ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS: FOUNDATIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Document Reflection

http://www.oct.ca/publications/PDF/foundation_e.pdf

Ontario College of Teachers (2006). Foundations of Professional Practice. Available

            at http://www.oct.ca/publications/PDF/foundation_e.pdf. Retrieved on 10 July

            2011.

           

I have decided to reflect on the document, Ontario College of Teachers: Foundations of Professional Practice because I am a member of the Ontario College of Teachers as a secondary school teacher in Ontario. This document encompasses three subdocuments which include Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession, Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession, and Professional Learning Framework of Professional Practice. This overall document is relevant to me because it outlines the principles of ethical behaviour, professional practice, and ongoing learning for the teaching profession in Ontario.  Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession lists the ethical standards of care, respect, trust, and integrity that should guide its members in their professional roles and relationships.  Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession describes the required continuum of knowledge, skills, and professional practices, which include the following:  Commitment to Students and Student Learning, Professional Knowledge, Professional Knowledge, Professional Practice, Leadership in Learning Communities, and Ongoing Professional Learning. Lastly, Professional Learning Framework of Professional Practice presents the different ways in which its members may pursue ongoing opportunities for professional learning.

As a teacher and member of the Ontario College of Teachers, I am professionally accountable because I have committed to the above guidelines laid out by this professional body. According to Moller (as cited by Drake et al., 2010), “professional accountability means that the educator makes a commitment to adhere to professional standards” (p. 6). In my daily practice, I do my very best to ensure that my role and relationships as a teacher are guided by trust, respect, and integrity. My enrolment in this MEd program underlines my commitment to ongoing professional learning.

This document is relevant to our study of accountability because it deals with professional standards; however, I am quite surprised that it does not even allude to personal accountability, which Moller (as cited by Drake et al., 2010) defines as adhering “to ones personal conscience” (p. 06).  To say the truth, I am more guided by a sense of personal accountability, which makes the standards of practice a “living standard – a standard that one lives by because it is the right thing to do, not because one is expected to do it” (Drake et al., 2010), than the dictates of my professional body.  While it is important to have professional standards and professional accountability, genuine or “good” teachers are those who are guided by a personal conscience as opposed to any external factors such as a professional body.

Works Referenced

Drake, S., Reid J.L., Beckett, D. & Volante L. (2010, January). Assessment Literacy and  

            educators’ perceptions of accountability: Examining the relationship in a

            Canadian context.  Paper presented at the ICSEI Conference, Malaysia.