Teachers’ Ethical Professional Practices in Higher Education Institutions: An Instrumental Case Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ ethical professional practices in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences in Haramaya University. Instrumental case study design was employed because such design is used when the researcher focuses on one case to understand other similar cases. Fifteen, information-rich study participants were selected purposively. In-depth interviews, FGD, and document analyses were used for collecting data. Data were analyzed thematically. The study revealed that ethical professional practices of teachers are important for upholding respect and prestige in the teaching profession. Despite this, however, the ethical professional practices in the College were deteriorating and deserve attention. The study showed particularly that many unethical professional practices of teachers were exhibited in the college such as lack of transparency in relation to the assessment of students’ achievements, coming late and absence from class, threatening students for the teacher’s own fault, lack of communication with students, and ignoring students’ problems. It is concluded that the status of ethical professional practices in the College deserves close attention. It is recommended that there should be close supervision, professional support, and training on ethical professional practice by the College and other concerned entities of the university.

1. Introduction

1.1 Background of the study

Ethical professional practice in teaching is about professionalism, responsibility, justice, equity, ensuring a healthy and safe environment for students, avoiding corruption, honesty-truthfulness and trust, impartiality, professional commitment, continuous improvement, respect, and the effective use of resources [1]. Moral questions of good or bad in human behavior have been posed since ancient times [2]. There is a growing interest in the past two decades on the moral essence of teaching and ethical professionalism by researchers such as David Carr, Gary Fenstermacher, David Hansen, Philip Jackson, Robert Nash, Hugh Sockett, Jonas Soltis, Kenneth Strike, and Alan Tom. Moreover, in many studies, it is emphasized that teachers should be given ethical education before their employment and assigned to provide services to students and other people. It is accepted that ethical education is important for ethical attitudes, behavior, and decisions.

Yildirim and Simsek [3] state that teachers should have the ethical knowledge and skills required by their profession. According to Campbell [4], the moral and ethical principles that teachers undertake in the way they interact with their students and other people, and in the handling of their professional responsibilities form the basis for one aspect of their moral institution. Teachers have the obligation to comply with a set of principles that define professional behavior after getting involved in the profession. These principles are reflected in the codes of ethics that serve as the standards of professional conduct and practice procedures set out for the education profession and the public [5]. Ensuring the physical and emotional safety of students constitutes one of the prime ethical responsibilities of teachers [6].

Unlike the aforementioned studies, there are studies that draw attention to unethical behaviors in the relationship between teachers and other stakeholders. For instance, in the findings of a study by Yıldırım et al. [7] students revealed that their teachers display negative behaviors, including physical and psychological violence, communication barriers, and injustice. Similarly, the study carried out by Dilekmen [8] found that teachers exhibit undesirable behaviors in the classroom environment. Furthermore, a study conducted by Çetin and Demirkasimoglu [9] indicated that the unethical behaviors of teachers include harassment, and physical and psychological violence against students.

Teachers’ ought to show respect and common courtesy for students both during interpersonal interactions and in responding promptly to students’ need for guidance and feedback. Caetano and Silva [10] explained in their finding that ethical dimensions are important in our education system and are specified in several legislative documents, not only in relation to students and teachers but also in terms of their significance for professional performance. John [11] claims that teachers as professionals are responsible in one of the most ethically demanding jobs, to provide education to the young generation.

According to the Connecticut Code of Professional Responsibility for Teachers Connecticut State Department of Education [12], there are three types of responsibilities bestowed on teachers: responsibility to the student, to the profession, and to the community. Moreover, the Ontario College of Teacher’s Ethical Professional Standards Ontario College of Teachers [13] for the teaching profession aims to inspire members to reflect and uphold the honor and dignity of the teaching profession, identify the ethical responsibilities and commitments in the teaching profession, and promote public trust and confidence in the teaching profession. Accordingly, there are four main professional ethical standards in teaching. Care: members express their commitment to students’ well-being and learning through positive influence, professional judgment, and empathy in practice; Respect: members honor human dignity emotional wellness and cognitive development. Trust: members’ professional relationships with students, colleagues, parents, guardians, and the public are based on trust. Integrity: continual reflection assists members in exercising integrity in their professional commitments and responsibilities.

