Mahi ngaiotangaTeaching Council of New Zealand
Teachers have a professional obligation to develop professional relationships with a diverse range of learners and whānau and maintain and raise professional standards.
Teachers at all levels have a vital role in the development of children and young people into good members of society with the ability to contribute and realise their potential. This role is one which is respected but is also one which comes with responsibilities.
Matatū Aotearoa (The Teaching Council of Aotearoa | New Zealand) is the professional body which represents teachers in pre-tertiary education, from early childhood to secondary school. It is responsible for the registration of teachers and ensures professional standards are set and maintained by its members.
This is the document created by the Teaching Council of New Zealand, which defines the standards expected from all teachers (Code) and describes what effective teaching looks like (Standards)
Download a copy of “Our Code, Our Standards”
Download a copy of “The Code of Professional Responsibilities: Examples in Practice”
Our Code, Our Standards is underpinned by a set of values (uara) which “define, inspire and guide us as teachers” (Our Code, Our Standards :: Teaching Council of Aotearoa | New Zealand, n.d.).
Empowering all learners to reach their highest potential by providing high-quality teaching and leadership.
Creating a welcoming, caring and creative learning environment that treats everyone with respect and dignity.
Showing integrity by acting in ways that are fair, hones, ethical and just
Engaging in positive and collaborative relationships with our learners, their families and whānau, our colleagues and the wider community.
Reading
Our Code, Our Standards
A playlist of seven short videos with real life examples of the Code used in teaching practice.
Expected Duration: 20 minutes
Questions
Pre Read Question: Watch the series of short videos and note points which relate to a kaiako’s professional practice. How can Our Code, Our Standards be implemented in your practice?
URL: https://teachingcouncil.nz/resource-centre/our-code-our-standards/#videos
Post Read Task: Post your thoughts on the videos to the discussion forum.
The Quality Practice Template is designed by the Teaching Council to help kaiako work together to identify and implement quality practices related to the Standards. It is designed to make it easier to see the naturally occurring evidence for discussion to help you understand the relationship between the standards, teacher practice and learner outcomes, and to see what works well in your setting.
Activity
- Download a copy of the supplied Word document “Quality-Practice-Template-the-Standards-for-the-Teaching-Profession-Nga-Paerewa-in-your-setting”
- Read the “Standards” and the “Elaborations of the standard” columns and think about any experiences you have had in practice (or experiences you may expect to have) to complete the other columns. You don’t need to be too detailed for this activity, but you should be thinking about how your experience of practice (including the behaviour of other staff) demonstrates the standards.
- Listen to this audio podcast explaining more about how to use this document.
You’ve reached the end of this topic. Let’s go over the key points:
- Teachers have a professional obligation to develop professional relationships with a range of diverse learners and whānau.
- The Teaching Council of New Zealand created a document to define the standards for ethical behaviour expected for all teachers and the expectations of effective teaching practice.
- Our Code, Our Standards is underpinned by a set of four uara | values which define, inspire and guide teachers.
