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TOPIC 1: THE TEACHING PROFESSION
A. Teaching as a Profession
Professional
• A person engaged in a specified activity as a main
paid occupation rather than as a pastime. (Oxford
Dictionary)
• The word “professional” implies to the one who
possesses the skill and competence or expertise
in a certain field of profession.
Teaching as a Profession
• Teachers are duty licensed professionals possess
dignity and reputation with high moral values as
well as technical and professional competence in
the practice of their noble profession, they strictly
adhere to, observe, and practice this set of ethical
and moral principles, standard, and values. (Udtujan,
2014.)
• teaching as a profession – teaching is about
inspiring and motivating students to realize and
exceed their potentials. (Verma, 2020)
• the teaching profession is an occupational field in
education that is directly responsible for the
formation of young minds and hearts. This means a
teacher ends up playing several roles simultaneously.
(Study.com)
• professional is one who conforms to the technical or
ethical standards of a profession.
The Two Elements of a Profession
1. Competence
2. Code of Ethics
Other Elements of a Profession
1. Initial Professional Education
• Professionals generally begin their professional lives
by completing a university program in their chosen
fields – teacher education, engineering, nursing
accountancy.
• this means long and ardous years of preparation.
• take note this is just initial which means only by the
beginning because a professional is expected to
learn endlessly.
2. Accreditation
• University programs are approved by a regulatory
body like the Commission on Higher Education
(CHED) in the Philippines to ensure that graduates
from these recognized programs start their
professional lives with competence.
3. Licensing
• is mandatory not voluntary and is administered by a
government authority. In the Philippines, this
government authority is the Professional Regulation
Commission (PRC).
4. Professional Development
• This is an ongoing professional organization that
maintains or improves professional’s knowledge and
skills after they begin their professional practice.
• In the Philippines this is a Continuing Professional
Development mandated by RA 10912, otherwise
known as the CPD act of 2016.
5. Professional Societies
• Professionals see themselves as part of a
community of like-minded individuals who put their
professional standards above the individual self-
interest or their employer's self-interest.
• put dedication to the public interest and
commitment to moral and ethical values.
• define certification criteria, manage certification
programs, establish accreditation standards and
define a code of ethics and disciplinary action for
violations of that code.
6. Code of Ethics
• Each profession has a code of ethics to ensure that
its practitioner behave responsibly.
• The code states what professionals should do.
• Professionals can be ejected from their professional
societies or lose their licenses to practice for violating
the code of ethics.
• The teaching profession is governed by the Code of
Ethics for Professional Teachers.
• Violation of the Code of Ethics professional teachers
is one of the grounds for the revocation of the
professional teacher's license Certificate of
Registration and suspension from the practice of the
Teaching Profession (Sec 23 R.A. 7836).
CODE OF ETHICS FOR PROFESSIONAL TEACHERS
Pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (e), Article
11, of R.A. No. 7836, otherwise known as the Philippine
Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994 and paragraph (a),
section 6, P.D. No. 223, as amended, the Board for
Professional Teachers hereby adopt the Code of Ethics for
Professional Teachers.
Article I: Scope and Limitations
This Code covers all public and private school
teachers in all educational institutions at the preschool,
primary, elementary, and secondary levels whether academic,
vocational, special, technical, or non-formal.
Article II: The Teacher and the State
Every teacher or school official shall actively help
carry out the declared policies of the state, and shall take an
oath to this effect.
Article III: The Teacher and the Community
Every teacher shall provide leadership and initiative
to actively participate in community movements for moral,
social, educational, economic and civic betterment.
Article IV: A Teacher and the Profession
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Every teacher shall actively insure that teaching is the
noblest profession, and shall manifest genuine enthusiasm
and pride in teaching as a noble calling.
Article V: The Teachers and the Profession
Teachers shall, at all times, be imbued with the spirit
of professional loyalty, mutual confidence, and faith in one
another, self-sacrifice for the common good; and full
cooperation with colleagues. When the best interest of the
learners, the school, or the profession is at stake in any
controversy, teachers shall support one another.
Article VI: The Teacher and Higher Authorities in the
Profession
Every teacher shall make it his duty to make an
honest effort to understand and support the legitimate policies
of the school and the administration regardless of personal
feeling or private opinion and shall faithfully carry them out.
Article VII: School Officials, Teachers, and Other Personnel
All school officials shall at all times show
professional courtesy, helpfulness and sympathy towards
teachers and other personnel, such practices being standards
of effective school supervision, dignified administration,
responsible leadership and enlightened directions.
Article VIII: The Teachers and Learners
A teacher shall recognize that the interest and
welfare of learners are of first and foremost concern, and shall
deal justifiably and impartially with each of them.
