Manners and ethics play an essential role in the profession of a university lecturer. It reflects the personality and credibility of a lecturer. This element keeps us grounded and guided by the unspoken rule of ‘doing the right thing’ with every task that is being handed to us, be it in teaching, conducting research, publishing papers, supervising students and doing administrative work. Embodying the spirit of having good manners and ethics inculcates an academic environment of trust and respect. By upholding these values, lecturer will become a role model to the students and instil a sense of responsibility and professionalism beyond their classroom experience.
Students' Trust and Performance
By practicing good manners and ethics, the lecturer will be seen as someone trustworthy to the students. When the students trust their lecturers, they will feel more comfortable and confident to ask questions and engage more in class. They will trust their lecturers’ fair judgment in evaluating their work, providing constructive feedback to improve their performance and communicating with respect among the students. Aside from that, a lecturer with good manners and ethics will demonstrate punctuality and full commitment in students’ learning. These elements will help students to be more motivated in their learning and improve their performance.
Lecturers' Credibility
Lecturers who demonstrated good manners and ethics will enhance their credibility as an academics. They will be respected not only for their knowledge but they will be known for upholding their highest integrity and commitment to their personal and academic values. These lecturers will bring about positive changes in the academic ecosystem and contribute to good reputation of an educational institution.
Professional Relationship Between Lecturers and Students
Maintaining a professional relationship with students is crucial to ensure that the boundaries will not be crossed in any circumstances. Lecturers need to always maintain objectivity and fairness when assessing students’ work. Lecturers must establish clear rules and guidelines in the classroom or when supervising students to maintain a healthy and professional relationship with the students. In order to maintain fairness in assessing, lecturers must always follow clear assessment rubric and provide justification when needed. There is a need for transparency to ensure that the students will feel more confident when their work are being evaluated by the lecturers.
Time Management and Workload
Lecturers usually faced high workload in order to achieve their KPI including teaching, publishing papers, conducting research and supervising students. This will affect the time available to conduct classes or supervise students. Lecturers should practice better time management by prioritizing tasks. They need to be able to delegate their work effectively and make time to meet students to supervise their work and research.
Conflict of Interest
Lecturers may encounter situations that could compromise their fairness and integrity in making decisions. To avoid conflicts of interest, lecturers should be transparent about any personal and professional interests. They need to report any potential conflicts to management and take precautionary steps to distance themselves from situations that could compromise their integrity.