Sociology: Legislation, Schools, and Professional and Ethical Behavior

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of key sociological concepts related to education and professional conduct. It begins by examining the Education Act and the Department of Education's Strategic Framework, outlining the guiding principles, impact on schools, and strategies for improvement. The report then delves into teacher registration acts and regulations, highlighting the importance of adherence to these guidelines. Furthermore, it explores the Criminal Code of States and Territories, presenting two relevant cases of unethical teacher conduct and offering a critical analysis of the issues. The report concludes by discussing relevant Industrial Acts of States and Territories, emphasizing the importance of compliance within secondary schools. The assignment follows a report format and covers topics from legislation to professional practice.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY 1
SOCIOLOGY: Legislation, Schools, and Professional and Ethical Behaviour
Value

SOCIOLOGY 2
Task 1: Education Acts and Departmental Strategic Plans
The Education Act and the education department’s strategic
The future direction of the education department over the upcoming five years has been set
by the Department of Education’s Strategic Framework for the year 2018-2022. The
Education Northern Territory Strategy 2018-2022 has been acting as the centre piece of
framework. This initiates a commitment towards a strong public education system that
provides each child with the prospect to engage, develop as well as accomplish. According to
Devlin, Disbray & Devlin (2017), the Department of Education has been providing
educational facilities to almost 33,000 school aged individuals all over the Northern
Territory. There are almost 151 government schools in the Northern Territory. The non-
government schools as well as child care services are regulated as well as supported by the
Department of Education. It has been critically analysed that the education department has
been prepared to deal with challenges by carrying out service delivery through innovative
programs. They are also known to provide admission to high class online learning services
delivered through the Northern Territory Open Education Centre (Schwab, 2018). There are
almost 3500 dedicated teachers working to deliver the education program in the Northern
Territory.
The guiding principles of strategic plan
The strategic plan of the department has been established on the following principles:
1. The social as well as economic development for the Territory is to be driven by education
2. Resourcing results are derived from effectual as well as evidence based trainings
3. The contemporary as well as service delivery methods are developed effectively through
service quality

SOCIOLOGY 3
4. The system-wide effort has balanced autonomy in the long-run
The impact of the plan on Schools
The education department has been highly committed towards collaborating with families in
order to support the early development of children. The aim has been to provide the children
with the improved start in life so they initiate school ready to learn. It has been critically
analysed that year’s education helps to improve learning outcomes in the initial schools of
learning. The wellbeing of a child is also taken care by their family members. The aim is to
work jointly with families as well as agencies in order to deliver services such as health, This
in turn will help to provide integrated services for children as well as their families, before
they start going to school. They also aim to deliver superiority early childhood education as
well as care services. This in turn will improve child security and overall school readiness.
According to Gerritsen (2016), increased expectations as well as learning environment in
every schools are likely to make it easier for students to thrive. The schools are committed
towards generating opportunities in order to make every student a successful learner. The
strategic plan is to provide the students with incorporated curriculum that will help them to
meet their accomplishment requirements. The schools also use up-to-date approaches as well
as current teaching reserves facilitated by technology in order to support service and program
delivery. A substantial consideration of this objective deals with working with families as
well as other agencies in order to recognize as well as provide support to the students.
The schools are also provided with quality leadership individuals possessing high
professional practice at all levels. This in turn will act as the base to initiate a high performing
as well as outstanding education system. The capability of educators as well as school leaders
is reinforced thus providing high-quality lessons to the students. The target has been to
provide education to those students belonging to remote areas in the Northern Territory. The
plan has been to provide a culture involving exemplary based practice that will develop

SOCIOLOGY 4
indigenous teachers. A variety of strategies at the scheme, regional and school level have
been recognized to make certain that there are quality leaders as well as educators to make
the most of the learning results of students.
The strategies that have been analysed are as follows:
1. The capability of educational leadership is developed thus initiating continuous
development in the schools to maximise student results
2. The support for students has been reinforced to initiate transition between the stages that
exists between schooling as well as learning
3. Retaining as well as employing high quality teachers liable for providing healthy working
surroundings
4. Using available data effectively in order to monitor performance to initiate improvement
5. To deliver quality advice as well as services that has been agile to the increasing
requirements related to schools
The strategy related to educational development is to develop quality services that will align
with systems focusing on providing support to school operations. The delivery of education
services are underpinned with evidence based approaches. The development of innovative as
well as elastic ways to convey quality services, advice and support frontline service delivery
within the resources obtainable is indispensable for the organisation. There are a range of
approaches that has been recognized to support the effectual operations all over the
department. The partnership that will take place between regional, international as well as
local level will initiate a positive difference in the lives of the students along with the society.
The students are provided with support to accomplish enduring employment outcomes. This
will in turn contribute towards creating a stronger society in the Northern Territory. The aim