Article IX: The Teachers and Parents
Every teacher shall establish and maintain cordial
relations with parents, and shall conduct himself to merit their
confidence and respect.
Article X: The Teacher and Business
A teacher has the right to engage, directly or
indirectly, in legitimate income generation; provided that it
does not relate to or adversely affect his work as a teacher.
Article XI: The Teacher as a Person
A teacher is, above all, a human being endowed with
life for which it is the highest obligation to live with dignity at all
times whether in school, in the home, or elsewhere. A teacher
shall place premium upon self-discipline as the primary
principle of personal behaviour in all relationships with others
and in all situations.
Article XII: Disciplinary Actions
Any violation of any provision of this code shall be
sufficient ground for the imposition against the erring teacher
of the disciplinary action consisting of revocation of his
Certification of Registration and License as a Professional
Teacher, suspension from the practice of teaching profession,
or reprimand or cancellation of his temporary/special permit
under causes specified in Sec. 23, Article III or R.A. No. 7836,
and under Rule 31, Article VIII, of the Rules and Regulations
Implementing R.A. 7836.
Article XIII: Effectivity
This Code shall take effect upon approval by the Professional
Regulation Commission and after sixty (60) days following its
publication in the Official Gazette or any newspaper of general
circulation, whichever is earlier.
THE TEACHING AS A PROFESSION
• Teaching as a profession involves educators guiding
students through the learning process, providing
instruction, and fostering intellectual and personal
growth.
• It encompasses planning and delivering effective
lessons, assessing student progress, and creating a
supportive learning environment.
• Professional teachers often adhere to ethical
standards, continuously enhance their own skills,
and contribute to the broader educational
community.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHING AS A
PROFESSION IN THE PHILIPPINES
Presidential Decree 1006
• first legal document that professionalized teaching
• issued by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
PD 1006 (Decree Professionalizing Teaching)
• In 1976, teachers in the Philippines became
professionalized.
• The need to professionalized teaching was felt “to
ensure that in the immediacy and urgency of
recruitment, qualitative requirements are not
overlooked, and although teaching requires a number
of years of collegiate study, it is the only course that is
not considered a profession (PD 1006).
• Furthermore, in recognition of the vital role of
teachers, it is imperative that they be considered as
professionals and teaching be recognized as
profession.” (PD 1006)
R.A 7836 (Philippine Teacher Professionalization Act of
1994)
• 1994, RA 7836 was passed to promote quality
education by proper supervision and regulation of the
licensure examination and professionalization of
the practice of the teaching profession.
Pre-Hispanic Period
• there was no established schooling in the country.
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• there was no formal preparation for teachers.
• the fathers and mothers and tribal leaders served
as teachers at home and in the community.
Spanish Period
• by virtue of Educational Decree of 1863, free public
school system was established.
• there was one school for boys and another school
for girls in every municipality.
• the Spanish missionaries served as teachers.
• the same decree provided for a normal school run by
the Jesuits to educate male teachers in Manila.
• normal schools for women were not established in
1875.
• it was the Spaniards who started training teachers in
normal school.
American Regime
• American soldiers served as the first Commission
teachers.
• In 1901, the Philippine Commission enacted into
law Act 74, which created the Department of Public
Instruction, laid the foundations of the public school
system and offered free primary education for
Filipinos.
• there was a shortage of teachers.
• the Philippines authorized the secretary of Public
Instruction to bring to the Philippines 600 teachers
from USA. They were the Thomasites.
• Due to urgent need for teachers, the Americans gave
bright young Filipinos students opportunity to take up
higher education in American colleges financed by
the Philippine Government. They were the
pensionados.
• The Act 74 of 1901 also provided for the
establishment of Philippine Normal Schools (PNS)
in Manila.
• The Philippine Normal School formally opened in
September 1901 as an institution for the training
teachers.
• For more than two decades, PNS offered a two-year
general secondary education program.
• In 1928, it became a junior college, offering a two-
year program for graduates of secondary schools.
• In 1949, The Philippine Normal School, renamed
Philippine Normal College, offered the four-year
Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. Other
four year teacher education courses followed after.
• This means that the present four-year preparation for
the professional teacher begun as a two-year
program only.
• Teachers’ preparation became four years only in
1949 and thereafter.
SUMMARY:
Teaching is a profession. It requires:
1. Long years of initial professional education,
2. the attainment of a college/university degree
recognized by a regulatory body (CHED),
3. a licensure examination called the Licensure
Examination for Teachers (LET),
4. Continuing Professional Development; and,
5. adherence to the Code of Ethics for Professional
Teachers.
