EDSE4051 Pedagogy and Professional Practice 3
Conor Quilligan
Assignment One: Case Study
The mother of one of your students, Lucy, is one of your (Lawyer) partner’s clients. One
Saturday, you are invited to join them in Sydney Harbour on their personal yacht for a
celebration of late summer- a day of friends, food and fun’. Assuming that the invitation is
related to your partner’s work relationship with Lucy’s mother, you both accept. As the day
draws closer, you mention it to another teacher at your school and find out that they too received
an invitation. You realise that all of Lucy’s subject teachers that year were invited (and as far as
you can tell, no one else).
My Response:
There are a few major issues that are evident in the above case study, with the most obvious issue
being the conflict of interest that all of the invited teachers have in this situation. Given that all
the teachers invited currently teach Lucy, it could be interpreted as an opportunity for Lucy’s
parents to try and befriend Lucy’s teachers in the hope of some preferential treatment for Lucy
down the line, something that highly contradicts a teachers role in ensuring equity and social
justice in the classroom (Miller, Roofe & Garcia-Carmona, 2019). This idea is most backed up
by the fact that only Lucy’s current teachers have been invited, something that is rather strange
despite not knowing much more about this situation. Going to this event would be a major
breach of the teachers code of conduct (NSW Department of Education, 2022), most notably
section 7.1 Conflict of Interests. More so, this would relate to section 7.1.3 Managing gifts,
benefits and hospitality (NSW Department of Education, 2022, p. 12), given that going on a
yacht for a celebration would most definitely involve indulging in expensive food and drinks and
could also involve other gifts and benefits. Thus, under section 7.3.1, Lucy’s teachers should not
attend this event given that it would clearly be a breach of section 7.1 of the code of conduct and
would most definitely be a conflict of interests.
If Lucy’s teachers were to attend this event, other issues relating to the code of conduct would
also be present, most notably section 8.4 Professional Boundaries (NSW Department of
Education, 2022, p. 25). Lucy and potentially some of her school friends could be in attendance
of this event, which could involve some of Lucy’s teachers consuming alcohol and acting in a
way that they would not at School. This would definitely be a breach of teachers professional
boundaries, and thus again the conclusion that the teachers should not attend this event is my
opinion. More so, if in attendance, there is a very good chance that photos from the event could
make their way onto social media, whereby other teachers, parents and students could become
aware that only Lucy’s teachers were in attendance. This could definitely spark some major
concerns for other parents and teachers, again relating back to that idea of Lucy’s parents seeking
preferential treatment and could ultimately cause turmoil (Miller, Roofe & Garcia-Carmona,
2019).
EDSE4051 Pedagogy and Professional Practice 3
Conor Quilligan
All teachers that have been invited to this event need to report this to the principal, explaining
what the event is, what other teachers have been invited, how the invitation was given and any
other details relating to the event of Lucy’s parents. This is inline with section 11 Reporting of
the code of conduct (NSW Department of Education, 2022, p. 48) and is definitely the first thing
that all the invited teachers should do or any other teachers that are aware of the invitations
should do. Then, all teachers should act in the way that the principal directs them too, which I
assume would be to RSVP that they will not be in attendance. I also think moving forward, the
principal should make contact with Lucy’s parents, explaining why it would be inappropriate for
any of the School’s teachers to be in attendance of this event and ensure that similar invitations
are not given in the future.
References
Miller, P. W., Roofe, C., & García-Carmona, M. (2019). School leadership, curriculum diversity,
social justice and critical perspectives in education. Cultures of social justice leadership: An
intercultural context of schools, 93-119.
NSW Department of Education. (2022). Code of Conduct.
https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/policy-library/associated-documents/p
d-2004-0020-01.pdf