Teacher Conduct Outside the Classroom – Privacy versus Transparency

Teacher Conduct Outside the Classroom
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Teacher Conduct Outside the Classroom
Topic/Issue Identification
Teachers are expected to build and maintain trusting relationships with students so that they can teach and guide learners effectively in the education process. In that light, they should maintain their professionalism when inside and outside the classroom. Although teachers are humans and should practice their freedom of speech and human rights, they need to choose carefully the things to keep private and those to be transparent. The conduct of teachers outside the classroom significantly affects their professionalism. For example, some behaviors or things that teachers engage with outside the classroom influence their reputation. They might enhance positive or negative criticisms from society, which might be an obstacle to the learning process, particularly when students come across utterances that compromise their way of thinking. Despite transparency being a good thing when an individual is expressing his or her views, some occurrences should remain private for the sake of maintaining a good reputation in the classroom. In other words, teachers’ conduct outside the classroom follows them inside the class, affecting how learners perceive them, which might adversely influence learners’ seriousness in education. The topic analyzed in this paper is the teacher conduct outside the classroom as it relates to privacy versus transparency.
Relevant Situation, Policy, Event, Law, or Regulation Relevant to the Topic
A recent situation related to teacher conduct outside the classroom occurred in Ontario, Canada, which triggered a debate about how teachers are expected to behave. In this specific occurrence, a certified teacher in Ontario who actively engaged in social media to express himself was alleged to have used discriminatory language. The teacher in question was said to have used inappropriate comments or remarks pertaining to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community (Foxman, 2018). In addition, he told a specific student that homosexuality is bad for society. When a disciplinary committee investigated this issue, the teacher was found guilty of professional misconduct. As such, his teaching certificate was suspended for a month, and directed to do a specific course about how to maintain appropriate professional conduct and boundaries. The manager of the Ontario College, Nadine Carpenter, argued that teachers should act as role models in the community (Foxman, 2018). The position they take is crucial for their students, which is why they are expected to maintain high standards of professionalism both on and off duty. This situation shows that teachers' conduct is not only tied to their behaviors inside the classroom. Even how teachers behave or their actions outside the classroom significantly affect their reputation. Besides, the way through which teachers or education professionals are perceived by society transcends their working hours, meaning that what happens outside the classroom can influence students’ views of their teaching ...