Codes of Professional Ethics and Conduct in Teaching

Introduction: The Purposes of Codes of Professional Ethics and Conduct in Teaching

Codes of ethics and conduct are a feature of many professions including psychologists, medical doctors, engineers, and nurses. As public servants and members of society, teachers have a commitment to upholding the lawful rules of society but in particular ways, namely, for educational purposes. Their commitments, responsibilities, and accountabilities as a member of the profession are bounded by parameters set out in governing professional practice policies, teaching standards, and, as this entry describes, codes of professional ethics and conduct.

Codes of ethics and conduct became signifiers of the established professionalization of teaching by the first decade of the new millennium as teacher regulation gained worldwide prominence. More than 50 countries around the world have now established codes of conduct or ethics for their teachers; some codes oversee the whole nation’s teachers, while other...