Professional ethics are foundational to the teaching profession, positioning educators as moral agents and exemplars of integrity. In the Panganiban District of Catanduanes, teachers operate within closely knit communities where personal and professional roles often intersect, creating unique ethical and contextual challenges. Despite the statutory framework provided by Republic Act No. 7836, gaps persist between ethical awareness and actual practice, particularly in rural settings characterized by limited access to professional development and institutional support. This descriptive–correlational study investigated 71 public elementary school teachers to assess their levels of ethical awareness, compliance with the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers, and perceived challenges in ethical practice. Weighted means and Pearson’s correlation analyses were employed to quantify trends and examine interrelationships among variables. Results indicated very high ethical awareness (mean = 3.76) and high compliance (mean = 3.75), with teachers most proficient in professional duties and slightly less so in civic responsibilities. Perceived challenges were generally low (mean = 1.88), although adapting to cultural expectations posed the greatest difficulty. Correlational analyses revealed a very strong positive relationship between awareness and compliance (r = 0.98) and strong negative relationships between awareness and challenges (r = –0.82) and compliance and challenges (r = –0.79). These findings suggest that enhanced ethical awareness and compliance mutually reinforce each other while mitigating perceived challenges, emphasizing the critical role of knowledge development and supportive institutional frameworks in promoting professional integrity and ethical resilience in rural educational contexts.

Keywords: ethical awareness, Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers, teacher compliance, professional integrity, rural education, correlational study