According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Education [14], there are three domains of teaching with their standards and performance indicators. These are professional knowledge, professional practice, and professional engagement. Professional knowledge includes knowing the students and how they learn as its standard. Professional practice consists of planning for and implementing effective teaching-learning, creating and maintaining supportive and safe learning environments, and assessing and providing and reporting on student learning. Professional engagement incorporates standards, such as engagement in professional learning, and collaborating professionally with colleagues, parents/caregivers, and the community. With respect to this, the Education and Training Policy [15] of Ethiopia, under paragraphs 3.4.3. and 3.4.6., states that teacher education and teaching components will emphasize basic knowledge, professional codes of ethics, methodology, and practical training. Moreover, it states that the criterion for professional development of teachers is based on continuous education and training on professional ethics and teaching performance.

The Senate legislation of Haramaya University [16] outlines duties and responsibilities expected from an academic staff of the university. These include preparing graduates who are competent in terms of knowledge and skills (38.3.2), refraining from discrimination against any individual or group on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex or creed, and religion (38.3.6), consulting and advising students (38.3.15), carrying out required tasks in an effective and efficient manner (38.3.24), informing students well in advance if and when he/she cannot be available for teaching (38.3.26), conducting class regularly without missing except for majeure reasons (38.3.27), avoiding acts and situations that are intimidating to students (38.3.29), and arranging make up for all missed classes due to involvement in other work (38.3.33).

The researchers were convinced to study the issue of teachers’ ethical professional practices in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences because despite all the aforementioned ethical standards specified in the guideline of the Ministry of Education, the Ethiopian Education and Training Policy, and the Senate Legislation of Haramaya University, there are reports of unethical professional practices and the inability of teachers to accomplish duties and obligations to the required level. There are exemplified by complaints lodged by students against their teachers. Moreover, teachers’ behaviors were not evaluated. In addition, there is paucity of research studies conducted on ethical professional practices of teachers in the university that initiated me to carry out this study. The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ ethical professional practices and pinpoint the status of teaching profession in College of Education and Behavioral Science. Based on this, the following basic research questions were posed.

1. How do teachers explain the significance of ethical professional practices?

2. How do teachers put into practice their professional duties and responsibilities?

3. What are the major complaints lodged by the students related to teachers’ unethical professional practices?

4. What are the possible mechanisms for upholding teachers’ ethical practice?

1.2 Theoretical framework

The study is based on Piquemal [17] ethical framework that fits well to the ethical standards of professional teaching. According to this theoretical framework, there are four underlying principles in the teaching profession. These are a commitment to difference or to the “relational other” [18]; respect for persons [19]; commitment to the reciprocity [20]; and a sense of care [21]. Through understanding the commitment to differences, teachers recognize their students’ irreducible otherness and develop a classroom environment that students could truly be who they are. Respect is crucial in teacher-student relationship. It should be mutual. The real respect generates from dedication to the profession and to their work [19]. Buber [20] suggests that teacher-student relationships ought to be characterized by a principle of reciprocity. Teaching academically is a primary responsibility of a teacher. Students’ well-being need be developed in a caring environment and guided by caring teachers. Noddings [21] states learning can be a lot more effective in caring environment. Sometimes, students’ affective needs require more attention than academic needs.

2. Research design

2.1 Description of the study area

The study was carried out in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, at Haramaya University, Ethiopia. In the college, there are four departments, namely the Department of Psychology, the Department of Educational Planning and Management, the Department of Special Needs and Inclusive Education, and the Department of Adult Education and Community Development. The study involved teachers, students, department heads, and the Academic Council (AC) of the college with a population of 4 department heads, 70 teachers, 1105 second- and third-year students, and 11 academic council members.

2.2 Research design

For this study, instrumental case study design was employed because such kind of design is used when the researcher focuses on one case to understand another similar case. It is used to accomplish something other than understanding a particular situation and it plays a supportive role, facilitating our understanding of something else [22].

2.3 Sources of data

Both primary and secondary sources of data were used in the study.

2.3.1 Primary sources of data

The primary sources of data were members of the college Academic Council and Department Council (DC), teachers, and second- and third-year undergraduate students in the college.

2.3.2 Secondary sources of data

The secondary sources of data were AC and DC minutes in the college and the departments, and the document from Quality Assurance Directorate Office on the teaching-learning performance in the college.

2.4 Sample and sampling technique

In this study, six students were selected for the focus group discussion, and four teachers and four department heads were selected for the in-depth interview purposively. Lodging complaints to the department was used as criteria for selecting the students. Department heads were included into the study because they were the ones who handle complaints against teachers brought to their respective departments, and members of Academic Council were included because complaints were seen for further deliberation and decisions at this stage. In this study, purposive sampling technique was employed for the reason that this sampling design enables the researchers to get information-rich study participants (Table 1) [23].

