• Code of Ethics for NC Educators

    Overview

    Working collaboratively across grade levels is the art of growing professionally.  What better way to learn than meeting in like-minded groupings to problem-solve as a whole? Learn how to begin your educational journey in a positive professional learning community using the Code of Ethics for NC Educators (video Link).

    In the Halifax County Schools District, there are "waves of challenge" that come and go. However, how we respond to the waves is the key to our collective success. Our first step in growing professional capacity is accepting and reflecting on the impact of the Code of Ethics for NC Educators. Halifax County Schools encourages a campus culture of professionalism. An ongoing climate and process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve. The school campus is a professional learning community of educators (video Link).

    Professional learning communities operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous job-embedded learning. The campus culture is established through the "Code of Ethics for NC Educators".  It provides a common set of expectations for educators to adhere to and thereby govern themselves in the workplace.  A commitment to growing and expanding your educational career is all it takes to soar above measure (become highly effective). The "Code of Ethics for NC Educators" enhances accountability and transparency when undertaking challenging tasks and disruptive behaviors. A strong ethical campus culture establishes an alma mata filled with pride and lasting memories.

    Background Knowledge: (Video Link)

    Some educators assume that a Professional Learning Community is a meeting—an occasional event when they meet with colleagues to complete a task. It is not uncommon for us to hear, “My PLC meets Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.” This perception of a PLC is wrong on two counts. 

    • First, the PLC is the larger organization and not the individual teams that comprise it. While collaborative teams are an essential part of the PLC process, the sum is greater than the individual parts. Much of the work of a PLC cannot be done by a team but instead requires a schoolwide or districtwide effort. Think of the school as the PLC and the various collaborative teams as the building blocks of the PLC.
    • Second, the PLC process has a pervasive and ongoing impact on the structure and culture of the school. If educators meet with peers on a regular basis only to return to business as usual, they are not functioning as a PLC. So the PLC process is much more than a meeting. 
    • A professional learning community (PLC) is a team of educators who share ideas to enhance their teaching practice and create a learning environment where all students can reach their fullest potential. 

    Explore: (Reference Link)

    The goal is not simply to learn a new strategy, but instead to create working conditions for a perpetual learning environment in which innovation and experimentation are viewed not as tasks to be accomplished or projects to be completed but as ways of conducting day-to-day work. Participation in developing the school's PLC is not reserved for those designated as leaders; rather, it is the responsibility of every staff member in the school.

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