The implicit meaning of TIMSS: Exploring ethics in teachers’ practice

This study explored whether the TIMSS 2015 teacher questionnaires reflects shared perceptions of ethics in teachers' practice. Quantitative analysis of teachers' responses to TIMSS questionnaires, from 45 countries, yielded a four-dimensional structure of the concept “ethics in teachers' practice”: caring about students' learning, interacting with colleagues, respecting the rules, and teacher professionalism. Our results support the idea that perceived ethical behavior among teachers exhibits both universal perspectives, as well as particularistic, national ones. The findings can help teachers develop awareness concerning ethics in their profession, and may encourage assessment of ethics in teachers’ practice by using TIMSS teacher questionnaires.