Is Teaching a Professional Career

What does being a professional mean? What does it take to be professional?  Are teachers classified as professionals? Do teachers class themselves as professionals? What does it take for a teacher to be classified as a professional?

I would love to attend a forum where these issues are discussed by a group of teachers. It would be fascinating to hear insights and opinions on these questions that have popped up in my mind.

For whatever it is worth I thought I would add my two cents worth on these questions.

For mine professional means a person who has a tertiary degree and is working in a particular field. Whilst it is clear that particular fields (medicine, law, accountancy etc) are clearly classified as professional the line on whether teaching is a professional occupation appears to be somewhat blurred.

Personally I believe that teaching is a professional occupation. Going hand in hand into this is the need for teachers to act in a professional manner. Therefore what constitutes professional manner for a teacher? This can be debated and discussed in a variety of forms but I will go through my list for what I believe is appropriate for a teacher who classes themselves as professional (this list is in no set order):

·         Dress for teachers can be open for interpretation in a variety of forms. I understand that what someone wears does not necessarily influence the way they perform their role. Many schools have very tight guidelines for what students must wear for their uniform. This in turn may influence what a school expects their staff to wear. For the past fifteen years I have taught at schools that expect staff to wear a tie every day (except in terms two and three in Hong Kong where it was too ridiculously hot to wear a tie) and at times a jacket in winter. This certainly portrayed a professional image and I had absolutely no issue conforming to these directives. In the schools where I am currently doing casual teaching staff dress appears to be quite ‘loose’ (except in one school where all male staff are expected to wear a tie). Interestingly all male executive staff (and a few others) sport ties and I wait to see whether in terms two and three, when all students are expected to wear ties, if all male staff wear one as well. Anyhow I have continued to wear a tie each day when I have worked this term. I have my ideas of what professional dress comprises and I attempt to meet these standards each day I teach.

·         Interacting with others is an area in which all colleagues I have worked with over the years particularly excel. These interactions include with students, colleagues and the wider school community which may mean parents etc. Teachers, generally, have sound social skills so interacting and communicating with others is a strong point and also an essential element in the life of a teacher.

·         Continued professional development is an area in which teachers must engage but at times there is reluctance from individuals to be involved. Many are happy with the ways they go about their daily routines and lessons. I have even heard stories about teachers refusing to enter into professional development as they are close to retirement and are therefore too old to be taught new tricks. Obviously the reason why they teach ‘For the benefit of the students’ has been forgotten.  Being professional means continual development of new skills, practices and concepts. This can be done in a number of different manners be it at weekly staff meetings, attending external conferences or development days or even via their own professional readings.

Undoubtedly there is far more to being a professional than the reasons I have listed here. I also understand that the reasons I have mentioned can apply to a multitude of professions. These musings are just a random collection of thoughts that I have mulled over in my mind for some time.

This post appears to be more questions rather than answers. This topic is something that has interested me and I have mused about for a number of years. I understand people will have greatly differing opinions from me on this area and I would love to hear what they think.