Standard #2

Educators act ethically and maintain the integrity, credibility and reputation of the profession.

Being a teacher comes with responsibilities. As a teacher, I have the responsibility to act ethically and maintain the integrity, credibility, and reputation of the teaching profession. This means to foster trust with students, colleagues, parents, and the community while also maintaining professional relationships. It also means acting ethically and upholding the reputation of the profession outside the school, too. This includes ethical social media use and acting ethically within the community.

An important part of this is confidentiality. Although there are many fun things that happen in school that I may want to talk about at home, it’s important to keep in mind what is not okay to share. Students are entitled to privacy regarding their lives and the information I learn about them. Teachers are necessarily privy to information that is confidential. This is especially true in a small town where there are many connections between people that are not always known.

Another important part of acting ethically is treating students fairly. All students deserve to be treated with respect and kindess regardless of background.