SOCIOLOGY 5
is to work jointly with school communities as well as broader societies to inform decision
making related to education delivery. It has been established that it is possible to develop
productive partnerships and that is possible only by continuing work in collaboration. The
aim is to work with industry and managers to generate prearranged trails to training and
advanced education for students when they leave school. The relation with Asian schools are
also aimed to be reinforced in order to boost development in the economy as well as
advancement in Northern Territory.
Initiating Improvements
The ways with the help of which the performances will be improved are as follows:
Monitoring the performance:
It is imperative to develop a quarterly report that will act as a performance measure for each
goal. This will in turn observe the progress that has been made towards incorporating the
plan. The progress report will be shared across the department in order to track the
accomplishments that are made. The society will be informed about the development as they
will be able to view the six-month annual report.
Reviewing the performance:
The performance is to be reviewed on an annual basis that will determine the future actions
based on development assessment.
Improving the performance:
The findings that are related to monitoring the performance will be improved. The procedures
as well as the systems will be analyzed effectively that will contribute towards a coordinated
effort.

SOCIOLOGY 6
Part 2: Teacher Registration Acts and Regulations
The Registration Acts of the teachers are part of the statutory authority that is known to
regulate the teaching profession in Northern Territory. The teachers have the freedom to get
advice as well as express their viewpoints through telephone, emails or individually. All the
documents are held by the agency that is related to general registration. The individuals are
engaged in administrating the Act thus adhering to the provisions that are stated in the Act.
This in turn has helped to develop a safety target through Information Sharing Guidelines. In
other words, the teachers are liable to share their information without thinking about any
harm (Lawlis, Knox and Jamieson, 2016). The home education administration has been liable
to undertake the review related to home education. In this case, the registration has granted
the teachers with the regulatory authorities to initiate the duties in a responsible way. This
induced to train the teachers that will help them to turn into indigenous individuals. This will
aid to educate the students in a proper way thus helping to make them more successful in the
future. This range of strategies has helped to make this Act successful in its own way. The
delivery of education services are underpinned with evidence based approaches. The act
initiates the teachers to apply for registration that matches up to their qualifications as well as
their experience. The supporting documents under this act are imperative as acts in support of
the application that depends on their experience (Koehler & Lambert, 2011). The Act has
been highlighted in such a way that it provides mutual regulation provisions that reflects on
their qualification as well as their eligibility to carry out the work.
Part 3: Criminal Code of States and Territories
According to Joyce and Mmankoko (2014), being progressive and modern is leading to
inculcate unprofessionalism amongst the teachers. The cases of being involved in unethical
activity such as exploiting or harming students, actions concerning indecent articles,
uncultured indecency or sexual intercourse with the students has risen in recent years.

SOCIOLOGY 7
Two Cases relevant with the Criminal Code
As opined by Gramenz (2018), former primary school 50-year-old teacher, was found guilty
and was convicted for indecently activities with two of his female students. As stated by the
NT board of teacher registration they had conducted a normal procedure during the time of
his registration. The board also agreed to have suspended the teacher’s registration when the
police had advised them of allegation against the criminal in 2016.
The second unethical conduct was reported by O’Brien (2018), in which a teacher was found
guilty for engaging with immoral dealing with four girls at Northern Territory School. He
used social media to communicate with the students and was a part of offences like kissing
students on the mouth, dragging down a young girl's shorts or skirts, making girls sit on his
lap and various other unprofessional touching.
Prosecutors charges on the Guilty
According to Gramenz (2018), the teacher had a previous felonious conviction and the jury
found his guilty and was sentenced to 3 years of prison. After rigorous investigation the
police found out the man used four diverse aliases yet was cleared for working as a Primary
school teacher by the Northern Territory's Teacher Registration Board.
O’Brien (2018), in his paper stated that the teacher was charged with an alleged assault and
several counts of indecent dealing with young girls. The prosecutors of the case stated in
court that as he was a popular teacher and was loved by most of the students and their
parents, he was able of developing a linkage with the young girls. This connection helped
him as he was able to exploit them and engage in offensive conduct.
Critical Analysis of the two cases

SOCIOLOGY 8
I feel that the board needs to be aware of such frauds and before granting any kind of
permission or registering someone as an employee, they must ensure that a thorough
background check is done. It should facilitate to guarantee the safety of young students as
well as maintain a professional quality of teachers appointed. Instead of following a normal
and typical process for registration, the board should introduce new methods that will prevent
infiltration of these frauds. Checking of criminal history as well as their identity will help
reduce such misleading falsehood in turn diminishing the rate of criminal activities (Briggs,
2018).
The school should ensure that they follow a strict guideline for such degraded conduct and
must also make the students feel comfortable so that these crimes are reported on time. A
counsellor should be present at all times in the school premises who might help students to
open up about the grievances and guide them to take the right step when necessary. The
school must facilitate installing of security cameras in the entire premises so that they have
proof of the exploitive behaviour which can be used for accusation (Goldman and Grimbeek,
2011)
Part 4: Relevant Industrial Acts of States and Territories
It is highly essential for all the secondary schools to follow the industrial acts and regulation
that has been formulated by the government (Lawlis, Knox and Jamieson, 2016). As the Staff
Representative on the School Council, it was my duty to supervise and manage the procedure
in the school canteen. Unfortunately, the canteen had to suffer major breach in compliance to
three relevant acts and regulations in their diurnal operations.
List of Relevant Legislation for canteen operation
The canteen was accountable for ensuring that the following list of legislations provided are
being followed and implemented by the canteen operator:

SOCIOLOGY 9
 Providing a healthy and whole full meal to the students.
 The canteen services should follow all the relevant regulation, departmental needs and
authorization criteria.
 The canteen operator must ensure that appointed staffs are fitting the proper list of
people and have the essential competencies as well as is given suitable training to
accomplish the canteen.
 The canteen should meet the health, cleanliness and safety standards.
 Avoiding foods that harm the students for instances deep fried foods, packet goods,
fats and artificial sweetener ingredients, high sugar and fat content and many more.
 Regularly checking the expiry date and freshness of the product especially the dairy
products.
 Avoiding caffeine related drinks or sports drink.
 Keeping eye on cross-contamination and controlling the temperature of the frozen
foods so that they are fresh once served.
Description of Three non-compliance incident
There were three incidents that were reported which showed the irresponsible behaviour by
the canteen operators and their lack in maintaining the legislations and regulation provided by
school administration.
It was noted that the canteen operators were not taking proper care of the dairy products
which was leading it to become unpleasant. They were becoming careless with the menu of
the meal that needed to be served to the students. The menu was not properly maintained and
sometimes unhealthy foods were also served for eliminating the excessive work load. This
was creating a lot of issues and the school was losing it reputation in front of the parents.

SOCIOLOGY 10
When looked at the cleanliness and hygiene of the canteen, it was noted that the canteen
operator did not have a proper way for accumulating the waste. As it is mentioned in the
policies and guidelines, all the canteens will be taking out the waste from their backdoors or
should cover it properly so that while getting rid of it, they do not have any ill-affect to the
student’s health.
Critical analysis of the incident
Therefore, after going through all the problems that is caused by the canteen as a Staff
Representative on the School Council, I would like to suggest that the canteen operators need
to be vigilant and take care of small details that can hamper the student’s health. They should
ensure that the work is done in an effective manner and under the guidelines provided to
them. Following the strategies will ensure safety and health of the students and help to build a
strong future generation (Woods, Bressan, Langelaan, Mallon and Palermo, 2014).

SOCIOLOGY 11
References
Briggs, F. (2018). Child protection: The essential guide for teachers and other professionals
whose work involves children. Woodslane Press.
Devlin, B., Disbray, S., & Devlin, N. (2017). History of bilingual education in the Northern
Territory. Singapore: Springer Nature. DOI, 10, 978-981.
Gerritsen, R. (2016). A test of the role of universities in regional development: The case of
international education students in the Northern Territory. Australasian Journal of
Regional Studies, The, 22(1), 125.
Goldman, J. D., & Grimbeek, P. (2011). Sources of knowledge of departmental policy on
child sexual abuse and mandatory reporting identified by primary school student‐
teachers. Educational Review, 63(1), 1-18.
Gramenz, E., (2018). Convicted teacher had criminal history and multiple aliases, released
documents show. Retrieved from:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-02/convicted-nt-teacher-criminal-history-
multiple-aliases-documents/10330356
Joyce, T. M., & Mmankoko, R. (2014). Teacher attitudes, professionalism and
unprofessionalism in relation to school violence. Journal of Sociology and Social
Anthropology, 5(1), 19-27.
Koehler, J. F., & Lambert, P. (2011). Impact of the dodd-frank and registration acts of 2010
on investment advisers. Duq. Bus. LJ, 13, 29.
Lawlis, T., Knox, M., & Jamieson, M. (2016). School canteens: A systematic review of the
policy, perceptions and use from an Australian perspective. Nutrition &
Dietetics, 73(4), 389-398.

SOCIOLOGY 12
O’Brien, K., (2018). Teacher faces court over charges of indecently dealing with students at
Northern Territory school. Retrieved from:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-09/teacher-charged-with-indecent-dealings-
with-students-faces-court/9743206
Schwab, R. (2018). Twenty years of policy recommendations for indigenous education:
overview and research implications. Canberra, ACT: Centre for Aboriginal Economic
Policy Research (CAEPR), The Australian National University.
Woods, J., Bressan, A., Langelaan, C., Mallon, A., & Palermo, C. (2014). Australian school
canteens: menu guideline adherence or avoidance?. Health Promotion Journal of
Australia, 25(2), 110-115.