The teaching profession and the professional teacher

Becoming a teacher requires an understanding of what it means to be a professional, including the elements of self-regulation of the profession and each professional. As a member of a profession, this includes understanding the basis of your employment (the industrial agreements and professional codes of conduct under which teachers operate); behaving in a professional manner with parents/carers, other teachers, other professionals and community members more broadly; and operating within a legislative, administrative and organisational policy and procedures regime designed to meet community expectations of what it means to be a teacher. An important element of this is the legislated obligations teachers have under Child Safe Standards and the development of strategies to support teacher and student wellbeing and safety, including the safe and ethical use of ICT in learning and teaching.

Professional teachers’ pay attention to: communicating with and involving parents and carers in the educative process in effective and sensitive ways that ensure confidentiality when necessary; continuous professional learning through career planning; engaging in learning that meets personal professional needs as well as those of the teaching context; and consideration of work/life balance including the building of resilience as well as mental and physical health.