• The teaching profession in the Philippines is
characterized by licensed professionals who uphold high
moral values and possess technical competence.
B. Teaching as a Vocation and Mission
A. Teaching as a Vocation
• Vocation comes from the Latin word “vocare” which
means to call. Based on the etymology of the word,
vocation therefore, means a call.
• If there is a call, there must be a caller and someone who
is called. There must also be a response.
(a) For Christians, the Caller is God Himself.
(b) For our brother and sister Muslims, Allah. Believers in the
Supreme-being will look at this voiceless call to have a
vertical dimension.
(c) For non-believers, the call is also experienced but this
may viewed solely along a horizontal dimension. It is like
man calling another man, never a Superior being calling
man.
• Vocation refers to religious vocation.
• Vocation includes other big callings like marriage and
single blessedness. It does not only refer to a religious
vocation. It can also refer to a call to do something like
to teach, to heal the sick, etc.
• The Christians among you realize that the Bible is full of
stories of men and women who were called by God to do
something not for themselves but for others.
• We know of Abraham, the first one called by God, to
become the father of a great nation, the nation of God's
chosen people.
• We recall Moses who was called while in Egypt to lead
God's chosen people out of Egypt in order to free them
from slavery.
• In the New Testament, we know of Mary who was also
called by God to become the mother of the Savior, Jesus
Christ.
• In Islam, we are familiar with Muhammad, the last of the
prophets to be called by Allah, to spread the teachings of
Allah. All of them responded positively to God's call.
• Buddha must have also heard the call to abandon his
royal life in order to seek the answer to the problem on
suffering.
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B. Teaching as a Mission
• Teaching is also a mission.
• The word mission comes from the Latin word mission
which means to send.
• The Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines mission
as "task assigned." You are sent to accomplish an
assigned task.
• The phrase “mission accomplished” suggest that you
were sent to do an assigned task.
• four years of pre-service preparation will equip you with
the knowledge, skills and attitude to become an effective
teacher.
• As the saying goes for “Once a teacher, forever a student."
What exactly is the mission to teach?
• To teach is to influence every child entrusted in your
care to become better and happier because life
becomes more meaningful.
• To teach is to help the child become more human.
Teaching is indeed your mission:
• If you are doing it not only for the pay but also for the
service.
• If you keep on teaching out of love.
• If you are committed to teaching even if it means
letting go of other activities.
• If you remain teaching even though nobody
recognizes your efforts.
• It makes you get excited.
• If your concern is success plus faithfulness, it’s a
mission.
Teaching and a life of meaning
• Teaching can provide a profound sense of purpose as
educators contribute to shaping minds and fostering
personal growth.
• the opportunity to positively impact students’ lives
often leads to a fulfilling sense of meaning, knowing
that one is influencing the future.
• Teaching is touching the hearts of people and opening
the minds of children
Dr. Josette Biyo
• first Asian teacher to win the Intel Excellence in
Teaching Award. The official naming citation was
published by the Minor Planet Center on 24 July 2002
(M.P.C. 46109).
• born on March 19, 1958
• Home: Januiay, Iloilo.
• She earned her bachelor’s degree in biological
sciences from the University of the Philippines
Visayas in Miagao, intending to continue to medical
school.
• Instead, she took a teaching post and afterward
earned a Ph.D. in biology from De La Salle University
in Manila.
• The heavenly body, planet 13241, is now called
“Planet Biyo,”named after her of the Philippine
Science High School-Western Visayas (PSHS-WV) in
Iloilo City by the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory in the United
States.
The "Pwede na" Mentality: Enemy of Excellent Mission
Preparation and Accomplishment
• For a professional teacher who looks at teaching as
his/her mission, she/he will do everything to arm
himself/herself for an excellent accomplishment of
the mission.
• The striving for excellent accomplishment sometimes
brings us to our “pwede na” mentality, which is
inimical to excellence.
• This mentality is expressed in other ways like
“talagang ganyan ‘yan” “wala na tayong magagawa,”
“di na mahalata,” “di ko na ‘yan sagot,” “dagdag
trabaho/gastos lang yan” –all indicators of defeatism
and resignation to mediocrity.
TOPIC 2: DEMANDS OF THE SOCIETY FROM THE TEACHER
AS A PROFESSIONAL AND A PERSON
A. Demands of the Society from the Teacher as a
Professional
The Teacher as a Professional
• Teaching fulfills the elements of a profession and so a
teacher is truly a professional.
• A professional is one who went through long years of
preparation to earn a teacher education degree
recognized by the Commission on Higher Education
(CHED), after which he/she hurdled a Licensure
Examination for Teachers (LET) administered by the
Board for Professional Teachers with the supervision
of the Professional.
