The Professional and Role Model Standard
Educators act ethically and maintain the integrity, credibility, and reputation of the profession.
“Educators are roles models. Educators are held to a higher standard and are accountable for their conduct on duty and off duty. Educators understand the law as it relates to their duties. Educators’ individual conduct contributes to the perception of the profession as a whole. Educators know and recognize the importance of the Professional Standards for BC Edcuators.” Reads the description of Standard 2 from the BCTC PDF.
Standard 2 boils down to the fact that educators are the face of the profession both on and off duty. We need to be aware of how our actions can influence opinion towards the profession as a whole. There is a difference between awareness and paranoia. Educators are still whole human beings with interests outside of school! There is no need to live in fear so long as your actions are not crossing certain boundaries (those of the law and the Professional Standards primarily.)
I have had the opportunity to be predisposed to this way of being as a part of the Alpha Pi Beta Sorority. The Sorority is a Student-Led Organization on campus at the University of Northern British Columbia. When wearing the APB letters, members are not allowed to go to or post about going to establishments that primarily served alcohol, or act in any way that went against the values of the sorority. This was heavily enforced due to the early members having to fight for the right to exist on campus after being shut down due to fear of promotion of excessive partying that comes with the idea of Greek Life.
As an educator this principle extends further than just one organization. We are representatives of the entire profession, our districts, our schools, and our communities. We need to be aware of how our actions can come across both in person and online. We are allowed to have private lives but our decisions have to be held with higher consideration of how it reflects upon everything that we stand for.
[ID Begin: An overlapping Venn diagram. The outermost circle reads “Profession.” Working inwards it reads “District,” then “School,” and finally “Self.” ID End.]