Concept 1 · free preview
Professional ethics: meaning and code
Understand
A teacher's professional ethics = the moral principles and standards of conduct a teacher follows in professional work — towards students, parents, colleagues, the profession and society. Salary, syllabus or admission rules are administrative matters, not ethics.
Rule
In India the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) — the statutory body for teacher education — brought out the ‘Code of Professional Ethics for School Teachers’.
The code's obligations come in three groups: (1) towards students, (2) towards parents, community and society, (3) towards the profession and colleagues. It also includes not taking private tuition, not accepting gifts that may influence professional decisions, and keeping students' information confidential.
| Body | Main work |
|---|---|
| NCTE | Teacher-education regulator; teachers' code of ethics |
| UGC | Universities |
| CBSE | Examination board |
| ICMR | Medical research |
Remember
In code-of-ethics questions the ‘towards all of them’ option is usually right — the code is not limited to one group.
Common mistake
Reducing professional ethics to ‘salary on time’ or ‘finishing the syllabus’. Ethics covers the moral standards of all conduct.
Check yourself
Which national body brought out the Code of Professional Ethics for School Teachers?