Being a Teacher: Reading 8. Accountability for Professional Practice

All professions are required to be accountable in various ways for the
quality of the service they render – to their clients, to the public and to
their fellow professionals. In the article from which this excerpt is taken,
the writer analyses five forms of accountability that may operate in various
institutions in a democratic society. Only two of these forms are applicable
to teaching on a regular, day-to-day basis. A third form – legal
accountability – comes into effect from time to time when a teacher,
school, or education department is held to account in a court of law as a
result of legal action, perhaps on the part of parents.