NAPLAN Professional Ethics in Education 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A teacher notices a student showing signs of possible abuse at home. The teacher's ethical and legal obligation is to:
- Wait for the student to disclose more information
- Contact the student's friends for confirmation
- Report suspicions to child protection services as required by law (Correct answer)
- Handle it internally within the school
Correct answer: Report suspicions to child protection services as required by law
Educators are mandatory reporters and must report suspected child abuse to authorities without waiting for proof.
Question 2: What is the purpose of a professional code of ethics in education?
- To protect teachers from lawsuits only
- To set minimum salary benchmarks
- To provide guidance for ethical decision-making and maintain public trust (Correct answer)
- To restrict teacher creativity in the classroom
Correct answer: To provide guidance for ethical decision-making and maintain public trust
Professional codes of ethics guide educators in making sound decisions and reinforce public confidence in the teaching profession.
Question 3: A teacher allows a personal friendship with a student's parent to influence grading. This is an example of:
- Community engagement
- Differentiated instruction
- Nepotism and bias (Correct answer)
- Formative assessment
Correct answer: Nepotism and bias
Allowing personal relationships to affect academic assessment is unethical and constitutes bias.
Question 4: Which of the following best reflects the principle of 'non-maleficence' in education?
- Giving students challenging work to build resilience
- Avoiding actions that cause unnecessary harm to students (Correct answer)
- Maintaining strict classroom discipline at all times
- Encouraging competition among students
Correct answer: Avoiding actions that cause unnecessary harm to students
Non-maleficence means educators must avoid causing harm and act in the best interests of students.
Question 5: A school policy conflicts with a teacher's personal moral beliefs. The teacher should:
- Openly defy the policy in front of students
- Ignore the policy if it feels wrong
- Follow the policy while pursuing change through appropriate channels (Correct answer)
- Resign immediately without discussion
Correct answer: Follow the policy while pursuing change through appropriate channels
Ethical professionals follow established policies while advocating for change through legitimate, constructive means.
Question 6: Why is maintaining professional boundaries with students important?
- It ensures teachers are not overworked
- It prevents favoritism and protects both student and teacher wellbeing (Correct answer)
- It allows teachers to avoid difficult conversations
- It reduces the need for parent communication
Correct answer: It prevents favoritism and protects both student and teacher wellbeing
Professional boundaries protect students from exploitation and maintain the trust and integrity of the educational relationship.
Question 7: A teacher is asked to provide a character reference for a student they barely know. The most ethical response is to:
- Write a glowing reference to help the student
- Decline and explain they lack sufficient knowledge to provide an accurate reference (Correct answer)
- Ask another student to write it for them
- Copy a reference from a previous student
Correct answer: Decline and explain they lack sufficient knowledge to provide an accurate reference
Providing a reference without adequate knowledge is misleading and dishonest; declining is the ethical choice.
NAPLAN Professional Ethics in Education 3
A teacher notices a student showing signs of possible abuse at home.
The teacher's ethical and legal obligation is to: