President's Message
A Message from Sonya Swafford, MPE President
Keeping my goal in mind to focus on “professional” educators and to highlight them in our journals/emails has been an easy task. It’s been easy because teachers from all over the state have answered the call and are nominating “professionals” at work doing what they do best- going above and beyond. We spotlighted Sharon Long in our fall MPE Journal and are recognizing Dr. Roma Morris and Vicki Shirley on page 11 of this issue for their exceptional contributions to their students and our profession.
I’ve given much thought to our middle name- Mississippi Professional Educators. Our founders were very insightful and purposeful about including the word professional in the title. From this organization’s beginning, we were to be to be an elite group for like-minded educators. The word professional is defined as characterized by or conforming to ethical standards of a profession. Many adjectives come to mind when I think of the word professional such as resourceful, hard-working, conscientious, businesslike manner, honest, punctual, and passionate are just a few examples.
Think about the professionals who influenced you to become a professional educator. One of my influences goes back to third grade- Mrs. Jane Webster. She was a teacher ahead of her time. She was implementing cooperative learning and differentiated instruction before the terms were even identified. Not only was she a great teacher, but she was a wonderful person who I knew …. loved me. All of the children in our state deserve a teacher like Mrs. Webster. One who is passionate about their occupation, but most importantly LOVES children.
This brings us to a current topic of the Code of Ethics. Let’s go back to the definition: Characterized by or conforming to ethical standards of a profession. As many of you know, the Mississippi State Board of Education adopted the Mississippi Educator Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct this past February. It applies to all persons licensed according to the rules established by the State Board of Education. It helps protect the health, safety, and general welfare of students and educators. I’ve heard much discussion questioning why we as educators need a code of ethics. I answer by saying EMBRACE it! As a member of Mississippi Professional Educators, we already hold ourselves to a higher standard. It’s who we are and what we already do.
The Code of Ethics is available at www.mde.k12.ms.us, as well as on our own MPE webpage at www.mpe.org. The 10 standards highlighted in the Code of Ethics are not anything extreme. They are meant to offer protection to students and educators. We, as educators, can go about our business as usual educating future presidents, preparing the next great literary writers, and leading the next Noble Peace Prize winners in inquiry and exploration. We can do this with confidence knowing that the Code of Ethics is a document provided to give us security, support, and opportunities to encourage student learning and professional growth. So for all the Jane Websters out there, go forth and educate with passion and love while living up to our middle name!