• a professional teacher is expected to abide by the
Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers.
• Violation of the Code of Ethics can be a ground for the
revocation of license.
• The teacher is a "licensed professional who
possesses dignity and reputation with high moral
values as well as technical and professional
competence he/ she adheres to, observes and
practices a set of ethical and moral principles,
standards and values."
The Demands from the Teacher as a Professional
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• The Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers spells
out the demands of the state, community, higher
authorities and school officials and parents from
teachers.
Teaching competence is spelled out in the PPST and in the
four models of effective teaching given in the preceding
paragraphs. This means that if he/she has to teach effectively
he/she has to:
1) prepare and plan very well for instruction;
2) execute or deliver that instruction plan very well
because he/she has professional knowledge
(mastery of subject matter);
3) create a conducive or favorable learning environment
for diverse groups of learners;
4) assess and report learners' progress; and
5) demonstrate professionalism as he/she deals with
superiors, colleagues, students and parents.
Models of Effective Teaching
A. Robert Marzano's Causal Teacher Evaluation Model of
four domains:
1. Classroom strategies and behaviors
- reflecting on teaching
- maintaining accurate records
- communicating with families
- participating in the professional community
- growing professionally
- showing professionalism
B. Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching
1. Planning and Preparation
2. The Classroom Environment
3. Instruction
4. Professional Responsibilities
C. James Stronge - Teacher Effectiveness Performance
Evaluation System (TEPES) System:
Seven performance standards:
1. Professional Knowledge
2. Instructional Planning
3. Instructional Delivery
4. Assessment of/for Learning
5. The Learning Environment
6. Professionalism - maintains a commitment to
professional ethics, communicates effectively and
takes responsibility for and participates in
professional growth that results in enhanced learning
7. Student Progress - the work of the teacher results in
acceptable, measurable and appropriate student
academic progress.
D. Teacher Evaluation Standards,- The McREL model (Mid-
Continent Research for Education and Learning)
1. Teachers demonstrate leadership.
- lead in their classrooms
- demonstrate leadership in the school
- lead the teaching profession
- advocate for schools and students
- demonstrate high ethical standards
2. Teachers establish a respectful environment for a
diverse population of students.
3. Teachers know the content they teach.
4. Teachers facilitate learning for their students.
5. Teachers reflect on their practices.
E. The Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers
(PPST)
revised National Competency-Based Teacher
Standards (NCBTS)
give the teacher professional competencies in
seven domains, 37 strands and 148 performance
indicators for four career stages.
According to the PPST, quality teachers in the Philippines need
to possess the following characteristics:
• recognize the importance of mastery of content
knowledge and its interconnectedness within and
across curriculum areas.
• provide learning environments that are safe, secure,
fair and supportive in order to promote learner
responsibility and achievement.
• establish learning environments that are responsive
to learner diversity.
• interact with the national and local curriculum
requirements. They translate curriculum content
into learning activities that are relevant to learners
and based on the principles
• effective teaching and learning.
• apply a variety of assessment tools and strategies
monitoring, evaluating, documenting and reporting
learners needs, progress and achievement.
• establish school-community partnerships aimed at
enriching the learning environment, as well as the
community 's engagement in the educative process.
• value personal growth and professional
development and exhibit high personal regard for the
profession by maintaining qualities that uphold the
dignity of teaching such as caring attitude, respect
and integrity.
SUMMARY:
• The Filipino teacher is a professional – possesses
professional competence.
• This professional competence is demonstrated in
his/her professionalism, professional knowledge,
in creating a favorable learning environment, in
excellent instructional planning, instructional
delivery and assessment practices.
B. Demands of the Society from the Teacher as a
Person
• More than any other professional, teachers are
subjected to scrutiny to the minutest detail by those
they associate with.
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• Teachers are judged more strictly than other
professionals.
Characteristics of an Effective Teacher
1. Prepared – come to class each day ready to teach.
2. Positive – have optimistic attitudes about teaching
and about students.
3. Hold high expectations – set no limits on students
and believe everyone can be successful.
4. Creative – are resourceful and inventive in how they
teach their classes.
5. Fair – handle students and grading fairly.
6. Display a personal touch – approachable.
7. Cultivate a sense of belonging – have a way to make
students feel welcome and comfortable in their
classrooms.
8. Compassionate – are concerned about students’
personal problems and can relate to them and their
problems.
9. Have a sense of humor – make learning fun and do
not take everything seriously.
10. Respect students – do not deliberately embarrass
students; teachers who give the highest respect get
the highest respect.
11. Forgiving – do not hold grudges.
12. Admit mistakes – quick to admit being wrong.
Professionalism
• is something demanded of teachers both as a
professionals and as persons.
