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Lindsey Lash
Sister Lois
Senior Seminar
21 October 2014
Code of Ethics for Educators
There are four main areas of ethical conduction for education,
according to the code of ethics that I found, as well as, many other codes
found for education professionals. The four principle areas cover ethical
conduct toward students, practices and performance, professional
colleagues, and parents and community. I personally feel that each of these
principle areas have their major points that I hold to be extremely important
for my field, and without each areas being upheld, a teacher is not fulfilling
his or her personal duties as an education professional. Each significant
concept has its relevance and is extremely important in its own right.
Coming from a logical standpoint, every significant concept regarding
the laws and education are, to me, the most logical number one with
relevance to importance. It is a personal goal of my own to nurture students
into ethical young adults someday, and if I am not upholding the laws myself,
I am then unable to be performing ethically in the classroom as well as
legally. The points included in this are, The professional educator deals
considerately and justly with each student, and seeks to resolve problems
including discipline, according to law and school policy; the professional
educator does not reveal confidential information concerning students or
colleagues, unless required by law; and the professional educator applies for,
accepts, or assigns a position or a responsibility on the basis of professional
qualifications, and adheres to the terms of a contract or appointment.
After the points that directly deal with the law, acting ethically with
regard to actions towards students I feel that each of the points regarding
students need to be next of importance. When a person goes into the
education field, it is and should always be about the students. A mentor of
mine once told me that when it becomes about yourself, you no longer

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should stay in this profession. Everything that you do as a teacher is always
and will always be about your students. If there ever comes a time where
you are no longer putting your students first, you should no longer be a
teacher. Those words have stayed with me through my time in college so
far, and I believe that a teacher should place their students first. These
points include, The professional educator does not intentionally expose the
student to disparagement; the professional educator makes a constructive
effort to protect the student from conditions detrimental to learning, health,
or safety; and the professional educator endeavors to present facts without
distortion, bias, or personal prejudice.
In regards to presenting factual information to students, I believe that
there are too many teachers who only really teach about topics they like.
This is extremely unethical in my mind because it then only educates
students about things that are of interest to their teacher. This can cause
many students to miss out on important information that they may or may
not learn later on in life. A childs education should not be compromised
because a teacher does not feel like putting forth the effort to teach about a
topic they may not necessarily enjoy.
The professional educator makes concerted efforts to communicate to
parents all information that should be revealed in the interest of the
student. Once again, I state that the student should be put first, and
because I will be teaching students of young ages, it is their parents and
guardians who will are the teachers at home. When there is open
communication between home and school the child is able to progress in
ways that may have seemed impossible before anything was communicated.
The professional educator endeavors to understand and respect the
values and traditions of the diverse cultures represented in the community
and in his or her classroom. Respect is a major area of importance today
because so many children grow up without learning how to respect those
around them and the world itself. It is important for the teacher to model this
because it allows the students to look up to him or her, and to understand

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that everything and everyone deserves to be respected, no matter where he,
she, or it may come from. This not only creates an ethical classroom, but a
classroom community.
The next two points of importance are how, the professional educator
manifests a positive and active role in school/community relations, and the
professional educator does not intentionally misrepresent official policies of
the school or educational organizations, and clearly distinguished those
views from his or her own personal opinions. It is extremely important to be
active within the community as a teacher since teachers become such a
huge part of a child or young adults life. These figures need to be held in a
higher light than most because they are of such importance to not only those
children and students, but also their families. Teachers and professional
educators also need to be unbiased and keep personal opinions out of the
classroom because it does not allow students to form their own opinions
without having an influence as to which is better. Students need to learn to
form their own opinions by their beliefs and values, and not of someone else.
Being a positive and active role in the community aligns with the
themes of social nature of the human person and the universal purpose of
material things in Catholic Social Teaching. It is known that we exist as a
community, and we are taught to protect our rights, education being one of
these rights. We are taught that these rights should be protected by
community policies and structures. The only way to make sure that these
rights are actually being protected is to be an active member of the
community; therefore, these points go hand in hand.
The professional educator continues professional growth, seems to
be a clear cut point that does not really need more explanation other than
that education is always changing, and there will always be more to know. It
is only logical to continue professional growth as well as knowledge growth
everyday.
The professional educator honestly accounts for all funds committed
to his or her charge, and the professional educator does not willfully make

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false statements about a colleague or the school system. These two points
are just as important as others on this list; however, when ordering of
importance, I believe to put the students first. Although these two points
seem to be clear as to why they are ethicalone is in regards to stealing,
and the other to giving the school system a bad name along with instilling a
negative connotation about the district in a community members mind, I still
believe that above all, students should be placed first.
None of the ethical points differ greatly from the themes present in
Catholic Social Teaching. In my personal opinion, the code of ethics for
education is along the lines of many of the key themes in Catholic Social
Teaching. Respecting others, no excluding anyone, participating and fulfilling
the basic human need of knowledge, being involved in decisions that affect
lives, using gifts and skills to provide for others, using materials in the proper
ways to contribute to learning, and being an active community member are
all major areas that align extremely similarly. The only key theme of Catholic
Social Teaching that was not really mentioned within this code of ethics was
the option for the poor. In education, all students should be treated the same
way, regardless of their background. In this regard, students are not placed
above one another if they come from a lower income family. There is federal
funding for those students, and that is what helps to even the education field
for all students.
The break down of this particular code of ethics started with the
division of four principle areas. Within the areas, students are of the utmost
importance with the parents following right behind. A teachers
professionalism and their regards to colleagues are following the first two
principles. Within these areas is where the specific points were found. These
points have been discussed by order of importance of key concepts that I
have chosen from the educational code of ethics found on aaeteachers.org. I
was pleased with finding that every code discussed aligned rather well with
my personal beliefs, and that I agreed with every statement made. This has
given me further confidence in advancing myself into my chosen profession,

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while being reassured that I have been and will continue to abide by the
Code of Ethics for Educators.