CODE OF ETHICS FOR PROFESSIONAL TEACHERS

Teachers are duly licensed professionals who possess dignity and reputation
with high moral values as well as technical and professional competence in the
practice of their noble profession, and they strictly adhere to, observe, and practice
this set of ethical and moral principles, standards, and values. For this reason, the
Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers was adopted in pursuant of the provisions
of Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994.
The code covers all public and private school teachers in all educational
institutions at the preschool, primary, elementary, and secondary levels whether
academic, vocational, special, technical, or non-formal. It shall be effective upon
approval by the Professional Regulation Commission and after sixty (60) days
following its publication in the Official Gazette or any newspaper of general
circulation, whichever is earlier.
The Department of Education requires that teachers be persons of good
character. What counts as good character or conduct can be a contentious matter.
In past decades teachers might have been dismissed not only for drunkenness,
homosexuality, unwed pregnancy, or cohabitation, but also for myriad other
offenses against the moral code of their community. Some of these may still be gray
areas; however, in recent years, courts have been inclined to insist that actionable
immoral conduct be job-related, providing some protection for the private lives of
teachers.
The kinds of misconduct dealt with by the law are usually acts that are (or
can be viewed as) unethical in any context. Teachers, like others, are expected to
not steal, kill, commit assault, abuse children, or engage in sexual harassment.
Although the definition of immoral conduct in the law has not become coextensive
with violations of criminal law, there is little in the meaning of immoral conduct that
is distinctive to teachers or teaching.
As for the contents of the code, it highlights the most basic forms of conduct
which the teachers must uphold in relation to state, community, profession, parents,
learners, and higher authorities.
It is believed that teachers should always provide good examples of ethical
behavior, as reflected in their conduct towards their students, their colleagues,
students parents, and such. They should treat each student fairly while
acknowledging that each has different needs. They should teach the subject without
bias and personal prejudice. Teachers should always display personal integrity in
performing their duties, and honesty, as in giving grades that are truly reflective of
the students performance. Teachers should also maintain certain level of
professionalism with other teachers as well. They should treat their colleagues with
professional courtesy and should not criticize their peers in the presence of the
public or the students. The teachers are also responsible for making the classroom
reasonably safe for students. In addition to physical safety, students should also be
provided with emotional safety. Teachers must not allow bullying or other forms of
harassment in school.
Summing up all these requirements for good ethical behavior among
teachers brings us to one attribute, and that is, the teachers devotion to his or her
profession.
Well, in my opinion, this code simply reminds teachers of the critical nature of
their work, that as they simply connect to students, parents, colleagues, or higher
officers, it is possible to commit transgressions. If Magna Carta for Teachers is a
policy that aims to provide protection and benefits for professional teachers, then
Code of Ethics aims to set standards on teacher conduct that is appropriate in his or
her profession. This adds to the liability of the teachers aside from the given task of
educating their learners. It simply says that teachers must teach in righteous and
moral ways.
Some say the teaching is the noblest profession, and by the word noblest, it
means indicating a high or elevated character. There is so much to expect from the
teachers as mentioned above. That is why, I consider teaching as such a difficult
task because of teachers vulnerability. Teaching is a social activity and school, a
social institution, which means that the teacher interacts with lots of different
people around him/her, resulting to vulnerability to temptations, wrong-doings, bad
judgment, or partiality towards these people. According to Alexander Pope, to err is
human, and for teachers, such blunders cannot be totally avoided. However, the
Code of Ethics does what it needs to do, to remind professional teachers to practice
the standards of conduct as grounded from morality and ethics.
The image of a teacher is so fragile where he/she is quick to character
assassination. Since teachers are regarded as the most righteous individuals of the
society who serve as models for emulation, this high expectation when not met, can
easily be changed to ill fame when one is discovered to violate the code. The
teacher, therefore, must foremost protect his/her own reputation as he/she engages
in the professional practice.
As a teacher, I feel unsafe about my practice, with the fear that I might have
committed or have been committing some transgressions. And just by learning from
the code, I become vigilant of my actions and reactions towards people around me.
Is it the feeling of pressure to behave highly of moral excellence or the feeling of
great pride being the model to be emulated that occurred to me?
Familiarizing the code of ethics and living by it is a way to prevent oneself
from committing mistakes in ones career. The Department of Education came up
with this policy in order to protect professional teachers and free them from
misbehaviors and also factors and conditions that increase the likelihood of violating
the code.