Article XI of the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers
Section 1: A teacher shall live with dignity at all times.
Section 2: A teacher shall place premium upon self-respect
and discipline as the principle of a personal behavior in all
relationships with others in all situations.
Section 3: A teacher shall maintain at all times a dignified
personality which could serve as model worthy of emulation by
learners, peers, and others.
Section 4: A teachers shall always recognize the Almighty God
or being as guide of his own destiny and of the destinies of men
and nations.
The Code of Ethics
Section 7 of Republic Act 4670
• cites integrity as one essential trait of a professional
teacher.
C. Integrity: Since the teacher’s work is not confined
merely to the development of certain fundamental
skills and abilities encompassed by the teaching of
the 3R’s but also includes the development of
desirable habits and attitudes that go into the
formation of character, his manner of living should
provide a worthy example for his pupils and students
to emulate for his fellow teachers to be proud of, and
for the community to feel as being enriched by it.
Professionalism is the hallmark of a professional.
SUMMARY:
• To be effective in the teaching profession, teachers
must possess personal traits such as caring,
forgiving, fair and compassionate, and so display a
personal touch for all students.
• Caring teachers make everyone feels he/she belongs.
• They are humble enough to admit mistakes. All of
these personals traits emanate from teachers’
genuine respect for others.
• The trait professionalism catches all the personal
qualities expected of teachers.
TOPIC 3: THE CODE OF ETHICS FOR PROFESSIONAL
TEACHERS
A. The Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers: The
Preamble and Article 1
• Teachers are duly licensed professionals who
possess dignity and reputation with high moral values
as well as technical and professional competence.
• In the practice of their noble profession, they strictly
adhere to, observe, and practice this set of ethical
and moral principles, standard, and values.
ARTICLE I SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS
Section 1. The Philippine Constitution provides that all
educational institutions shall offer quality education for all
Filipino citizens, a vision that requires professionally
competent teachers committed to is full realization. The
provisions of this Code shall apply, therefore, to all teachers in
all schools in the Philippines.
• importance of teachers as professionals who not only
hold licenses but also embody dignity, reputation, and
high moral values.
• it emphasizes that teachers must not only have
technical and professional skills but also adhere to a
set of ethical and moral principles in their practice.
• it highlights the significant responsibility teachers have
in shaping young minds and the necessity for them to
conduct themselves with integrity and uphold moral
standards while fulfilling their duties
Section 2. This Code covers all public and private school
teachers in all educational institutions at the preschool,
primary, elementary, and secondary levels whether
academic, vocational, special, technical, or non-formal.
The term "teacher" shall include industrial art or vocational
teachers and all other persons performing supervisory and/or
administrative functions in all schools at the aforesaid levels,
whether on full- time or part-time basis.
• Section 2 of the Code of Ethics ensures that the
guidelines and principles outlined in the code apply to
all teachers, regardless of the type of school (academic,
vocational, special, technical or non-formal) or level of
education they are involved in (preschool, primary,
elementary, and secondary).
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• It covers teachers, administrators, and individuals in
supervisory roles, whether they work full-time or part-
time.
SUMMARY:
• The Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers applies
to all teachers in the Philippines, including those in
public and private schools at all levels of education.
• It emphasizes the importance of high moral values,
technical competence, and professionalism in
teaching.
• The code covers teachers in academic, vocational,
special, technical, and non-formal education.
• It also includes individuals in supervisory or
administrative roles within schools.
B. The Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers:
Relationship with Secondary and Tertiary
Stakeholders
B1. The Teacher and the State
• The Code of Ethics cites different groups of external
stakeholders with whom schools and teachers have
to relate and work for the education of the child.
• The state (Article II), the community (Article III) and
parents (Article IX).
Secondary Stakeholders
• indirectly receive the service.
• these are the learners’ parents.
Tertiary Stakeholders
• are indirect but crucial participants in the process of
children’s education.
• these are the future employers, the government of the
state and society in general.
Article II
The Teacher and the State
Section 1. The schools are the nurseries of the citizens of the
state. Each teacher is a trustee of the cultural and educational
heritage of the nation and is under obligation to transmit to
learners such heritage as well as to elevate national morality,
promote national pride, cultivate love of country, instill
allegiance to the Constitution and respect for all duly
constituted authorities, and promote obedience to the laws of
the state.
Section 2. Every teacher or school official shall actively help
carry out the declared policies of the state, and shall take an
oath to this effect.
Section 3. In the interest of the State of the Filipino people as
much as of his own, every teacher shall be physically,
mentally, and morally fit.
