A Comparison of the Codes of Ethics

The Alabama Educator Code of Ethics and the University of North Alabama’s Code of Ethics Professional Dispositions both focus on many of the same core values. There are nine standards in the Alabama Educator COE and seven dispositions in UNA’s COE. Standard 1 and Disposition 1 both advocate having a commitment to professional standards. While UNA’s COE simply states that an educator should have a commitment to professionalism and ethical standards and leaves the interpretation of this up to the educator, the Alabama Educator COE goes more in depth.Standard 2 focuses on trustworthiness, and Standard 3 concentrates on unlawful acts. Standard 5 states that an educator should refrain from the use of alcohol and tobacco products and never use illegal drugs. Standard 4 and Disposition 5 both address respecting the differences of students. They both state that an educator should not discriminate by race, gender, religion, or disability. Both also encourage educators to provide challenging, equitable learning opportunities for all students. Both the Alabama Educator COE and UNA’s COE promote collaboration, but the UNA’s COE is more comprehensive in its description.Both Disposition 6 and Disposition 7 address collaboration; Disposition 6 focuses on working with family and community members, and Disposition 7 focuses on working with other educators. The Alabama Educator COE only mentions collaboration in standard one. One big variation between the two codes is that UNA’s COE does not address any obligations to your contract, while the Alabama Educator COE uses the entire Standard 9 to focus on it. Another key difference is that the Alabama Educator COE discusses confidentiality thoroughly in Standard 8, but UNA’s COE does not mention it.The ethical conduct discussed in Standard 6 (Public Funds and Property) and Standard 7 (Remunerative Conduct) does not show up in UNA’s COE either. UNA’s COE uses Disposition 3 to concentrate on using technology and research in the classroom, but the Alabama Educator COE does not discuss technology. The two sets of ethical behavior share many of the same principles, but are laid out in different ways. If an educator applies both COEs to his or her practice, then they will definitely be successful.