This suggestion seems rather benign. After all, you are college educated and working in a noble profession. If professionalism were easily understood and interpreted, there would be no need for a Professional Standards Commission. Every single year you teach you will have a faculty meeting with a long powerpoint presentation about things that happened to teachers that jeopardized their certificates. You will sign acknowledging that you had been given all the information you needed to act professionally. Yes, a lot of it is common sense but somewhere before you go on teacher retirement, you are likely to encounter some bizarre circumstance you did not anticipate that calls into question your fitness as an educator. I would not teach a single day in a school without joining a professional organization that offers you professional liability insurance.  We live in a litigious society. People like to blame someone for things that happen to them. Protect yourself.

Professionalism does not just apply to your interaction with parents. It also involves your interaction with students, teachers, administrators, volunteers and community partners. By virtue of your position, you represent your school and your district. When you are shopping in a mall, working out at the gym or attending a ball game, you are on your own time but you are still a representative of your school and your district. It doesn’t seem fair, but teachers, by nature of the influence they have over children, are held to a higher standard than someone who serves coffee or checks out your groceries. Sadly, there is no expectation for the parent to be professional toward you but there is an expectation that your colleagues will be and in turn, they will expect professionalism. It is unprofessional to discuss a child, a family or another teacher in the hair salon! It is also ILLEGAL.  FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) laws protect a student’s right to privacy (even when you are away from school and on your own time). It is unprofessional to have a phone conference with a parent in a public space where others might hear it. It is unprofessional to treat a child in any way that you would not want your own child to be treated.

In this day and age, social media can be dangerous for professionals. Yes, you have a right to free speech but what you say and especially when you vent anger or frustration, you will be judged by everyone who reads it. Every person on your friends list is not actually your friend. Acquaintances will send screenshots to “interested parties” if they have an ax to grind. If you use social media, be acutely aware of every picture you post and every picture of you that is posted. Don’t use social media as an avenue for venting or complaining about your job. Don’t use social media to make sarcastic remarks that someone might misinterpret. Certainly, don’t use a public platform to make threats or “send a cryptic message” to a single individual that is probably not reading it anyway. If you can’t be positive and uplifting in a very public forum, step away from the keyboard.

If you are an experienced teacher with a story or professionalism tip to share, please add it in the comments.