No.	Source of data	Target population	Sample size	Sampling technique
1	AC	11	1	Purposive
2	DC	4	4	Purposive
3	Teachers	70	4	Purposive
4	Students	1105	6	Purposive

Table 1.

Sample and sampling technique.

2.5 Instruments of data collection

In-depth interview, focus group discussion, and documents analysis were used to collect data. An in-depth interview was employed because it enables to explore in-depth a respondent’s point of view, experiences, feelings, and detailed personal information [24]. Document analysis was carried out because it was used as a means of triangulation to provide a confluence of evidence that breeds credibility [25]. Focus group discussion was employed because it helps to probe deeper into certain things have or not have occurred, and to explore un anticipated issues [26].

2.6 Method of data analysis

The analysis of data was carried out as follows. First, transcriptions of data collected through in-depth interview and focus group discussion were read and re-read several times. Then, data were coded and categorized into their similarities, and eventually, themes were formed, and finally, thick description of the data was done.

3. Results and discussion

The role of a teacher nowadays is no longer the same as it was before. At school, teachers are challenged academically, professionally, and ethically. Today, their duty is not only transferring knowledge to students, but they also have to behave extremely professional to avoid unethical practices. Teachers need to behave as professional teachers, rather than as ordinary individual. There are ethical standards for teaching profession. The ethical standards for teachers, based on a set of principles, detail the ethical responsibilities and serve to guide ethical problems. Teaching profession has ethical standards such as responsibility to the student, responsibility to the profession, and responsibility to the community. The major themes and sub-themes of the study are presented in Table 2.

No	Major themes	Sub-themes
1	Professional ethics in teaching	1.1. Professional principles
		1.2. Advantages of ethical practices
2	Ethical and professional standards in teaching	2.1. Ethical principles in teaching
		2.2. Domains in teaching
3	Duties and responsibilities of teachers	3.1. Dedication in teaching
		3.2. Openness in teaching
		3.3. Good student-teacher relation
4	Unethical practices in teaching profession	4.1. Improper assessment and grading
		4.2. Misconducts in teaching
		4.3. Threatening students
5	Mismanaged classroom instruction	5.1. Wastage of time in teaching
		5.2. Improper classroom instruction
6	Enhancing ethical professional practices	6.1. Training of ethical profession
		6.1. Experience sharing in teaching

Table 2.

Major themes and sub-themes of the study.

3.1 Professional ethics in teaching

The study revealed that ethical professional practices of teachers have several significances. As the study indicated, it enables teachers to become model for their students, it enhances teachers to respect and like their profession, and it makes them become disciplined in their day-to-day activities. During the interview, one of the informants from the department heads described the importance of ethical professional practice for teachers as follows:

The advantages of ethical professional practice for a teacher extend beyond the classroom teaching learning process. In the classroom, during the teaching learning process, a teacher applies ethical professional practices in that it enables him/her to recognize students’ learning differences, to become aware of students’ diversity in the classroom, to become aware of what to teach and how to teach and to come prepared for the classroom instruction, and at outside of the classroom, the teacher is initiated to provide advice and counseling for his/her students.(D2).

The finding supports the study of Campbell [4] that states the moral and ethical principles that teachers undertake in the way they interact with their students and other people, and in the handling of their professional responsibilities form the basis of their moral institution.

The study also found that ethical professional practice has some other importance for teachers. These include it makes teachers have good communication with their students, it forces teachers to manage the classroom teaching-learning process in a disciplined manner, and it enables them to deliver good knowledge and skills to their students. It also makes them become aware of diversity in the classroom and respect differences and enforces them to make close communication with students, understand students’ problems, and arouse them to provide advice and counseling for their students. They also become committed and honest to their responsibility and students’ learning. One of the students in the focus group discussion said: “Ethical professional practice enforces teachers to get punctual for classes and to teach us in responsible way, and not to intimidate us.” This finding supports the study by Board of Teacher Registration in Queensland [27] that states one of teaching ethical standards is responsibility to students to make the foremost responsibility to the education and welfare of all students in care, and respect the uniqueness and dignity of each student.

