Welcome to IHLA Standards

Welcome to all our IHLA members. We open this blog conversation to establish routines, comment exchanges and ideas on how to finalize our standards of professional conduct. Find below the full text of our proposed standards that were shared with our members at the IHLA 2010 AGM in June. We invite you all to access each blog posting under each separate professional standard proposed, and share your professional comments and ideas.

We will update these posts on a regular basis and inform all our members in good standing of the developments on this conversation. These standards will be voted on in their final draft form for the IHLA 2011 AGM, in June.

Thank you for your participation - and do not hesitate to email us if you have any questions.

IHLA MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS OF PROFESSIONAL AND LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES
These statements list professional and leadership responsibilities that IHLA members agree to abide by through their commitment to supporting, enhancing and advancing international and heritage language education at the community level. This document is presented in draft format until official approval by IHLA members. These statements have been inspired by the ACTFL Statement of Professional Responsibility Document available to ACTFL members and published in the Language Educator, April 2010, Volume 5, Issue 3, page 44.

COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITY

• MEMBER SCHOOLS, TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS, ARE COMMITTED TO SUPPORTING AND MAINTAINING INTERNATIONAL AND HERITAGE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE PROGRAMS AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL.

• MEMBERS MAINTAIN HIGH STANDARDS OF COLLABORATION WITHIN THEIR COMMUNITY AND ACROSS COMMUNITIES FOR THE BENEFIT OF STUDENTS OF ALL AGES, WHO WISH TO LEARN OR IMPROVE THEIR HERITAGE LANGUAGE AN D CULTURE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE. 

• MEMBERS GATHER ON A REGULAR BASIS AND PARTICIPATE IN ORGANIZED MEETINGS THAT DEAL WITH MATTERS OF LANGUAGE EDUCATION AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL.

• IN ALL THEIR LANGUAGE EDUCATION-RELATED ENDEAVOURS MEMBERS MAINTAIN THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT WITHIN THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES AND INTER-COMMUNITY AFFILIATIONS.

COMMITMENT TO THE STUDENTS

• MEMBERS ARE COMMITTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF LINGUISTIC AND COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE, PROMOTION OF UNBIASED CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING, AND TO INSPIRE AND SUPPORT A LOVE FOR LANGUAGES IN EVERY STUDENT OF THEIR COMMUNITY SCHOOL.

• MEMBERS WORK TOGETHER WITHIN THEIR COMMUNITY SCHOOLS TO ESTABLISH, MAINTAIN AND PROMOTE POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH STUDENTS, AT ALL TIMES RESPECTING STUDENTS’ PRIVACY AND THEIR PERSONAL INTEGRITY.

• MEMBERS ESTABLISH AND PROMOTE POSITIVE AND ENGAGING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS FOR EVERY STUDENT AND INCORPORATE THE CELEBRATION OF STUDENTS’ SUCCESSES.

PROFESSIONALISM AND LEADERSHIP

• MEMBERS ARE COMMITTED TO PROMOTING AND MAINTAING HIGH QUALITY TEACHING STANDARDS OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE EDUCATION BY ENGAGING IN, ORGANIZING AND LEADING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS ON A REGULAR BASIS.

• MEMBERS ARE COMMITTED TO BEING EXAMPLES OF LEADERSHIP IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. THEY STRIVE TO PROMOTE CULTURAL CONNECTIONS AND FACILITATE MULTICULTURALISM AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL AND WITHIN CANADA.

• MEMBERS INTERACT WITH STUDENTS, COLLEAGUES, PARENTS, AND ALL MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY WITH RESPECT, UNDERSTANDING AND INTEGRITY