PROFESSIONAL ETHICS Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers 1

TEACHERS AS PROFESSIONALS 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, they strictly refrain from such activities as gambling, smoking, drunkenness , illegal acts etc. A teacher shall place premium upon self-respect and self-discipline as the principle of personal behavior in all relationships with others and in all situations. A teacher shall maintain at all times a dignified personality which could serve as model worthy of emulation by learners, peers, and others.

TO ACT WITH HONOR To strictly honor contractual obligation with the organization, School or university. A teacher who accepts a position assumes a contractual obligation to live up to his contract, assuming full knowledge of the employment terms and conditions.

Teacher Ethical Duties As an Educator: protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all. As a Parent: The school, its administrators and teachers engaged in child care shall have special parental authority and responsibility over the minor child while under their supervision, instruction or custody.” Those given the authority and responsibility, shall principally and solidarily liable for damages caused by acts or omissions of the unemancipated minor.

Principal Duty : assurance of “Quality Education” What is QUALITY EDUCATION making sure that basic education is really solid, because if it is not solid, it affects the quality of secondary education. If secondary education is poor, then the person goes to college unprepared for college work. And if he is allowed to graduate again with a poor quality college education, he goes to university professional education even more unprepared.” NOTE: “A school, before promoting or graduating a student, must be sure that he/she (the student) is functionally literate to go through next higher level.”

To ensure Quality Education: 1) Must be COMPETENT and EFFICIENT Every teacher shall uphold the highest possible standards of quality education, shall make the best preparation for the career of teaching, and shall be at his best at all times in the practice of his profession. The teacher shall be accountable for efficient and effective attainment of specified learning objectives Every teacher shall participate in the continuing professional education programs and shall pursue such other studies as will improve his efficiency, enhance the prestige of the profession, and strengthen his competence, virtue and productivity in order to be nationally and internationally competitive.” A teacher shall ensure that conditions contributive to the maximum development of learners are adequate and shall extend assistance in preventing or solving learners’ problems and difficulties.

To ensure Quality Education 2) Must EVALUATE LEARNERS (i) Duty to give grades/evaluation: Render regular reports on performance of each student and tsending them to the student and to the student’s parents and guardians with specific suggestions for improvement. Must promptly render or give grades. Otherwise, the unjustified or unreasonable delay in giving grades constitutes gross neglect of duty.

In evaluating/giving grades the following rules of conduct must be observed Code of Ethics provides: A teacher has the duty to determine the academic marks and the promotion of learners in the subject they handle. Such determination shall be in accordance with generally accepted procedure of evaluation and measurement on case of any complaint, teachers concerned shall immediately take appropriate action, observing the process.” Under no circumstances shall a teacher be prejudiced nor discriminatory against any learner.” “A teacher shall not accept favors or gifts from learners, their parents or others in their behalf in exchange for requested concessions, especially if undeserved.” “A teacher shall base the evaluation of the learner’s work on merit and quality of academic performance.”

Parental Authority to Discipline “As parents, the teachers shall use discipline not to punish but to correct, not to force, but to motivate; and not to obey with rigid cadence, but to choose to follow the right way. Hence, teachers cannot generally use methods of punishing or such degree of penalties that a good mother or a good father would not likely use on her/his own children.”

Parental Responsibility The student / pupil while in school, is in the custody and hence, the responsibility of the school authorities as long as he is under the control and influence of the school, whether the semester has not yet begun or has already ended. Even if the student is just relaxing in the campus in the company of his classmates, the student is still within the custody and subject to the discipline and responsibility of the teachers.