Teacher code of conduct - from paper to practice (via protest)

• In Event: Holistic approaches to enabling learning environments in Africa: elevating the voices of children, youth and local stakeholders

Proposal

Teacher behaviour has a significant impact on children’s learning, but also on school climate and children’s sense of well-being, future self-worth, and agency. Ministries of Education often develop a ‘Teacher Code of Conduct’ to establish professional standards and to hold teachers accountable for their behaviour towards students. However, these codes are often unfamiliar to teachers, students and parents. When teachers do know about the code, they often do not abide by all standards. A culture of impunity means that violations of the code are rarely challenged, and harmful behaviours– such as teacher absenteeism, corporal punishment, or sexual harassment – are normalized.
How then can we make the Codes of Conduct effective, so teachers fulfil their role as positive role models for children? We can hold them accountable by disseminating and raising awareness of the code, inspiring teachers to be the best they can be, and through the power of protest. By challenging and shifting norms that enable harmful behaviours, we can isolate those teachers that persist in using them. Teachers can protest that other teachers are undermining their profession; parents will have the confidence to demand respect and to seek redress for their children; children will know their rights and who they can depend on to protest harmful behaviours without putting themselves at risk of further violence.
Liberia has implemented a Teacher Code of Conduct since 2014, revised in 2021. However, violent discipline is still widely practiced, as is sexual harassment by teachers, often in the form of ‘sex for grades’ and ‘sex for school fees’. (Unicef Liberia Country Profile, 2023). A 2018 study of sexual violence in primary schools found that sexual violation and transactional sex affected girls particularly, and that transactional sex was highly and statistically significantly associated with teachers. (Sexual Violence of Liberian School Age Students: An Investigation of Perpetration, Gender, and Forms of Abuse, 2018, Steiner, Johnson, Postmus and Davis.)
Our project includes a pilot social behavior change approach targeting knowledge, perceptions, and practices around key themes in the TCOC. An ‘edutainment’ strategy was developed, comprising a series of stories that touch on these themes (e.g., the use of corporal punishment; humiliating language, sexual harassment/ grooming/abuse; discrimination, gender stereotyping; punctuality and attendance; drug and alcohol use; and abuse of school resources). The stories are shared via radio and in-person to teachers, students and parents separately. The presenters ask guided questions around the stories to reinforce key messages. The relevant text in the TCOC is referenced, and suggested actions in the case of a violation.
The baseline for the pilot will be carried out in September 2023. At CIES 2024, we will share any preliminary findings, and the process of developing the strategy and stories.

Authors

• Catherine Kennedy, Save the Children US

• Julia Taladay, Save the Children