Professional Ethics, Teacher Roles and Legal Bases of Education
Professional Ethics, Teacher Roles and Legal Bases of Education
This domain covers what a teacher is legally and ethically obliged to do: the statutes, the code of conduct, licensing, and the boundaries of the role.
Core rules
- Legal framework: 1992 Constitution (Article 25 - right to education; Article 38 - provision of education), Education Act, 2008 (Act 778) - establishes the National Teaching Council and the framework for pre-tertiary education; Children's Act, 1998 (Act 560) - best interests and protection from abuse; Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715); Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651) - employment conditions; Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023).
- Licensing: the NTC registers teachers, publishes the National Teachers' Standards, administers the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination, issues licences and requires periodic renewal backed by continuous professional development. Teaching without a licence is an offence.
- Ethics: integrity, fairness and non-discrimination, confidentiality, punctuality and preparation, safe custody of school property, no sexual or romantic relations with learners, no paid private tutoring of your own class, no corporal punishment or degrading treatment, correct handling of school funds.
- Roles: instructor, facilitator, assessor, first-line counsellor, record keeper, role model, link with parents and community, agent of national values.
- in loco parentis: the teacher exercises the reasonable care of a careful parent - duty of care, supervision, and reporting hazards.
Worked example
'A parent asks you to give their child paid private lessons after school; the child is in your class.' The correct judgement is to decline the paid arrangement. Reasoning: it is a conflict of interest because you grade the child, it is inequitable against learners who cannot pay, and it breaches the code governing teachers' private practice; you may instead offer the school's remedial support or a referral.
Traps that cost marks
- Believing confidentiality binds you when a child discloses abuse - the duty to report prevails.
- Treating in loco parentis as a licence to punish physically.
- Confusing NTC (licensing and standards) with GES (employer and service delivery) and NaCCA (curriculum and assessment).
- Forgetting that unprofessional conduct can cost the licence, not just the post.