Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery and Teacher Registration Board of WA Chairperson Margaret Collins have today launched an updated key resource to assist teachers to maintain professional boundaries with students.
The Teacher-Student Professional Boundaries resource was first published in January 2017 but has recently been reviewed and updated to reflect the current teaching environment, including the appropriate use of social media and digital platforms.
The resource aims to raise awareness of issues and situations that may arise, prompt reflective behaviours, and provide some guidance around student-teacher relationships including boundaries related to time, place, purpose and activity.
It is intended that the resource complement the vital role that teachers play in providing a duty of care to their students and can be used in conjunction with other resources available to teachers, such as codes of conduct.
Teacher-Student Professional Boundaries – A Resource for WA Teachers is available online.
As stated by Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery:
“We want school staff to have friendly, positive relationships with students but it’s also important to have clear guidelines for these relationships to make sure they stay within professional boundaries.
“This updated resource is just another measure to make sure schools in Western Australia are safe environments for children.”
As stated by Teacher Registration Board of WA Chairperson Margaret Collins:
“We truly believe this is a valuable resource for teachers, school leaders, parents and the broader community and hope they will continue to find this a useful publication to support their professional practice.”
