Secondly it moves onto professional Integrity, it states that teachers should act
with honesty and integrity in all aspects of their work. Respect the privacy of others and
confidentiality of information gained unless it is a concern for the wellbeing of someone.
Respect yourself and avoid having conflict between professional work and private interests.
Moving onto professional conduct the document mentions teachers should uphold the
reputation and standing of the profession. Teachers need to work within framework,
regulations, comply with national guidelines and school policies. It is important to
communicate effectively and appropriately with students, management, parents, and
colleagues. They must not work under the influence of any substance that affects their ability
to teach. Next moving onto professional practice expressing teachers should maintain a high
standard of practice. Teachers will use their skills and past experiences to provide a holistic
development environment and setting challenging and achievable goals. Allow students to
become active agents in their own learning and develop real life skills. Teachers should
include differentiated learning and assessment strategies and respect all students learning.
Teachers need to be open and respectful of constructive feedback to improve their practice
and always act in the best interest of the students. In section five professional development
discusses how teachers are responsible for their own professional improvements. In section
six professional collegiality and collaboration. Finally in the last section the code talks about

© ATU Dept. of Creative Education 2023-2024

 complaints relating to registered teachers. Schools will have policies in place to deal with
most complaints as they arise in the day-to-day operations of the school. Complaints that
arise of a more serious matter are dealt with by the council. Anyone can make a complaint
against a registered teacher on the grounds of the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015. Poor
professional performance, professional misconduct, medically unfit to teach and conduct
contrary to the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers are examples of the grounds in
this Act.

2. CRITICAL REFLECTION

I think this code of professional conduct is a very useful guide for teachers especially newly
qualified teachers and student teachers. Whenever you sign up to be a teacher with the
teaching council you are agreeing to comply with the professional code of conduct for
teachers. They promote and support the professional practice in a holistic way. I think the
code has some very valuable points of information that you need to consider when teaching
or even just being a part of the school community. The strength of this article is that it guides
teachers and gives key values to follow integrity, trust, respect and care. I use these values in
my teaching every day and I also have my own additional values in my philosophy of
education, these are creativity and joy. I promote creativity and joy in my teaching by setting
achievable goals personally suited to each student’s ability, using design differentiation of
projects, and creating a welcoming and inclusive environment. I think everyone has different
values and opinions on how they interpret the core values and guides. I think a weakness of
the code of conduct is it outlines guides when teaching and in a school environment, I think
teachers must uphold their reputation outside, as well as inside school. Teachers must uphold
these standards and take responsibility of their profession. In the document Teacher
Standards Guidance it outlines that teachers should uphold professional standards outside
school as well as inside and gives key points for example, showing respect for others and
safeguarding students wellbeing (Department For Education, 2021). In the section
professional values and relationships, it talks about inclusion and individual uniqueness. This
is relevant as in recent years schools are becoming more multi-cultural and gender inclusive.
In class we had a show of hands of schools that wore uniforms, and it was a majority of the
class, and it made me question how does this show individual uniqueness? I believe that
uniforms might not be perfect for expressing yourself, but it can take a lot of stress and
anxiety away from students who don’t know what to wear or can’t afford expensive brands. It
can also eliminate bullying. Yoxsimer, & Sanchez (2022) stated that school uniforms are
more cost effective for parents/guardians and also bring equality through the students of
different socio-economic standards (Yoxsimer, & Sanchez, 2022). In professional integrity it
states about respecting the privacy of others unless it’s a concern for their wellbeing, but
everyone will have different opinions of what is a concern for someone’s wellbeing. I think
there needs to be more guidance on what a concern for student’s wellbeing is, and how
teachers are to deal with the situation. Schools will have their own policies in place, in
consideration with wellbeing and have classes on this topic but is this enough to help identify
what the concern for someone’s wellbeing is? In the section 3.7 it discusses being
professional when using social networking, texts and emailing pupils, school management
and parents, the teaching council have also released a new document in 2023 called guidance
for registered teachers on About the use of Social Media and Electronic Communication (The

© ATU Dept. of Creative Education 2023-2024

 Teaching Council, 2023). This document is a guide of what dangers there are and how to
avoid them when using social media. In my future career I will be following these guides and
using them in my everyday teaching making informed decisions and judgments I think are
professional and correct following the core values. The code for professional conduct links to
my recent school placement as it is a guide on how to act in the classroom, how to position
yourself, and informs your role in a school and in the classroom. The code promotes
collaboration with other teachers. I found this very beneficial while on school placement, I
learned so much from how different teachers use different techniques. For example,
classroom management, I observed different technical classes and seen how teachers used
assigning jobs to students can keep the classroom tidy and in order. I also found it interesting
to observe and get ideas from non-practical teachers as you see different aspects and how
different teachers use active teaching strategies to make the class a creative and inclusive
positive environment. I observed a home economics teacher use group work and have a
competition in the class, this showed so much enthusiasm and positive energy and the groups
really worked well together and came out of their shells. I would love to use a similar strategy
to this in my future teaching.
No teacher is perfect and will always be developing and improving their practice. It is so
important for a teacher to be continuously developing their skills and to stay updated with
current education trends, this document promotes professional development and upskilling of
teachers throughout their career.

3. LIST OF REFERENCES

Council, T. T. (2023). Guideance for Registered Teachers- About the use of Social Media
and Electronic Communication. Retrieved from The Teaching Council:
https://www.teachingcouncil.ie/assets/uploads/2023/09/guidance-for-registered-
teachers-about-the-use-of-social-media-and-electronic-communication.pdf

Education, D. for. (2021, December 13). Teachers’ standards. GOV.UK.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-standards

Yoxsimer, A., & Sanchez, J. E. (2022). Uniforms in Three Middle Schools:

Student Opinions. Education Leadership Review of Doctoral Research, 10,
108–121

© ATU Dept. of Creative Education 2023-2024