Section 4. Every teacher shall possess and actualize full
commitment and devotion to duty.
Section 5. A teacher shall not engage in the promotion of any
political, religious, or other partisan interest, and shall not,
directly, or indirectly, solicit, require, collect, or receive any
money, service, other valuable material from any person or
entity for such purposes.
Section 6. Every teacher shall vote and shall exercise all other
constitutional rights and responsibilities.
Section 7. A teacher shall not use his position or official
authority of influence to coerce any other person to follow any
political course of action.
Section 8. Every teacher shall enjoy academic freedom and
shall have the privilege of sharing the product of his researches
and investigations, provided that, if the results are inimical to
the declared policies of the State, they shall be drawn to the
proper authorities for appropriate remedial action.
B2. The Teacher and the Community
Article III
The Teacher and the Community
Section 1. A teacher is a facilitator of learning and of the
development of the youth; he shall, therefore, render the best
services by providing an environment conducive to such
learning and growth.
Section 2. Every teacher shall provide leadership and initiative
to actively participate in community movements for moral,
social, educational, economic and civic betterment.
Section 3. Every teacher shall merit reasonable social
recognition for which purpose he shall behave with honor and
dignity at all times and refrain from such activities as gambling,
smoking, drunkenness, and other excesses, much less illicit
relations.
Section 4. Every teacher shall help the school keep the people
in the community, and shall, therefore, study and understand
local customs and traditions in order to have a sympathetic
attitude, therefore, refrain from disparaging the community.
Section 5. Every teacher shall help the school keep the people
in the community informed about the school’s work and
accomplishments as well as its needs and problems.
Section 6. Every teacher is an intellectual leader in the
community, especially in the barangay, and shall welcome the
opportunity to provide such leadership when needed, to
extend counseling services, as appropriate, and to actively be
involved in matters affecting the welfare of the people.
Section 7. Every teacher shall maintain harmonious and
pleasant personal and official relations with other
professionals, with government officials, and with the people,
individually or collectively.
Section 8. A teacher possesses freedom to attend church and
worship, as appropriate, but shall not use his position and
influence to proselyte others.
B3. The Teacher and the Parents
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Article IX
The Teacher and Parents
Section 1. A teacher shall establish and maintain cordial
relations with parents, and shall conduct himself to merit their
confidence and respect.
Section 2. A teacher shall inform parents, through proper
authorities, of the progress or deficiencies of learners under
him, exercising utmost candor and tact in pointing out
learners’ deficiencies and in seeking parent’s cooperation for
the proper guidance and improvement of learners.
Section 3. A teacher shall hear parent’s complains with
sympathy and understanding, and shall discourage unfair
criticism.
• Teacher needs to connect with parents, his/her partners in
the education of the learner.
• For the partnership to flourish, teacher shall maintain
cordial relations with parents.
• This relationship remains cordial if a teacher is sincere
and tactful in reporting child’s progress.
C. The Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers:
Relationship with the Internal Stakeholders
C1. The Teacher and the Learners
Article VIII
The Teacher and the Learners
Section 1. A teacher has the right and duty to determine the
academic marks and the promotion of learners in the subjects
they handle. Such determination shall be in accordance with
generally accepted producers of evaluation and measurement.
In case of any complaint, teachers concerned shall
immediately take appropriate action, observing the process.
Section 2. A teacher shall recognize that the interest and
welfare of learners are his first and foremost concern, and
shall handle each learner justly and impartially.
Section 3. Under no circumstance shall a teacher be
prejudiced nor discriminatory against any learner.
Section 4. A teacher shall not accept favors or gifts from
learners, their parents or others in their behalf in exchange for
requested concessions, especially if under served.
Section 5. A teacher shall not accept, directly or indirectly, any
remuneration from tutorials other than what is authorized for
such service.
Section 6. A teacher shall base the evaluation of the learner’s
work on merit and quality of academic performance.
Section 7. In a situation where mutual attraction and
subsequent love develop between teacher and learner, the
teacher shall exercise utmost professional discretion to avoid
scandal, gossip, and preferential treatment of the learner.
Section 8. A teacher shall not inflict corporal punishment on
offending learner nor make deductions from their scholastic
ratings as a punishment for acts which are clearly not
manifestations of poor scholarship.
Section 9. A teacher shall insure that conditions contributive
to the maximum development of learners are adequate, and
shall extend needed assistance in preventing or solving
learner’s problems and difficulties.
C2. The Teacher and the Teaching Community
Article V
The Teacher and the Teaching Community
• The professional teacher is not an island. He/she works
with other professional teachers, some more or less
experienced than he/she is.
• Colleagues are teachers, partners and collaborators.
