Name of Student: Simon Lyons- G00297365

Article/Reading: [The National Teaching Council (2012) Code of

Professional Conduct for Teachers]
1. CONCISE SUMMARY OF READING

The aim of this article is to provide teachers with a handbook or

guide that they can refer to for standards of professional conduct. The
article outlines certain values and principles that teachers should adhere
to in order to be professional in their field of work. The article also aims to
provide an ethical foundation along with high standards of conduct to
teachers. It is the belief of the Teaching Council of Ireland that if teachers
use this code of conduct as a guide, they will enhance and deepen the
confidence and trust that society places in them. (The Teaching Council,
2012)
There are many key elements that make up this article, Code of
Professional Conduct for teachers. They are the purpose of the code, the
structure of the code, the context, ethical values and the standards of
teaching, knowledge, skill, competence and conduct. The purpose of the
code is basically to act as a guiding compass for teachers and student
teachers going out into the workplace, to inform the public about the
teaching profession in Ireland and to act as a reference for the Teaching
Council if they need to investigate any legal issues with regard to a
teachers discipline or fitness to teach.
This code of conduct states that the four main values that define the
standards of teaching, knowledge, skill, competence and conduct are
respect, care, integrity and trust. It states that the main role of the
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teacher is to educate the students and in order to do that, teachers must

live, teach and abide by these set of ethical values.
The author then sets out six types of standards that all teachers
must adhere to. These are professional values and relationships, integrity,
conduct, practice, development, collegiality and collaboration. In this
section of the article it is all about doing the right thing morally and all for
the benefit of the students. The Teaching Council want all teachers to be
caring, equal, inspiring and motivational. They want teachers to promote
equality, be honest, respectful and avoid conflict between their job and
their private lives, where it has a negative effect on the students holistic
education. With regard to the professional development of the teacher,
this is one part of the code that is up to the teacher themselves and is
also outside of the classroom environment but still has an effect on a
students overall education and development. This part states that
teachers need to actively maintain their professional knowledge and
understanding to ensure it is current. It also says teachers need to reflect
on their knowledge base and avail of opportunities for career- long
professional development. These are but a few examples of the many
statements the code makes to guide teachers as to what to do and what
not to do. Many of these statement are common sense but need to be
written down in a document nevertheless.
Overall, the article is a necessary document that is there to serve a
purpose; to guide teachers to lead a professional career, to inform the
educational community and the nations people about the teaching
profession in Ireland and to serve as an important legal standing for the
Teaching Council to use as a reference for investigating any issues with
teachers with regard to discipline, conduct or professionalism.

2. CRITICAL REFLECTION

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Overall, I feel the author of this article makes a good argument and
provides us with a lot of very useful information in the form of guidelines
of professionalism for teachers in Ireland. I believe this document is what
being a teacher is all about; doing the right thing for the right reason. I
would like to believe that I have a strong moral compass and I admit that
much of the article seems like common sense to me, but maybe not to all
teachers and student teachers.
The strengths of this article, in my opinion, are that it is clear and
concise. It is well laid out with numbering and bullet points. The addition
of colour means that it is inviting for parents and even students to read. It
is also relatively short for a document of its nature which means one can
easily read it in a short space of time or just one sitting. A major strength
of the article is that it appears to have covered almost every angle with
regard to the professionalism of teachers in Ireland, which is what I think
the overall aim of the article is.
However, I feel there are some areas of professionalism that the
code has not addressed such as dress code and teachers being allow to
have tattoos, piercings and jewellery. I feel as if it is common knowledge
that a male teacher must wear formal attire such as shirt, suit pants and
fancy shoes but this is not made clear in the code of conduct. If teachers
are not allowed to wear piercings, for example, this should be clearly
stated in the code of conduct as it is an important matter. This is a
personal matter to me as I would consider myself a creative, vibrant and
fashionable person. I believe I should still be allowed to express this in my
dress sense in the classroom as I believe I could show the students that it
is okay to let your creative side loose and be expressive in your work in
class. In a study carried out by Sara Butler and Kathy Roesel on 152 male
and female high school students on students perceptions of teachers by
the way they dressed showed that teachers dressed as informal were
viewed as more approachable, sympathetic and fair (Butler & Roesel,
1991). This shows me that formal dress may not be so important.
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Nevertheless, I believe the matter should be adressed in some form in the

document to guide young student teachers going out into the work place.
Upon reflection after analysing this document, I felt that much of it
was common sense but I also thought there were some vital points that
had to be stated. One of the main points I extracted from the piece was
2.5 under Professional Integrity. This states that a professional teacher
should; avoid conflict between their professional work and private
interests which could be deemed to impact negatively on pupils/students
(2012). In a University of Oxford article written by Hannah Maslen, she
claims that what happens in ones private lives is there own business and
that it is not that professional role is expected to extend into private life
but, rather, that there is an obligation not to allow ones private life to
intrude on ones professional role (Maslen, 2012). I believe this is true
that a teacher shouldnt have to be a constant role model to students and
if they want to go out and get drunk at the weekend that is their personal
business as long as they dont let it adversely affect their ability to teach
on a Monday morning, it is absolutely acceptaple. On a positive note I feel
teachers should be actively involved in the community where possible and
help out with clubs and societies in their area to promote things like health
and fitness for example.
In conclusion I feel this code of conduct for teachers is an extremely
neccesary document that is widely available for teachers, student
teachers, parents and the educational community to access at their ease.
I feel it does cover most of the items with regard to professionalism but I
feel it still needs some attention in the areas that I have addressed in my
critical reflection.
3. LIST OF REFERENCES

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Bibliography
Council, T. T. (2012, June). The Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers. Retrieved from
Teaching Council: http://www.teachingcouncil.ie/en/Publications/ProfessionalStandards/Code-of-Professional-Conduct-for-Teachers.pdf
Maslen, H. (2012, May 30). University of Oxford. Retrieved from Practical Ethics:
http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2012/05/professional-roles-and-private-lives-howseparate-are-they/
Sara Butler, K. R. (1991). Ammons Scientific. Retrieved from Perceptual & motor skills:
http://www.amsciepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.1991.73.3.943?journalCode=pms

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