This study also revealed that there are teachers who do not care and pay little attention to their ethical professional practices. They lacked awareness about ethical professional practice, and they were less honest, little dedicated to their profession, and were careless about the students’ learning. They became absent from classroom instruction without informing students. Moreover, they did not do proper assessment of their students’ work and did not consider diversities among students. One of the informants from the department heads in the interview stated the following:

Teacher’s ethical professional practices are known only in theory in our college. There are teachers who never consider that they are teachers. They do not provide any feedback to their students, they give exaggerated grade to students without teaching them properly, and they are not transparent to their students and have less or no communication with students.(D1).

This finding coincides with the study of Staratt [28], which indicated that there has been a significant increase in the deterioration of ethical behaviors in recent years both at home and in public institutions, including educational institutions.

The study also indicated that there were teachers who did not consider the existence of differences in ethnicity, learning style, economic and social background, religious, and cultural differences of students in the classroom. Concerning diversity among students in the classroom, one of the informants in focus group discussion revealed the following: “Students in a classroom have different names based on their culture. There are teachers who ask our names, and who ask the meaning of that name and laugh at us in front of our classmates, and as a result, we become irritated although we do not do anything. This is not considering students’ differences in culture.” (S5).

3.2 Duties and responsibilities of teachers

The Senate Legislation of Haramaya University [16] stipulates under Articles 38.3.10, 38.3.15, 38.3.29, 38.3.33, 38.3.20, and 38.3.26 duties and responsibilities of teachers. Although the Senate legislation suggests training on duties and responsibilities of teachers, the study showed that there was no training and awareness given for teachers in relation to ethical professional practices at the college level. One of the department heads puts his opinion about the training of teachers on ethical professional practices as: “I think teachers got ethical professional awareness when they attended induction training organized by Higher Diploma Program at the university training center and no other training was provided for teachers.” (D1) In addition to this, the study revealed that no classroom supervision was carried out by the department heads. However, the study indicated, the department heads used an indirect method of getting information about teachers’ ethical professional practices from students’ representatives. This contrasts with Article 85.3.1. of the Senate legislation of Haramaya University, which states that one of the duties of the department head is to properly direct the teaching-learning process of the department.

The study discloses that there were teachers who accomplished their duties and responsibilities properly. They were punctual, knew how to assess and provide timely feedback to students, accomplished the teaching-learning processes appropriately, and help students to solve their problems. Contrary to this, the study also disclosed there were teachers who were not punctual for class, who even did not know that they have class unless they were told by their students. During the interview with teachers, one of the informants among teachers described his opinion as follows: “There are teachers who do not accomplish their duties properly. They go to class after 30 minutes of the starting teaching-learning process. Then, if students go back to their dormitory after 30’, they come back to office.”(T3) However, the finding of Ontario College of Teachers Professional Standards Ontario College of Teachers [13] states teachers’ commitment to students’ well-being and learning through positive influence, professional judgment, and empathy in practice.

In the focus group discussion, one student stated her view as follows:

Some teachers know their duties. But there are teachers who do not come to class unless called by students from their office. Some other teachers come very late and when students go back to dormitory, he/she comes, and during the next period, he/she threatens students for his/her own faults. She further stated that there are teachers who come to class without preparation and such teachers ask students what they taught before. (S1).

3.3 Unethical practices of teachers in teaching profession

According to Noddings [21], learning can be a lot more effective in a caring environment. Sometimes, affective needs require more attention than academic needs. Students’ well-being includes every aspect. Contrary to this, there are unethical conducts in teaching such as having inappropriate relations with students, failing to perform duties, invading students’ privacy, engaging students in unethical behavior, improper grading, partiality, and lack of fairness. Based on this concept, the findings of this subtitle were presented as follows.

The study revealed that there were teachers who did their work ethically and professionally. On the opposite, there were also teachers who were unethical in their practices. According to the findings, the unethical practices of teachers included inappropriate assessment practices of students’ work, improper grading, lack of timely feedback on students’ assessment, and threatening students by their grades. One of the department heads during the interview expressed:

There are teachers who do not teach the course to which he/she is assigned, but who give exaggerated grade for students. These teachers do not tell students’ achievements openly and in transparent way and as a result, complaints raised against them by the students. They call students into their office show them their grades secretly. When a student raises complaint against him/her in the office, he/she adds mark and change the grade that the student should not have been given. (D4).

This study finding concurs with the findings of Çetin and Demirkasimoglu [9] that indicated the unethical behaviors of teachers, which state harassment, physical and psychological violence made against students.

