STANDARD 7 – Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community
7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities
Reflection and Evidence
Meeting professional ethics and responsibilities speaks of looking after your students and protecting yourself. These ethics and codes of conduct are established both by governing bodies and authorities such as DECD and the Teacher’s registration Board, and also by individual schools.
They extend beyond the classroom and school hours and a teacher must aim to maintain high ethical standards in all school and community contexts.
During both my times on practicum, I attended yard duties with my mentor teachers, both outside and in the boarder’s dining room at lunch, to ensure students were safe and meet my professional responsibilities.
“Christine embraced the everyday routine and expectations of a teacher and also partook in yard-duty twice a week. Christine always presented a genuine, trustworthy attitude and a willingness to embrace the College culture. Christine presented herself impeccably and was professional in her dealings with all members of staff. She developed a sound rapport with fellow teaching colleagues and strived to be a part of the wider College community.” Sacred Heart College Senior Mentor Feedback, 2015
Reflection and Evidence
Meeting professional ethics and responsibilities speaks of looking after your students and protecting yourself. These ethics and codes of conduct are established both by governing bodies and authorities such as DECD and the Teacher’s registration Board, and also by individual schools.
They extend beyond the classroom and school hours and a teacher must aim to maintain high ethical standards in all school and community contexts.
During both my times on practicum, I attended yard duties with my mentor teachers, both outside and in the boarder’s dining room at lunch, to ensure students were safe and meet my professional responsibilities.
“Christine embraced the everyday routine and expectations of a teacher and also partook in yard-duty twice a week. Christine always presented a genuine, trustworthy attitude and a willingness to embrace the College culture. Christine presented herself impeccably and was professional in her dealings with all members of staff. She developed a sound rapport with fellow teaching colleagues and strived to be a part of the wider College community.” Sacred Heart College Senior Mentor Feedback, 2015
ICT Elaboration
Teachers have a duty of care both in and outside the classroom which extends online. Just as a teacher would be conscious of and respond to bulling in the schoolyard, this extend to any online activity.
Legislation and code of ethics can be found:
Teacher’s Registration Board website:
http://www.trb.sa.edu.au/legislation
http://www.trb.sa.edu.au/code-of-ethics
DECD website
http://www.decd.sa.gov.au
The code of ethics speaks of teachers ‘upholding the dignity and honour of the profession’ and so a teacher must control the information about themselves that is posted online by implementing security measures on things such as facebook.
Specific example: Social media
DECD has a general social media policy which can be found:
http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/docs/documents/1/DecdSocialMediaPolicy.pdf
This can be used in conjunction with the site’s specific policies on social media used in the classroom.
The DECD document outlines things such as staff posting online to an official departmental social media platform, respecting copyright laws and the professional interaction between staff and students.
Teachers must not have children or young people in their education community as ‘friends’ on their personal/private sites. This prevents a teacher setting a bad role model, students from disengaging from a teacher they may no longer respect and parents dissatisfied with their student's learning environment.
Teachers have a duty of care both in and outside the classroom which extends online. Just as a teacher would be conscious of and respond to bulling in the schoolyard, this extend to any online activity.
Legislation and code of ethics can be found:
Teacher’s Registration Board website:
http://www.trb.sa.edu.au/legislation
http://www.trb.sa.edu.au/code-of-ethics
DECD website
http://www.decd.sa.gov.au
The code of ethics speaks of teachers ‘upholding the dignity and honour of the profession’ and so a teacher must control the information about themselves that is posted online by implementing security measures on things such as facebook.
Specific example: Social media
DECD has a general social media policy which can be found:
http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/docs/documents/1/DecdSocialMediaPolicy.pdf
This can be used in conjunction with the site’s specific policies on social media used in the classroom.
The DECD document outlines things such as staff posting online to an official departmental social media platform, respecting copyright laws and the professional interaction between staff and students.
Teachers must not have children or young people in their education community as ‘friends’ on their personal/private sites. This prevents a teacher setting a bad role model, students from disengaging from a teacher they may no longer respect and parents dissatisfied with their student's learning environment.
