Treating pupils with dignity: Examining an abstract concept at the heart of the teachers’ standards
Written by: Daniel Sumner
7 min read
DANIEL SUMNER, BECTON SCHOOL, UK
Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN, 1948, preamble
Teachers uphold public trust in the profession and maintain high standards of ethics and behaviour, within and outside school, by treating pupils with dignity...
Teachers’ standards, DfE, 2021, p. 12
Introduction
The teachers’ standards require us to ‘treat pupils with dignity’. Dignity is also central to both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). As teachers, we have enormous power to affect students’ dignity through our interactions, but do we fully understand what dignity means and how it affects us and our students? This paper reflects on dignity as it relates to our professional practice, proposing that this abstract concept
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