Ethics Codes for Teachers

Eugene F. Provenzo Jr

Unlike other professions such as medicine and law, the teaching profession has not developed a consistent and universal code of ethics—a prerequisite for being a profession in the minds of many theorists. Figures such as Myron Lieberman, an expert on education policy and teacher bargaining, have argued that such a code cannot emerge as long as collective bargaining drives teacher-school district negotiations. The development and enforcement of ethical standards, according to Lieberman, is left to administrators and school boards. This is not to suggest that teachers, as a group, are devoid of ethical principles, only that as a professional group, they have not adopted, nor do they enforce on their peers, an ethical code of behavior. In this context, if a teacher observes other teachers conducting themselves in what may be perceived as an unethical manner, it is not considered his or her duty to enforce a code of professional ...

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