Pre-service Teacher practicum 2016
In term 2 of 2016, I was able to work with a pre-service teacher and team teach stage 2 chemistry. I gave him feedback regularly and wrote a report for his university course. This experience also allowed me to reflect on my own teaching practices.
7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements
Reflection and Evidence
Specific organisational requirements, documents and policies may vary and can be obtained from the school’s website or during an induction to a site.
Each school has a unique ethos and set of values. A sense of the school can be obtained from their mission statement which is usually found on their website. A teacher must wholly support the ethos of the school and comply with the organizational requirements, policies and processes which will shoe a good example for students to follow (4.1).
I was privileged to be granted a practicum at two very different schools, one a DECD high school and the other a Catholic senior school. I did my utmost to throw myself into the school culture and enthusiastically embrace every opportunity I was given.
Within the first few days of each, I was given an induction and a staff handbook which outlined things such as:
“Christine attended a Pastoral Care Group every morning for year 10-12 students in Camara House. The students welcomed her presence, enjoyed her fun character and as she instructed the group, she quickly established positive relationships. With the Pastoral Care Group, Christine also attended whole-school assemblies and participated in the Camara House Mass” - Sacred Heart College Senior Mentor Feedback, 2015
Reflection and Evidence
Specific organisational requirements, documents and policies may vary and can be obtained from the school’s website or during an induction to a site.
Each school has a unique ethos and set of values. A sense of the school can be obtained from their mission statement which is usually found on their website. A teacher must wholly support the ethos of the school and comply with the organizational requirements, policies and processes which will shoe a good example for students to follow (4.1).
I was privileged to be granted a practicum at two very different schools, one a DECD high school and the other a Catholic senior school. I did my utmost to throw myself into the school culture and enthusiastically embrace every opportunity I was given.
Within the first few days of each, I was given an induction and a staff handbook which outlined things such as:
- School values
- Code of Ethics (reference to DECD website) and Code of Conduct for staff employed in Catholic education SA
- School Context
- Term dates, bell and lesson times
- Daily Operations
- ICT policy and information about the school learning management system for roll marking (Daymap and Edumate)
- Email and file storage
- Photocopying and yard duty
- Behavior management policy
“Christine attended a Pastoral Care Group every morning for year 10-12 students in Camara House. The students welcomed her presence, enjoyed her fun character and as she instructed the group, she quickly established positive relationships. With the Pastoral Care Group, Christine also attended whole-school assemblies and participated in the Camara House Mass” - Sacred Heart College Senior Mentor Feedback, 2015
ICT Elaboration
Legislation can be found:
Teacher’s Registration Board website:
http://www.trb.sa.edu.au/legislation
http://www.trb.sa.edu.au/code-of-ethics.
DECD website:
http://www.decd.sa.gov.au
Legislation
Children`s Protection Act 1993
An Act to provide for the care and protection of children; and for other purposes.
Teachers Registration and Standards Act 2004
Teachers Registration and Standards Regulations
Legislation can be found:
Teacher’s Registration Board website:
http://www.trb.sa.edu.au/legislation
http://www.trb.sa.edu.au/code-of-ethics.
DECD website:
http://www.decd.sa.gov.au
Legislation
Children`s Protection Act 1993
An Act to provide for the care and protection of children; and for other purposes.
Teachers Registration and Standards Act 2004
Teachers Registration and Standards Regulations
![Picture](/uploads/4/8/6/7/48679241/daymap-student-notes.jpg)
7.3 Engage with parents/carers
Reflection and Evidence
Teachers demonstrate respect and professionalism in all their interactions with students and parents/carers. They must be sensitive to the needs of parents/carers and can communicate effectively with them about their children’s learning.
By engaging and maintaining respectful collaboration with parents/carers, students can receive learning support at home and diligent parents can monitor their child’s learning and be kept up to date with school activities. This can also build rapport between the teacher and parents and opens communication lines if issues arise.
