Continuous Assessment No 1

Tutorial Papers
Paper 1:
CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT FOR TEACHERS

Student number:

G00305550

Student Name:

Alan Burke

Module Title:

Professional Studies

Module Leader:

Dr. Pauline Logue Collins

Mr. Kevin Maye

Programme:

B. Sc (Hons) in Design Technology and Education

Year:

Date Submitted:

24th September 2015

SUMMARY - CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT FOR TEACHERS

The teaching profession has a distinguished record of service in Ireland and the Code of
Professional Conduct for Teachers, which applies to all registered teachers in Ireland,
reiterates and makes explicit the values and standards that have long been experienced by
pupils/students through their participation in education.

The purpose of the code is threefold. It serves as a guiding compass for teachers as they
seek and steer an ethical and respectful course through their career and to uphold the
honour and dignity of the profession. It may be used by the education community and wider
public to gain an understanding and expectations of the teaching profession in Ireland
today. And finally, it has an important legal standing and will be used by the Council as a
reference point in exercising its investigative and disciplinary functions under Part 5 of the
Teaching Council Act, 2001 (Attorney General, 2001), dealing with fitness to teach.

Having regard to the three purposes above, the Code begins by establishing the four core
ethical values of the teaching profession, Respect, Care, Integrity and Trust. The Code then
proceeds to highlight the professional responsibilities and standards which the Council
believes to be central to the practice of teaching such as, values and relationships, integrity,
conduct, practice, professional development and collegiality and collaboration.

In its basic form the code explains what is expected of a teacher in regard to how he/she
should act and interact with students, the wider school community and the public. Being a
legal document, it will serve as a reference point, should there be a need for it. The four
core values and the professional responsibilities and standards listed above are what is
expected of a practising teacher and a decent human being. The Code is in accord with the
Councils Policy on the Continuum of Teacher Education which sees the teacher as a
reflective practitioner whose key role is to educate. It also sees teachers as members of
professional learning communities and advocates a role for the profession in supporting
student teachers and newly qualified teachers. The Code has also been developed in the
context of the Councils future role in relation to Continuing Professional Development
(CPD).

CRITICAL REFLECTION - CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT FOR

TEACHERS
Having read the document I have made a number of observations. The first point I will raise
is that of the document format itself. I found it very easy to read, it is quite short in length
circa 6-8 pages. The language used in it makes it readable for most people, be they teachers
in the profession or a member of the general public, which is exactly what this document is
for. Its to let it be known what is expected by the Teaching Council in regard to practicing
registered teachers, and also what the general public are entitled to expect also.
However the documents simplicity I find also leads me to my next point. Is it definitive
enough? Could the document be more precise? For example if we look at the four core
values section, we see the words respect, care, trust and integrity. Taking the core value of
respect it states Teachers uphold human dignity and promote equality and emotional and
cognitive development. In their professional practice, teachers demonstrate respect for
spiritual and cultural values, diversity, social justice, freedom, democracy and the
environment .
Now if we take the example of a GLBT teacher practicing in a Catholic school. Attitudes in
Ireland towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are regarded as among the
most liberal in the world. In May 2015, Ireland became the first country to legalise same-sex
marriage on a national level by popular vote.
The Irish Independent reported Teacher wins discrimination case after nun asked 'what
about the homos? (Donnelly, 2015). Under discrimination against age, religion and sexual
orientation. This is highlighted in section 37.1 of the employment act. Stating that exclusion
of discrimination on particular grounds in certain employments (Attorney General, 1998).
Senator Ivana Black puts it bluntly therefore, a Catholic Church-run school or hospital can
currently discriminate against, refuse to hire or even dismiss a person (Black, 2013) from
the GLBT community, if their sexuality may be seen to offend or go against the religious
ethos of the school.
What we see here is that in the eyes of the law GLBT is legal. However a teacher of this
nature will have to supress their sexual orientation to satisfy the schools ethos and the core

value of respect in order to demonstrate respect for spiritual and cultural values and if
they dont their contract of employment could be terminated.
Section 2 of the code deals with Professional Integrity. And in section 2.5 it states avoid
conflict between their professional work and private interests which could reasonably be
deemed to impact negatively on pupils/students. Our area of teaching the technology
subjects, creativity and design are core to what we do. Teachers of this subject often are
drawn to it due to their interests and particularly their personality. With regard of a
teachers integrity to their self, they might somewhat feel restrained by the faade of
professionalism. I feel that this area of the code could do with a bit more thinking. Integrity
is defined as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, how can a
teacher be so professionally if it means they arent showing their true selves to begin with?
For example if we take two teachers. Both have tattoos, one of whos can be seen, the
other of which cannot. Does the fact that the tattoo can be seen mean it will have a
negative impact on his/her students? Being that his/her key role is to educate, does the fact
they have tattoos now mean that their ability to teach is weakened or they have less ability
to do so? Who should say so? Why do they have the right to say so? Can it be their ability to
teach with tattoos be tested? Our world is continually evolving, things like tattoos, piercings
and an all-round more out there appearances are becoming more common place, and
whether we like it or not more socially accepted.
What is a good teacher? Most of the traits the document mentions are naturally common to
the vast majority of both teachers and general good people in society. What a good teacher
is, is impossible to define. However as a conclusion this document does outline what is
morally expected of a good teacher. Morality changes with the times, changes in social
norms are to be expected and somewhat accepted. As a general document overall I think it
is suitable, however I do feel there is scope there for a more in depth version to be made
available, and even at that, it will need to be continually updated as to fall in line with what
is accepted morally and socially in the years ahead.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Attorney General. (1998). Employment Equality Act, 1998. In O. o. General, Irish Statute Book (p.
Section 37.1). Dublin: Office of the Attorney General.
Attorney General. (2001, 9 22). Teaching Council Act, 2001. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book:
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2001/act/8/enacted/en/html
Black, I. (2013, 3 13). Retrieved from http://www.ivanabacik.com/:
http://www.ivanabacik.com/blog/2013/03/13/employment-equality-amendment-no-2-bill2013-secon/
Donnelly, K. (2015, 1 10). Teacher wins discrimination case after nun asked 'what about the homos?'.
Retrieved from http://www.independent.ie/: http://www.independent.ie/irishnews/courts/teacher-wins-discrimination-case-after-nun-asked-what-about-the-homos30919226.html