Page 8 - Professional Advisory: Professional Boundaries – An Advisory for Ontario Certified Teachers

professional demeanor does not mean they are friends. Context matters and the prin- ciples of due care and sound judgment guide professional practice.
Ontario Certified Teachers must not use their professional position to coerce, improperly influence, harass, threaten, abuse or exploit a student. Familiarity with students should be a strength that guides their learning and educators should continue to intervene professionally as needed. “Teachers who are socially and emotionally competent develop supportive and encouraging relationships with their students.”4
Professional boundaries extend beyond the classroom and the school. The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association says that “What may be acceptable for non-teachers may not be acceptable for teachers. This is true 12 months of the year, seven days of the week. A teacher is always a teacher. A teacher’s after-school behaviour can also be scrutinized.”5
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario advises that “Administrators and colleagues need to recognize danger signals in others’ interactions and intervene.”6
Legal and disciplinary considerations
The Ontario College of Teachers has zero tolerance for student sexual abuse as reflected in its Professional Misconduct of a Sexual Nature professional advisory. Under the Ontario College of Teachers Act, members
found guilty of professional misconduct of sexual abuse will automatically lose their licence to teach. All other forms of student abuse are also cause for member discipline. Additionally, if the conduct constitutes criminal behaviour and is considered a Criminal Code offence, the member can face possible incarceration.
In December 1991, Canada ratified the
United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child, including the right to be protected from “all forms of physical or mental violence, injury, or abuse, neglect
or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.” This includes Ontario Certified Teachers.
All professionals have a legal duty to report suspected abuse or child abuse and an ethical and moral duty to take respons- ibility for carrying out the duties of their profession. You cannot be held liable for reporting if the grounds for your suspicion are reasonable and you are not acting maliciously.7
Educators should not assume that conduct that is not specifically prohibited in this document is acceptable. Inappropriate
use of electronic communication and social media, including taking pictures
or videos of a student of a sexual nature, can result in criminal charges, conviction and/or civil action and have professional disciplinary consequences. For example,
4 “Contemporary professional boundaries and their relationship with teacher and student wellbeing” Z.A. Morris, Monash University, Clayton Victoria
5 “On Thin Ice: Maintaining Professional Boundaries — a Resource for Teachers”, OECTA, 2017
6 “Professional Boundaries — An Important Issue for You...” ETFO, 2018
7 Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, c. 14, s. 125(10); https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/17c14#BK168
6 PROFESSIONAL ADVISORY: PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES