Task 5c: Professional Ethics

Looking into ethics, I realised that it is so wide spread and goes far back in history. It also made me look at my experiences with teachers as well as me teaching.

Back at college we had a teacher who was great when he was in a good mood. The classes were fun and, personally, I got so much out of them. On the other hand, on bad days he would be the worst. He always used to pick on one or two particular people for the whole class and ignoring the rest of us. I'm a person that doesn't mind criticism and when somebody is a bit tough to me but looking at other people I saw that really upset them and hurt their self-confidence. Even when I wasn't the person that got it in the neck, I remember standing in class and feeling horrible for the way he behaved.

Being a teacher myself now, I realise that it's hard to seperate your private problems, feelings, emotions from your professional life but ethically it is very questionable when somebody behaves that way.
Equity is one of the main points when talking about ethics and through my own experiences I try to be as fair to all of my students as I can. At times, I'm maybe a bit tough to own student but at the same time I'm trying to encourage with praise so that they see that their are imporving instead of just putting them down.

I think Hobbes (1651) theory of a social contract applies most to our lives today. We need a set of rules in order to be able to live together peacefully. The only problem here is that every culture has its own moral view and at times it is hard to combine them.

I'm not too sure I agree what Immanuel Kant (1779) is saying. Right, the idea of helping people no matter what sounds appealing although I feel like it would never work in our society. Putting your own desires and feelings behind in order to help other people is maybe good and advisable in a small dosage but living you whole life that way is something completely different. Also his idea that lying is always wrong is something I don't completely agree with. Of course, I'm not saying lying is a good thing we should all go around the world telling fairytales and stories but I do believe that sometimes lying isn't a bad thing and is actually a tool to prevent further harm. We all tell them, little lies so we don't hurt other peoples feelings.

On the opposite we have JS Mill (1861) who basically tells to exact opposite. He believes that we should always act the way that benefits the greatest number of people. According to him, lying is acceptable as long as the outcome is: the greatest good for the greatest number.

Looking at ethics made me realise one thing, it's all questions. Reading through one theory I think "yeah, I totally agree with that" but after sleeping on it and thinking about it, I come up with a whole bunch of questions. It's hard to always be ethically correct, so there is definitely I have to think about for my inquiry ....

Task 5b: Codes of practice/ conduct

Working on this task made read through various 'Codes of Conduct' from different companies and organisations. Without research, I came up with the more obvious points: no stealing, no racism, no bullying, etc. Researching further into the subject made me realise that there is so much more to consider as a teacher. After having a look on the internet about work regulations, I read through a couple of blogs. One I found very interesting and helpful was Melanie Brown's blog about 'Codes of Practice'.

http://melaniebrown10.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/5b-codes-of-practiceregulations-in-work.html

She posted a link from the RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) on their 'Code of Conduct'
(http://www.rad.org.uk/files/ART255_Code%20of%20Conduct%20English.pdf) which is very similar to the 'code of Conduct' from the 'Council for Dance Education and Training':

http://cdet.org.uk/teaching-and-qualifications/code-of-conduct/


Looking at my previous blog and my thoughts on workplace ethics I realised that I mainly focused on rules that apply to students and not so much on my own behaviour as a dance teacher.
Looking at both 'Codes of Conduct' there are a couple of points that stood out to me the most:

• Integrity

Behave fair and honest in all business and professional relationships, f.i. don't misrepresent qualifications or experience. Furthermore, it is vital to respect the confidantiality withni a working environment.

• Competency

Continuing Professional Development ... This is the key to this point. I think it's a teachers duty and part of his/her profession to keep up-to-date on any changes there are in the dance industry. For instance, if there's a new syllabus for RAD exams, the teacher has to make sure that he knows what is required. Ultimately, dance is constantly changing and students come to classes to learn and if teachers don't know what they are teaching and don't know anything about it, how should to students learn from them?

• Health and Safety

Teachers always have to make sure that the teaching facilities are adequately maintained and provide a safe environment for learning. Only with the right tools is it able to achieve successful teaching and learning.

• Courtesy and Consideration

I think this the most important point and should be the top priority for any teacher: alawys promote and safeguard the interests and well-being of students and justify student trust and confidence. As teachers it is our goal to teach students and we can't do that without their trust and their confidence in us. I remember it being harder to teach students when I first started because I hadn't gained their trust yet and they didn't know me but now it is much easier to work together.


Both the RAD aswell as the CDET 'Code of Conduct' have helped me very much in my teaching and are a great guide for anyone starting out as a teacher.