Teacher codes of conduct in Asia and the Pacific

25 May 2011
A need to strengthen monitoring systems

Asia and Pacific countries face many challenges in elaborating and monitoring codes of conduct for teachers. There are in the sub-region a wide variety of situations that relate to the issues covered by the codes, the actors involved in their design, their accessibility, the training strategies used to help teachers apply the codes, and the institutional mechanisms put in place to report and investigate unprofessional behaviour.

In this framework, IIEP recently held a regional workshop* on the “Design and effective use of teacher codes of conduct” which aimed at:

  • facilitating the exchange of information about the status of development and enforcement of teacher codes of conduct in the sub-region;
  • presenting the main results of the international research conducted by IIEP on the design and effective use of teacher codes of conduct; and
  • encouraging participants to improve the enforcement of such codes in their countries by learning from successful experiences.

Looking at local considerations

All participants agreed on the need to design proper monitoring tools to collect both quantitative and qualitative information on the ways in which codes are applied and enforced. More specifically, they reflected on how to:

  • take into consideration ethical issues in teacher performance appraisal;
  • involve parents and communities in the monitoring process;
  • promote a gradual internalization of the importance of ethics as part of the self-regulation modes of the profession.

Areport including all the presentations made will soon be available on the ETICO information platform.

An online forum, organised by IIEP and to be held in autumn 2011, should provide an opportunity to pursue these discussions and open them up to other regions.

* The workshop, held from 11 to 14 May 2011, in Seoul, Korea, was organized in collaboration with the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST), the Korean Society for the Study of Teacher Education (KSSTE), the Korean Federation of Teachers Associations (KFTA), and Education International (EI). Twenty people participated in the discussions, including international experts, representatives from ministries of education and members of teacher unions in Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, India, Korea, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Photo: Tevita Koroi, President of the Fiji Teachers’ Association, presenting the experience of the Council of Pacific Education in the area of teacher codes.