Codes of Practice within my Professional Work Place

Codes of Practice within my professional work place

After considering the codes of practice when guest teaching it made me realise that I have not in fact considered the codes of conduct applying to my professional practice. When researching further into this I came across the website Community Dance, it had a whole section on professional codes of conduct when working within our community which I found extremely useful for when freelancing / teaching young children as well as for my current professional practice working in a ballet company. 

Community Dance divides it’s page into four sections; ‘Professional Competence’, 'Responsibility', 'Safety' and 'Working with People’.

Professional Competence

The primary focus within this section was ensuring the necessary skills, knowledge and experience for my work and acknowledging the boundaries of my intellect. The importance of being truthful about my qualifications and professional experience is also highlighted here as I may be aware of this however dance companies and businesses will not and may not ask for proof so I must be completely transparent and as accurate as possible. 

Responsibility 

It is my responsibility that I understand the value of the work I do; 

• Ensuring invoices are sent to any dance schools I freelance / cover for
• Charge appropriate amounts for the work I do 
• Ensure any paperwork / admin are completed 
• Ensure the quality of other teachers who may work in my absence is excellent 
• Maintain a polished appearance at all times 
• Ensure I am taking feedback from other colleagues and students 
• Reflect on my work and apply my own criticism in order to improve 
• Ensure I am communicating with my director to ensure he is happy with my work 

Safety

It is my responsibility to ensure;

• My tax forms are in order 
• I have all legal requirements / visas / paperwork in order
• I have knowledge of professional liabilities 
• Ensure I have sufficient insurance coverage
• Set and agree to appropriate personal boundaries when working with others (eg. pas de deux) to ensure the integrity of relationships with colleagues and choreographers. 

'Working with People' section

• Encourage input / feedback when working with others.

• Create time and space to build relationships with colleagues to understand the personal needs and boundaries of each company member. 

• Respect and acknowledge the position, experience and expertise of directors, company members and choreographers. 

• Be aware of my personal responsibility of well being and encourage others to do the same. 

• Respect the limitations of each company member; the idea that we are all different and that they will not be able to achieve the same as myself, equally I must acknowledge my limits and will not be able to do everything my peers can. 

After reading Community Dance’s Professional Code of Conduct I was actually shocked by the detail of it and discovered that infant there was a lot I didn’t know about it. When creating my lists above I focused this specifically on my professional practice where as the website itself breaks down many areas in much more detail. 

Bibliography

Professional code of conduct (no date). Available at: https://www.communitydance.org.uk/membership-services/professional-code-of-conduct Accessed 25/10/2018