Professional Standards in Teaching

The Council's Role in Upholding Professional Standards

 
Teaching is characterised by high professional standards and The Teaching Council has an important role in ensuring that these standards are upheld in the educational interests of young people and society. It fulfils this role by:
 
  • publishing Codes of Professional Conduct for Teachers which set out the standards of professional practice and conduct appropriate to the profession
  • investigating complaints made against registered teachers and applying sanctions, where deemed appropriate.
  
Codes of Professional Conduct for Teachers
 
The Codes of Professional Conduct for Teachers were published in 2007.  They are set out in three parts. The first part outlines the core values which underpin the profession and which span all aspects of teachers’ work. The second part sets out standards of professional practice which are expected of the profession. The third section deals with professional conduct and includes the standards of professional conduct which are expected. Taking all three sections together, the Codes illustrate the complexity of teaching as undertaken in collaboration with colleagues, students, parents, related bodies and agencies and the wider community.  Click here for further details of the Codes or to download a copy.
 
 
Investigating Complaints
 
One of the key functions of The Teaching Council will be to investigate complaints relating to the fitness to teach of registered teachers.  If a complaint* is made about a registered teacher, the Council will have the authority to
  •  investigate the complaint,
  •  deal with the complaint through its disciplinary procedures and, if appropriate,
  •  impose sanctions against the teacher in question.
 
The sanctions which may be applied by the Council’s Disciplinary Committee range from the imposition of conditions to a teacher’s registration to his or her suspension or removal from the Register of Teachers. The latter would effectively remove a teacher’s licence to teach. This is similar to the role of other professional bodies in regulating standards.
 
The Council’s investigative and disciplinary functions, as outlined above, have not come into effect although the Council understands that the Minister plans to introduce these functions in the coming months. In advance of that, the Council has been active in preparing for its role in this area. It has established Investigating and Disciplinary Committees and drafted Rules of Procedure for Disciplinary Panels. Once the relevant legal provisions have been enacted, this page will be updated and a range of guidance material for members of the public, and for registered teachers will be made available.
 
In the interim, the Council is not in a position to deal with complaints in relation to professional standards.
 
 
*referred to in The Teaching Council Act as “an application for an inquiry”