Section 1. Teachers shall, at all times, be imbued with the
spirit of professional loyalty, mutual confidence, and faith in
one another, self-sacrifice for the common good, and full
cooperation with colleagues. When the best interest of the
learners, the school, or the profession is at stake in any
controversy, teachers shall support one another.
Section 2. A teacher is not entitled to claim for work not of his
own, and shall give due credit for the work of others which he
may use.
Section 3. Before leaving his position, a teacher shall organize
and leave to his successor such records and other data as are
necessary to carry on the work.
Section 4. A teacher shall hold inviolate all confidential
information concerning associates and the school, and shall
not divulge to anyone documents which have not yet been
officially released, or remove records from the files without
official permission.
Section 5. It shall be the responsibility of every teacher to seek
correctives for what may appear to be an unprofessional and
unethical conduct of any associate. This may be done only if
there is incontrovertible evidence for such conduct.
Section 6. A teacher may submit to the proper authorities any
justifiable criticism against an associate, preferably in writing,
without violating any right of the individual concerned.
Section 7. A teacher may apply for a vacant position for which
he is qualified, provided that he respects the system for
selection on the basis of merit and competence, provided,
further, that all qualified candidates are given the opportunity
to be considered.
• A professional teacher should work in collaboration with
his/her fellow teachers. Gossip destroys collegial
relationships.
• Should there be justifiable criticism against a fellow
teacher, the right recourse is to submit to proper
authorities any justifiable criticism.
• It is unprofessional for a teacher to apply for a position
for which he is not qualified.
• Professionalism demands that selection is based on
merit and competence.
• It is likewise unprofessional to divulge confidential
information concerning associates and the school.
9|ProfEd 603
• Give credit to whom credit is due. A professional teacher
will not claim credit for work not of his/her own.
• In order not to jeopardize office operation or work, a
teacher before leaving position, shall organize records
for his/her successor.
• Many a time a turn-over ceremony is well done but up to
ceremony only because records are not organized and
so hampers the continuity of operation.
• At all times, professional teachers shall be loyal to and
trust and support one another for the common good.
C3. The Teacher and Higher Authorities
Higher Authorities
• school heads
• supervisors
• schools division superintendent
Article VI
The Teacher and Higher Authorities in the Philippines
Section 1. A teacher shall make it his duty to make an honest
effort to understand and support the legitimate policies of the
school and the administration regardless of professional
feeling or private opinion and shall faithfully carry them out.
Section 2. A teacher shall not make any false accusation or
charges against superiors, especially under anonymity.
However, if there are valid charges, he should present such
under oath to competent authority.
Section 3. A teacher shall transact all official business through
channels except when special conditions warrant a different
procedure, such as when reforms are advocated but are
opposed by the immediate superior, in which case the
teachers shall appeal directly to the appropriate higher
authority.
Section 4. A teacher, individually or as part of a group, has a
right to seek redress against injustice and discrimination and,
to the extent possible, shall raise his grievances within
democratic processes. In doing so, he shall avoid jeopardizing
the interest and welfare of learners whose right to learn must
be respected.
Section 5. A teacher has a right to invoke the principle that
appointments, promotions, and transfers of teachers are made
only on the basis of merit and need in the interest of the
service.
Section 6. A teacher who accepts a position assumes a
contractual obligation to live up to his contract, assuming full
knowledge of the employment terms and conditions.
• It is unprofessional for a teacher to campaign against
legitimate policies of the school and administration
with which he/she disagrees.
• The professional thing to do is to support the legitimate
policies even though as a professional teacher one is
personally against it.
• One must exert effort to understand the wisdom of the
policies of the administration. In the first place they may
not have become policies if they are not for the good of
teachers.
• It is likewise unprofessional to file charges against
superiors under cover of anonymity.
• If there is truth in the charges filed against superiors, one
should not be afraid to come into the open, “the truth
shall set you free.”
• To transact official business through proper channels is
the professional and ethical thing to do. There are
exceptions however.
• When the reforms advocated are opposed by the
immediate superior, the teacher shall appeal directly to
the proper higher authority.
• To go on strike is not professional. True, professional
teachers have a right to seek redress against injustice or
discrimination but should do it in a manner that does not
jeopardize the welfare of learners whose right to learn
must be respected.
• Teachers going on strike adversely affects learners.
• Appointments, promotions are based only on merit and
need in the interest of service in the profession.
• Likewise, transfer of professional teachers is done on
the basis of merit and need.
• Transfer of a teacher made because of school head’s
prejudice towards the teacher is unprofessional.
