Code of Professional Practice

The Code of Professional Practice is the path that every teacher must follow, no matter how hard some of the points may be to comply with.  In my personal opinion I think that the code is very helpful, especially for new teachers.  The code gives us the guidelines needed to know how to handle some tough situations that teachers are unfortunately put into quite frequently.  I find that the code is written in an "easy to read style", and that the points are pretty clear.  MTS does a very good job of explaining each individual rule and I know from a quick internet search and the information that we received at our education orientation, that they are more than willing to answer questions about the code if you are having any kind of dilemma with one or more of the rules.

I now want to take some time to highlight a few of the points out of the Code of Professional Practice.

4. A teacher speaks and acts with respect and dignity, and deals judiciously with others, always mindful of their rights.  

This is a very important point within the code because it reminds teachers that they are at all times a professional.  Teachers do not have the luxury to be a teacher for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.  Even though some teachers may not agree with the casting, once you put on the teacher hat you are forever going to be a teacher.  This rule helps up to be mindful of our professional duties as well as how we must choose to live out all of our life since we have taken on the immense responsibility of becoming a teacher.

10. A teacher makes an ongoing effort to improve professionally. 

I like the fact that this is one of the rules found within the code because it means that the profession is always trying to keep up with the latest technologies and advance with the times.  For example, technology is booming right now and it is quickly becoming an integral part of our school systems.  In order for the teachers to improve themselves professionally they must take courses and learn how to use these new advancements, thus mastering some new skills so they can in turn teach their students new and exciting innovations.

1. A teacher’s first professional responsibility is to her or his students.

Due to the very nature of the teaching profession, this is the number one rule on the list.  Teachers are in a unique position with children, because they are sometimes like a second parent to the child and the students spend the majority of their time in class with a teacher.  Trust needs to develop between the teacher and student in order for the relationship to be strong and healthy.  For early years teachers especially, this responsibility can be very hard to handle because you must become the advocate for the child because they cannot always defend themselves or know what is right or wrong.  

Favorite Teacher

I have been very blessed throughout my educational career to have many wonderful teachers that helped positively shape my experiences as well as inspire me to become a teacher.  In this post I am going to tell you about the woman that I believe inspired me the most to become a teacher, Mrs. Emilson.


Mrs. Emilson was my Grade 4 teacher and I think she was the first to really fill me with the desire to become a teacher and with the belief that I could become someone of importance in the world.  She was and still continues to be the teacher that everyone in the school loves.  Part of what I think makes her such a wonderful teacher is her kind/caring nature but also the way that she makes every single student feel special and worthwhile.  She was never one to turn a child away because she was busy and was in a rush to complete one of her many jobs.  She would always listen to whatever ridiculous story that I was dying to tell her, not because it had any importance to her but because it was something that I cared about.  I think another thing that really helped me to connect with Mrs. Emilson was our mutual love of music.  She really helped me to become more confident with my vocal abilities and often gave me sheet music and advice because she had a music degree from the University of Manitoba.  


For our Evaluation and Assessment class in first term, we were asked to conduct an interview with a teacher to find out about their evaluation practices.  Lori was in the forefront of my mind right away for this assignment, so I sent her a facebook message and she agreed to email her responses back to me.  She was very helpful and provided thoughtful answers to all of my questions and at the end added a personal sentence just for me: "I think you will make a great teacher by the way :)".  This one sentence filled me with so much confidence and literally put a smile on my face for the rest of the day.


Since I am from a small town I still know and am in contact with Lori.  She still cons me into singing at functions whenever I go home, and always asks my parents how I am doing in school.  I have never actually told Lori how much of an impact that she made on my decision to become a teacher, but if ever she stumbles upon this blog I want to express my feelings of admiration and thankfulness that I had the opportunity to be one of your students.  I hope to emulate your best qualities in my own teaching career, and pray that I can become a wonderful teacher just like you!


"They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel." - Carol Buchner