7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities
Understand and apply the key principles described in codes of ethics and conduct for the teaching profession.
7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements
Understand the relevant legislative, administrative and organisational policies and processes required for teachers according to school stage.
7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
Understand the role of external professionals and community representatives in broadening teachers’ professional knowledge and practice
Integrity in practice (APST 7.1)
‘For each of the following topics, write a short sentence or two about your key responsibilities or understandings as a beginning teacher; Code of Conduct and Standard of Practice, Professional Boundaries, Appropriate communications (social media/electronic communication), Conflict of Interest, Information management and security, Gifts and benefits, Ethical decision making, Mandatory reporting.’
Code of Conduct and Standard of Practice: Teacher’s conduct directly impacts on the public’s confidence in the profession. To ensure professional conduct at all times, the Queensland Government Code of Conduct provides a set of standards to guide teachers when making both professional and personal decisions. The Standard of Practice is a Department of Education document that is designed to be used in conjunction with the Code of Conduct and provides further ethical guidance about applying the Code’s principles, values and standards in daily practice.
Professional Boundaries: to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for students, teachers must model and encourage behaviour that upholds the welfare and best interests of students. This means acknowledging that there will always be a power imbalance between teachers and students, even after students have left school, and ensuring that all interactions remain in the Zone of Helpfulness on the continuum of professional boundaries.
Appropriate communications (social media/electronic communication): The Code of Conduct requires that all departmental employees be mindful of the way they conduct themselves and share information over social media. All content posted must be positive, professional and reflect the best interests of the department and government of the day. Any content or communication that is seen to reflect the department or profession in a negative light will be subject to disciplinary action.
Conflict of Interest: A conflict of interest involves a conflict between our duty, as a public service employee, to serve the public interest and our personal interests. All potential conflicts must be reported to the school principal as soon as they are identified so that strategies can be put in place to minimise the risk.
Information management and security: Teachers have access to a range of sensitive and confidential information and therefore have a legal and ethical responsibility to protect and manage this information to ensure that it is only accessed by authorised personnel for professional purposes. To ensure this, unattended computers must be locked, emails checked for correct addresses before sending, printed information collected promptly, overheard information and private information must not be repeated, and confidential documents must be appropriately stored and disposed of.
Gifts and benefits: Any gift that exceeds the value of $150 must be declared, whilst any gift that has cultural or historical significance remains the property of the department. Any gift that can be converted to cash or is perceived to be influencing preferential treatment of a student must be refused.
Ethical decision making: The ethical decision-making model ensures that teachers are upholding the Code of Conduct and Standards of Practice when making decisions. This process recommends analysing facts and circumstances and considering other options and outcomes before making decisions, and then reflecting on the process and result afterwards.
Mandatory reporting: To ensure the protection of students and the profession, teachers are mandated to report any misconduct or activity that is not in line with the Code of Conduct, Standard of Practice, or departmental policies and procedures.
OneSchool (APST 7.2)
“Discuss how OneSchool can assist you in meeting your administrative and organisational responsibilities as a beginning teacher, highlighting and elaborating on two key areas discussed in the presentation.”
OneSchool is a software system used in Queensland State Schools that supports teachers and school staff to meet their administrative and organisational responsibilities by providing easy access to a wide range of student data. This data includes academic results, attendance and behaviour records, cultural background, medical and learning needs, and records of parent contact. Teachers can analyse and use this data to support their planning by ensuring that lessons are relevant to students’ context and needs. For example, a teacher a may use the academic results to group students for differentiated learning in mathematics. When assessment is complete, teachers can enter student results into the system to review whole class or whole school data for reporting purposes and to identify any gaps in teaching or learning that may need to be addressed.
The site also provides a way for school staff to communicate sensitive information with parents and each other. As it can only be accessed by authorised staff, this ensures that student data is kept safe and confidential. This complies with the Information Privacy Act 2009 and ensures that teachers are complying with their legal and ethical obligations (APST 7.1, 7.2)
Resume writing and interview techniques
‘Submit your resume and two recorded interview questions to the ‘Candidate Pool’ for appraisal. Submit your confirmation of receipt email as evidence of having done this.’
Queensland College of Teachers (APST 7.4)
“Describe three of the key functions of the Queensland College of Teachers. How are these functions important to you as a beginning teacher?”
The Queensland College of Teachers is the regulating body for the teaching profession in Queensland. Their main function is to ensure teacher quality by granting and renewing teacher registrations, accreditation of initial teacher education programs, and promoting the profession. This ensures that all Queensland teachers have appropriate qualifications, current knowledge and skills, and are suitable to teach. They achieve this by developing, maintaining and applying professional standards, codes of practice and policies to ensure that the quality of teaching in Queensland remains high and consistent. They are also responsible for investigating complaints about teacher misconduct and enforcing disciplinary action when policies and codes are breached.
As a beginning teacher, this gives me confidence that I have received quality training and am well prepared for teaching. I am also reassured by the knowledge that I am entering a profession with strict regulations and strong ethics that will be respected by society. The teacher standards give me clear and direct guidelines to ensure I am meeting all requirements of my practice and progressing my career.
