5b) Codes of Practice which steer my professional work place

Because I am working freelance  in a variety of different contexts at the moment it has been difficult to locate any set sources for the codes of conduct which may apply to me. So I did some research on the 'People Dancing: the foundation for community dance' website and found the professional codes of conduct applying to individuals registered through the organisation. I thought this would be the closest I could get to relevant codes of conduct for myself. Through looking at the website I also decided that I would like to join 'People Dancing' too as it is such an amazing organisation and gives members a lot of guide lines and benefits. The website divides the code of conduct into 4 sections, 'Professional Competence', 'Responsibility', 'Safety' and 'Working with People'. Then there is the commitment to the code of conduct.
Compared to the list of ideas I created for the codes of conduct applying to my professional practice last week, I found a lot of other points which had not occurred to me. I have recorded these points below.


   'Professional Competence' section:

· What seemed especially apparent was the need to have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience for the work I do and recognising the boundaries of my knowledge. This had not occurred to me as I suppose it is often something which is taken for granted.

· I also found that I had forgotten to talk about the need to be truthful and honest about qualifications and experience, again because I know what I qualifications I have does not mean that everyone else does and I need to ensure I am clear about presenting everything in advance.

· The importance of continuing to develop your skills and abilities through ongoing professional development and keeping up to date with new legislations and developments.

· Responsibility for ensuring others understand what I do.

 'Responsibility' section:

· Honesty, effective communication, thorough preparation, discussion with others to ensure the nature of my work is clearly presented.

· Locate and engage the necessary support required.

· Ensure paperwork and admin are covered.

· Charge appropriate amounts for the work that I do.

· Ensure the good quality of the work of other's who may work in my absence.

· Maintain good appearance and behaviour.

· Monitor my work and take feedback from others.

· Reflect on my work and apply what I learn to improve my work.

· Always fulfil obligations. 

 'Safety' section

• I must keep up to date with legal and statutory requirements.

• Have knowledge of professional responsibilities and liabilities and use these in my work.

• Ensure coverage from insurance.

• Take out the necessary risk assessments.

• I must do all I can to ensure safety of participants. In the event that there is doubt of safety, I should not undertake the project or event.

• Encourage participants to take active responsibility for their safety and welfare.

• Monitor, record and or report any issues of confidentiality and consent.

• Set and agree to appropriate personal boundaries to ensure the integrity of relationships with participants and employers.

'Working with People' section

• Be open, encouraging and adopt a sensitive manner to create an inclusive environment.

• Create time and space to build relationships in order to understand the personal needs of participants.

• Invite feedback and encourage input from others.

• Enable and assist individuals to make independent choices and decisions.

• Respect and acknowledge the position, experience and expertise of other specialist staff.

• Awareness of my own responsibility for personal wellbeing and encourage others to also do the same.

I was quite surprised by the detail of the code of conduct and interested to see how much I had not thought of. In my own list I had concentrated mainly on more focused areas where as the 'community dance' code of conduct breaks down many of the areas I was looking at in to further detail. It urged me to consider many more ethical areas relevant to my work.

 Bibliography

Professional code of conduct (no date). Available at: https://www.communitydance.org.uk/membership-services/professional-code-of-conduct Accessed 29/10/2017