D. The Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers:
His/Her Person, Profession and Business
D1. The Teacher and the Profession
• Primary stakeholders: learners
• Secondary stakeholders: parents
• External stakeholders: state and the community
• Internal stakeholders: teaching community and
school officials (higher authorities)
ARTICLE IV
The Teacher and the Profession
Section 1. Every teacher shall actively help insure that
teaching is the noblest profession, and shall manifest genuine
enthusiasm and pride in teaching as a noble calling.
Section 2. Every teacher shall uphold the highest possible
standards of quality education, shall make the best
preparation for the career of teaching, and shall be at his best
at all times in the practice of his profession.
Section 3. Every teacher shall participate in the continuing
professional education (CPE) program of the Professional
Regulation Commission, and shall pursue such other studies
as will improve his efficiency, enhance the prestige of the
profession, and strengthen his competence, virtues, and
productivity in order to be nationally and internationally
competitive.
Section 4. Every teacher shall help, if duly authorized, to seek
support for the school, but shall not make improper
misrepresentations through personal advertisements and
other questionable means.
Section 5. Every teacher shall use the teaching profession in a
manner that makes it a dignified means for earning a decent
living.
10 | P r o f E d 6 0 3

• professional teachers should introduce themselves with
pride as professional teachers not as “just” professional
teachers.
• The Code of Professional Conduct for Public School
Teachers cited in Section 7 of RA 4670 states: It (referring
to the work of the teacher in the development of the
young) is a trust of which every teacher should strive to be
worthy. Who uses his position for an unworthy purpose
betrays the trust.
D2. The Teacher as a Person
ARTICLE XI
The Teacher as a Person
Section 1. A teacher shall live with dignity in all places at all
times.
Section 1. A teacher has a right to engage, directly or
indirectly, in legitimate income generation, provided that it
does not relate to or adversely affect his work.
Section 2. A teacher shall maintain a good reputation with
respect to financial matters such as in the settlement of his
just debts, loans and other financial affairs.
Section 3. No teacher shall act, directly or indirectly, as agent
of, or be financially interested in, any commercial venture
which furnish textbooks and other school commodities in the
purchase and disposal of which he can exercise official
influence, except only when his assignment is inherently
related to such purchase and disposal, provided that such
shall be in accordance with existing regulations.
Consider the findings of the study on teacher’s borrowing as
shared by DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones:

Section 2. A teacher shall place premium upon self-respect
and self-discipline as the principle of personal behavior in all
relationships with others and in all situations.
Section 3. A teacher shall maintain at all times a dignified
personality which could serve as model worthy of emulation by
learners, peers, and others.
Section 4. A teacher shall always recognize the Almighty God
or Being as guide of his own destiny and of the destinies men
and nations.
• So much is demanded of the teacher as a person.
• He/She is looked up to as model and therefore must walk
her talk or ends up like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
This is a big challenge.
• His/ her highest obligation is to live with dignity in all
places at all times, so 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 31
days a month, 365 or 366 days a year.
• He/she will never regret if he/she has made self-respect
and self-discipline as the governing principle in his/her
relationships with all people in all situations.
• With the almighty God at the center of his/her life, the
professional teacher will be resolute in his/her intent to
maintain a dignified personality and so can serve as a
model for learners, peers and all others.
• The propensity of public school teachers to borrow is
50% higher compared to other employees of the
government such as the police and nurses.
• Aside from the possibility of not receiving any pay once
they retire, public school teachers may also suffer
sanctions from mere reprimand to revocation of licenses
to teach – due to their unpaid loans.
• There are more than 500 pending cases versus teachers
filed by various lending institutions in the past 3 years.
• “Man does not live by bread alone,” says the Bible.
Understandably, the professional teacher needs money to
satisfy his/her bodily need.
A teacher must… “maintain a good reputation with respect
to financial matters such as in the settlement of his debts
and loans in arranging satisfactorily his private financial
affair.”
• If teachers live by the principles of self-respect and self-
discipline as cited in the Code of Ethics, there will be no
problem on teacher indebtedness and teachers’
unfavorable reputation of not paying their debts.
• If a teacher lives simply, he/she will not be that indebted.
• To live simply, the professional teacher must distinguish
between his needs and wants.

The Code of Professional Conduct for Public School

Teachers cited in Section 7 of RA 4670 puts it succintly:

INTEGRITY: Since the teacher’s work is not confined merely to

the development of certain fundamental skills and abilities
encompassed by the teaching of the 3Rs but also includes the
development of desirable habits and attitudes that go into the
formation of character, his manner of living should provide a
worthy example for his pupils and students to emulate, for his
fellow teachers to be proud of and for the community to feel as
being enriched by it.

D3. The Teacher and Business

ARTICLE X
The Teacher and Business