I have been teaching on and off since I was 16, so I am very aware of the expectations required and my professionalism as a whole. However as my career develops I am faced with more challenges and moral situations.
A well-established dance school that I am currently working for has had a major predicament and this has prepared me to have a wider outlook on professional conduct. A dance teacher at the school has been asked to leave (for good reasons), her work involved private tuition to many students for their festival work. Students have paid out a lot of money for their lessons; however she has demanded that nobody can use their dances (including the music) for their festivals. Automatically I’m on the defence, I feel the principle of the school paid her to teach those lessons and now the children can’t even show what they have learnt, not forgetting all the money their parents have spent. I realised I found the whole situation more infuriating than my principle and she explained that this happens all the time. I have not been confronted with many problems in my professional career, so when I touched on codes of practice the first time round I left it very basic as I was drawing form experience.
This experience has motivated me to develop and explore further, questioning my codes of practice that I already apply in my work.
I opened a company called Performing Sports in 2009 and it flourished very early on. As it got busier my lack of communication with my employees was becoming restricted, meaning no real affiliation and soon they forgot my rules. After researching more in-depth about this topic I decided to put in order a code of conduct that each employee can follow. I have realised we need to adhere to a set of rules as it’s for everyone’s interest, completely a mutual benefit.
The outcome
A code of conduct goes beyond the law as there are a set of principles that an organization wish to put in place. An employee won’t go to prison for being late for work! I feel more organised and at ease knowing that my employees have a set of rules which are necessary to enable my company for long-term success. I feel that one piece of paper has inspired communication and honestly, that’s the way I want my business to operate.
I have researched some policies and regulations that are current in the place of work/professional community.
Firstly I wanted to differentiate the difference between work ethics and a code of practice.
A code of practice is adopted by a profession or by a governmental or non-governmental organization to regulate that profession. A code of practice may be styled as a code of professional responsibility, which will discuss difficult issues, difficult decisions that will often need to be made, and provide a clear account of what behavior is considered "ethical" or "correct" or "right" in the circumstances.
A code of ethics often focuses on social issues. It may set out general principles about an organization's beliefs on matters such as mission, quality, privacy or the environment. It may delineate proper procedures to determine whether a violation of the code of ethics has occurred and, if so, what remedies should be imposed. The effectiveness of such codes of ethics depends on the extent to which management supports them with sanctions and rewards.
I have learnt that the two concepts relate so closely that for my line of work I can mix the two together. They both involve the behavior expected of employees and encourage a set of rules outlining the responsibilities in the workplace.
I wanted to compare my findings to my present work ethics.
I found the following extract in a booklet called Developing a Code
of Business Ethics
"Apart from legal requirements, business in general has no recognised code or
standard which provides a benchmark for its conduct. Individual corporations
have therefore to formulate their own values and the way they do business. An
ethics policy helps companies to understand and develop policies on issues of
business and employee conduct."
I found this extract which I found very fascinating. Each business will have completely different set of ethics; these ethics are produced with influence from individual characters. I do business completely different to my next door neighbour so we would more than likely have different values and expectations.
"Having a code is not enough to ensure ethical behaviour. The code needs
to be understood, used, taught, monitored and regularly re-evaluated and
revised."
I completely agree with this statement as of course companies develop and revolutionize so revising the code would be imperative. Understanding the code thoroughly of what was expected of me would be very important so I could move forward within the company.
FreeSteppin dance have a code of conduct that their children must apply by- This is something I have never considered before. I don’t agree with plastering this on a website. Children are not grown-up enough to read this and understand it fully. I feel talking to them face to face will encourage a good code of practice.
"Unacceptable behavior may result in the pupil's exclusion from the school."
"Unacceptable behavior includes - swearing, spitting, fighting and derogatory comments towards others"
I found this code of conduct which is within a dance company. So you are working with individuals like yourself who are professional dancers. Here was one rule-
"Respects other’s ideas and opinions"-In the dance world most people are very creative, which for me entails opinions. I always feel I have a lot to give when taking about chorography or dance costumes, so yes I would be respectful but I would be absolutely be voicing my opinions. Not sure if its relevant to put in a dance companies code of conduct.
I wanted to find a more official code of conduct and my favourite one was “Approved pole dancing instructor’s code of Conduct”
I liked this code of conduct. It is from a pole dancing community so people can register and gain PDC approval.Straight to the point, no messing around and everybody within the company will be very clear.
PDC Approved instructors will provide the PDC with copies of public liability, professional indemnity and first aid qualifications. PDC Approved schools may be asked to provide a copy of a CV for each pole dancing instructor. All instructors must have a minimum of 3 years pole dancing experience.- This whole code is very important and I know company’s who let their employees teach without a first aid qualification- automatically I think this company is shambolic as obviously they don’t have code of conduct!
http://www.poledancecommunity.co.uk/codes-of-conduct/code-of-conduct-and-rules/danceschoolscofc.html
Reading the course reader I read about how arenas of professional practice are closely interlinked and sometimes how tensions can occur.
I do believe that ethical principles overlap, especially in a personal and professional format. Each individual has their own set of beliefs, morals and customs that add to a person’s character. If a child in my class fell over (in my code of conduct it states) I am not allowed to touch the children but my personal values take over and of course I am going hug that child. In the Performing arts industry I do feel there is a merge between professional and personal beliefs how do we as a society divide the two? Maybe we could say “you can’t touch children in less they are crying” I guess it’s easier said than done to split the two.
My professional and personal ethics
My profession requires my character in so many different ways. In my job I am bubbly, exciting and fun to work with, automatically this increases chances of success. This isn’t fake I am generally a bright person! Certain careers you are working on your own projects and at a desk, so you can keep yourself to yourself. I have to communicate with adults and children on a daily basis and of course I am basically being myself. My core personal values are honesty, reliability, ambition and kindness and these are shown in my professional working life. The two concepts absolutely sometimes conflict; it can be difficult to make the right decision. From experience I do normally choose my personal ethic as this comes from within, like a virtue.
After exploring many different codes of conducts I have come to the conclusion it is best to have one as it creates peace and harmony within a company and everyone knows what is expected. I do feel the most accurate code of practice for a work environment is the formal, straight to the point ones so there is no misunderstanding.