Moreover, the study indicated there were also unethical practices of teachers, including inappropriate relations with students, harassment, unfairness in assessment practices, practice of discrimination among students, and intimidation. This finding asserted the study finding by Dilekmen [8], which revealed that teachers exhibit undesirable behaviors in the classroom environment.

One of the students in the informant group expressed his opinion during the focus group discussion as follows:

Some teachers practice their duties in an unfair way. They tell exam answers before the administration of that exam. Some provide the same exam items that students took last year. Some others simply give exaggerated grade for fearing students’ complaints because such teachers do not deliver the course in an appropriate way. (S6).

This practice contradicts the Senate Legislation of Haramaya University [16], Article 38.3.2, which states that one of the duties and responsibilities of a teacher is to refrain himself/herself from any act of discrimination against any individual or group on the basis of ethnicity, sex, creed, race, economic status, age, physical conditions, disability.

In addition to this, document analysis was carried out at the Office of Quality Assurance Directorate to scrutinize time wasted in relation to the classroom teaching-learning process, and the result is indicated in Table 3.

No	Month	Dates	No of courses not conducted and wastage in time
1	May	May 2/2022–30/2022	51	51 hours
2	April	April 11/2022–29/2022	22	22 hours

Table 3.

Courses not delivered and time wastage.

As can be seen from Table 3 above, in a period of only two months, there were 73 hours of time wastage that should have been used in the teaching-learning process in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences due to different reasons, which was one of the sources of complaints of students against their teachers.

3.4 Enhancing ethical practices in teaching

The study revealed that there are different methods to enhance ethical professional practices. These include providing training for teachers on ethical professional practices and creating awareness of ethical professional practices, creating environment for teachers to do peer observation, and providing professional experience to each other. Moreover, there should be a commitment from teachers to improve their professional practices both ethically and professionally.

4. Conclusion and recommendations

4.1 Conclusion

Ethical professional practice has tremendous significance for organizations like educational institutions that deal with students. Through ethical professional practice, teachers become models for their students in their day-to-day activities. Teachers recognize students’ learning differences and their diversity in the classroom. Teachers respect their profession and increase their commitment to their work. Moreover, ethical professional practice also has an influence on local community. Therefore, from this, it is possible to conclude that ethical professional practices extend to the extent that it encourages teachers and maximizes teaching profession to get respect and prestige.

Teachers have many duties and responsibilities such as responsibility to their students, responsibility to their profession, and responsibility to their local community. However, there are some teachers who do not accomplish their duties and responsibilities to the level expected. This is due to lack of training and awareness of teachers’ ethical professional practices. On the other hand, there are teachers who accomplish their professional duties and responsibilities to the level expected of them. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that there are teachers who practice their duties and responsibilities recklessly on one hand, and on the other hand, there are teachers who respect and accomplish their professional duties and responsibilities in careful manner.

This study also disclosed that there are unethical practices of some teachers in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences that become the cause for complaints lodged by the students. The major complaints lodged by the students include lack of getting proper classroom instruction due to absence of teacher from class, inappropriate assessment of students’ work, lack of transparency of the teacher for their students and improper grading of students’ work, lack of providing timely feedback of students’ assessment, and threatening students by grade point when students ask their rights. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that there are inappropriate practices of some teachers that become the source of complaints by the students.

Last but not least, from the results of the finding, it is possible to conclude that providing training for teachers on ethical professional practices is essential to minimize and gradually avoid students’ complaints.

4.2 Recommendations

Ethical professional practice is very important to enhance the status of teaching-learning process and for upholding the status and prestige of teaching profession in College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. Therefore, College of Education and Behavioral Sciences shall provide trainings for teachers on ethical professional practices and their related standards.

Supervision and follow-up are important to improve the limitations that a teacher has. It is professional support. Therefore, the heads of each department shall provide professional support through supervision for teachers by observing classroom teaching-learning process provided by teachers and other professional activities that teachers accomplish in relation to their profession.

Peer and students’ evaluation of their teachers is also a means by which teachers can improve their professional practices. Therefore, teachers in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences shall practice proper peer evaluation practices and the heads of each department should enforce students to evaluate their teachers correctly about their professional practices so that they can reveal their limitations and work on it to improve their weaknesses.

Appendix

Interview Guide for Teachers in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences

The purpose of this interview guide is to get information regarding teachers’ work ethics and ethical professional practices towards their students. Your reliable responses are highly important for the success of the research. You are cordially requested to supply your genuine responses.

