BE ETHICAL`

I went to a restaurant yesterday and ordered my food. When the waiter came and served my food, I thanked him. When I was paying for my food,
Waiter: Abang ni cikgu ke?
Me: Ye. Mana adik tahu?
Waiter: Ada gaya ckigu

That incident made me think. What have made him say so? Was it the way I talk? Or the way I behaved? Well, after pondering on it, I think it is my ethic or way of conduct/behaving. Then, it strokes my mind to write on this topic so here am I to share some knowledge I have gained through my knowledge.

The teaching profession, as many others, has its own code of ethics, which describes the process of grading students and teacher's behaviour in the classroom as well as outside the premises of the institution. It is one of few professions which evaluate the totality of behaviour of an individual and its potential influence on others, in this case – students. When discussing teacher's ethics, one must consider it on two separate plateaus. Firstly, the legal one, or so to say, administrative, where all aspects of teacher's behaviour, teaching procedures, and assessment of students are framed into a set of regulations drawn up by the Ministry of Education and by individual schools. And secondly, at the personal level, which includes a teacher's own attitude and conduct that is not otherwise prescribed by law or whose breach might never be detected or pursued in a grievance process. The teacher's code of ethics comprises his/her duties, responsibilities, attitude, honesty, and most of all - fairness.
What are the potential breaches of the teacher's code of ethics?
This is a list of a few in no particular order.
• Having inappropriate relationships with students (sexual, business partnership, “after school buddies”, drinking binges, etc)
• Violation of clearly stated school rules and educational procedures
• Failing to perform duties (no teaching, chaos, wrong attitude toward the teaching profession, etc)
• Imposing on students personal views unrelated to the subject of a lesson or promoting such, especially some that do not represent the main stream (extreme political or religious views, views on controversial social issues, interest of a particular social group, etc).
• Improper grading, partiality, and lack of fairness (based on who is liked, who is not; race, past performance, background, etc)
• Exposing students to embarrassment or disparagement (emotional or psychological harassment)
• Invading students' privacy
• Engaging students in unethical behaviour
• Accepting gifts and favours, quid pro quo (“for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous")
• Deceiving students and their parents.
This list can go on, from violations of criminal laws, through commonly-accepted standards of good and evil, violation of public trust, to unprofessional job performance.
Among all these, I think most of us, no matter who we are, how old we are and how educated we are, are in risk of committing this particular ‘Crime’
- Failing to perform duties-
(no teaching, chaos, wrong attitude toward the teaching profession, etc)
because
Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from.
Al Franken, "Oh, the Things I Know", 2002
Therefore, I have told myself that I should monitor my deeds constantly so that I won’t those fatal crimes listed above. How about you all teachers out there?