Professional autonomy of the teacher or the law

Krek, Janez (author), Vogrinc, Janez (author)

Ethics is the key dimension of education practices. Ethics includes justice, that is, it determines how teacher and pupil act within the agreed rules. For the ethical position of the teacher, however, it is not only crucial that he/she can demonstrate a legal argument to the pupil. From the point of view of the pupil, what he/she thinks about the teacher’s actions, and what he/she believes to be the truth, is essential. The professional autonomy of teachers to act according to their own judgement is a cornerstone of pedagogics, but this autonomy is never absolute and cannot be guaranteed with legal instruments alone. When considering the behaviour of teachers, it is always possible to determine erroneous judgement or abuse. Suppose lawyers tried to help education by attempting to eliminate the „excessive” interference of law and strictly procedural requirements in pedagogical practices. Would they need to invent a special law that determined when to apply special procedural rules and when to apply general ones? In our opinion, an additional law would be incapable of solving the problem between ethics and legality, because it would only introduce a further legal regulation. On the other hand, parents always have the possibility of coming to school with a lawyer and, through threats or the actual introduction of a lawyer (procedural requirements), intervening in the pedagogical process. The solution does not, therefore, lie in introducing an additional legal regulation. The school, within the institution itself, has to agree on the norms and rules for which it stands, and it should arrive at these norms and rules through discussion with pupils and parents. However, if there is a conflict where a lawyer represents a pupil and his/her parents, engaging a lawyer is also essential on the part of the school.

• Language: Unknown
• Keywords: pravo
• Work type: Not categorized
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education
• Year: 2015
• Number of pages: 103-113
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-73080
• Publication date in RUL: 13.10.2015

Secondary language

• Language: Unknown
• Keywords: ethics