1. Demographic characteristics of the respondent

   1. Sex: __________

   2. Department: __________

   3. Educational qualification: _______

   4. Years of experience in teaching profession: _______

   5. Subject you teach: __________

2. Interview questions

   1. How do teachers explain the importance of ethical professional practices?

      • How do you explain your duties and responsibilities of teaching and learning?

      • How much do you explain your honesty and dedication to the teaching profession?

      • Tell me how much do you care for students’ learning.

   2. How do teachers put their professional duties and responsibilities into practice?

      • How much are you punctual in classroom teaching learning process?

      • How well are you prepared and come to the classroom for the teaching-learning process?

      • Tell me about the techniques you use and rules that you follow in assessing students?

      • Tell me how you provide feedback to your students based on assessments.

   3. What are the unethical professional practices of teachers that caused complaints against them?

      • How do you maintain fairness in assessing students?

      • How do you explain your transparency in disclosing student assessment results openly?

      • Have you ever held accountable for unethical professional practices?

   4. What are the possible mechanisms for minimizing students’ complaints against their teachers?

Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Focus Group Discussion Guide for Students in the College of Education and Behavioral Science

The purpose of this Focus Group Discussion is to get information regarding teachers’ work ethics and ethical professional practices towards students in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. Your reliable responses are very important for the success of the research. You are cordially requested to provide you genuine responses.

1. Demographic characteristics of the respondents:

   1. Sex: _______

   2. Age: _______

   3. Year: ______

2. Questions for Focus Group Discussion

   1. How do you explain the significance of ethical professional practices of teachers?

      • How much do teachers committed to fulfill the needs of the students to learn?

      • How often are teachers demonstrating respect for students’ diversity?

      • How transparent are teachers about students’ assessment results?

      • How fair are teachers to their students in their duties and responsibilities?

   2. In your opinion, how much do teachers put their professional duties and responsibilities into practice?

      • How often do teachers get punctually into classroom to teach students?

      • How well are teachers prepared and come to the classroom for the teaching-learning process?

      • How appropriate are teachers in applying proper assessment methods as per the rules?

      • How often do teachers provide timely feedback for students about their assessments?

   3. In your opinion, what are the unethical professional practices of teachers that caused complaints against them?

      • How much fair are teachers in using appropriate assessments methods to assess students?

      • How much transparent are teachers in disclosing students’ assessment results openly?

      • How ethical are teachers’ relationship with their students?

   4. In your opinion, what possible solutions do you forward to minimize complaints between teachers and students?

Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Interview guide for Members of the Department Council in the College ofEducation and Behavioral Sciences

The purpose of this interview guide is to get information regarding teachers’ work ethics and ethical professional practices towards their students. Your reliable responses are highly important for the success of the research. You are cordially requested to supply your genuine responses.

1. Demographic characteristics of the respondent

   1. Sex: __________

   2. Educational qualification: _______

   3. Years of experience in teaching profession: _______

   4. Year of service in the current position______

2. Interview questions

   1. How do you explain the importance of ethical professional practices of teachers?

      • How much do teachers well aware of their ethical professional duties and responsibilities?

      • How much are teachers honest and dedicated to their profession?

      • How often do teachers care for students learning?

   2. How often do you provide awareness on ethical professional practices for your department teachers?

      • How often do you practice supervisory work on teaching learning processes?

      • How much do you provide professional help for teachers?

      • How often do you provide training for teachers concerning their professional duties and responsibilities?

   3. What are the major unethical professional practices of teachers that caused complaints against them?

      • How often do teachers get punctually into classroom to teach students?

      • How well are teachers prepared and come to class for the teaching-learning process?

      • How often do teachers provide timely feedback for students about their assessments?

   4. What are the possible mechanisms for minimizing students’ complaints against their teachers?

Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Interview Guide for AC Member(s) of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences

The purpose of this interview guide is to get information regarding teachers’ ethical professional practices towards their students. Your reliable responses are highly important for the success of the research. You are cordially requested to supply your genuine responses.

1. How do you explain the significance of ethical professional practices?

2. What are the duties and responsibilities of AC to enhance teachers’ ethical professional practices?

3. How often do you provide awareness for teachers on ethical professional practices?

4. What mechanisms are there that the AC use to attend the ethical professional practices of teachers?

5. What complaints lodges by the students related to unethical professional practices of teachers?

6. What are the possible mechanisms for minimizing students’ complaints against their teachers?

Thank you in advance for your cooperation!