I regularly engage with parents/carers in several ways including via the school's learning platform, email, telephone calls and parent teacher interviews.
Details of each lesson and homework were always loaded on to Daymap (online learner management system) to be accessed by parents and the roll marked each lesson which could be viewed in real time by parents to track their child (3.7).
I participate in parent/teacher interviews for all year levels and also specifically for stage 2 students. I describe the outline of work the students had been undertaking so far, detailing their current grades and answering any questions or concerns the parents had (3.7).
ICT Elaboration
Teachers may communicate with parents via email or text to be answered when convenient for non urgent matters instead of a phone call (3.7).
If the school has an online learner management system, it can be used to track student attendance and homework and assessment details.
If not, an online diary may be used, such as My EDiary for homework, upcoming events and student feedback.
https://myediary.com.au/
Reflection and Evidence
Teachers demonstrate respect and professionalism in all their interactions with students and parents/carers. They must be sensitive to the needs of parents/carers and can communicate effectively with them about their children’s learning.
By engaging and maintaining respectful collaboration with parents/carers, students can receive learning support at home and diligent parents can monitor their child’s learning and be kept up to date with school activities. This can also build rapport between the teacher and parents and opens communication lines if issues arise.
I regularly engage with parents/carers in several ways including via the school's learning platform, email, telephone calls and parent teacher interviews.
Details of each lesson and homework were always loaded on to Daymap (online learner management system) to be accessed by parents and the roll marked each lesson which could be viewed in real time by parents to track their child (3.7).
I participate in parent/teacher interviews for all year levels and also specifically for stage 2 students. I describe the outline of work the students had been undertaking so far, detailing their current grades and answering any questions or concerns the parents had (3.7).
ICT Elaboration
Teachers may communicate with parents via email or text to be answered when convenient for non urgent matters instead of a phone call (3.7).
If the school has an online learner management system, it can be used to track student attendance and homework and assessment details.
If not, an online diary may be used, such as My EDiary for homework, upcoming events and student feedback.
https://myediary.com.au/
7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
Reflection and Evidence
There are valuable opportunities to engage with school communities within and beyond the classroom to enrich the educational context for students (2.1).
I regularly find ideas and adapt resources from sites like TES Australia where teachers find can engage with other educators in an online community.
I was able to bring examples and insight from my own professional experiences into the classroom to engage students and provide real life contexts to the content.
Reflection and Evidence
There are valuable opportunities to engage with school communities within and beyond the classroom to enrich the educational context for students (2.1).
I regularly find ideas and adapt resources from sites like TES Australia where teachers find can engage with other educators in an online community.
I was able to bring examples and insight from my own professional experiences into the classroom to engage students and provide real life contexts to the content.
ICT Elaboration
Teachers may join networks and communities in their specific discipline for ideas, resources and to extend their learning and connect with other teachers who can offer support, advice, feedback, and collaboration opportunities.
Some professional teaching networks which relate to science and mathematics include:
SASTA – South Australian Science Teachers Association
http://www.sasta.asn.au/
MASA - Mathematical Association of South Australia Inc
www.masanet.com.au
RACI – Royal Association of Chemistry Institute
www.raci.org.au
Other communities include sites like TES Australia which is free to join where teachers find and share resources and can engage with other educators in an online community
www.tesaustralia.com/
Facebook groups for informal networking such as Teachers of Adelaide
Teachers may join networks and communities in their specific discipline for ideas, resources and to extend their learning and connect with other teachers who can offer support, advice, feedback, and collaboration opportunities.
Some professional teaching networks which relate to science and mathematics include:
SASTA – South Australian Science Teachers Association
http://www.sasta.asn.au/
MASA - Mathematical Association of South Australia Inc
www.masanet.com.au
RACI – Royal Association of Chemistry Institute
www.raci.org.au
Other communities include sites like TES Australia which is free to join where teachers find and share resources and can engage with other educators in an online community
www.tesaustralia.com/
Facebook groups for informal networking such as Teachers of Adelaide