Teaching and practicing professional ethics
Laura Biancato
Nowadays, teachers have to stick to the Code of Conduct of Italian Public Administration (DLgs. 165/2001),
that regulates behavior for each and every public servant, but that does not recognize the role nor the peculiar
nature of the teaching profession, which would require specific professional ethics. References to such ethics are
extremely weak also in every other national regulation of the teaching profession.
There is a need for a dedicated framework, that outlines the specificity of teaching, so that the autonomy and
the reputation of teachers, but also the rights of students and their families, are protected and guaranteed.
What principles should underlie a deontological code for teachers? Which rules of conduct should be adopted
to correctly describe the ethics of the profession?
Keywords
Professionalism, deontology, syllabus
