Professionalism in the teaching discipline is diversely considered. Many people have the viewpoint that professionals are of high status in society, an example being lawyers. We must acknowledge the responsibility teachers hold in the profession and identify their roles as professionals, deservingly.
Teaching is a paid occupation, therefore I believe should be defined as a profession. Oxford English Dictionary (2012) supports this by stating that a profession is a paid occupation following extended training and formal qualifications. This definition serves the suggestion that teaching is in fact a profession, because to graduate with a teaching degree, you are required to be relevantly and formally qualified and to have completed the appropriate teacher training. Saying this, many teachers are being given jobs in schools in England without having achieved the formal qualifications. So, does this mean they are not part of this profession and subsequent to this, not professionals, because they do not have the formal qualifications? Profession is defined as having gone through appropriate training in the specified field of study, so if an individual has relevant work experience, should formal qualifications be a necessity? An article on The General Teaching Council for Wales brought to my attention the belief that teaching is not an isolated profession. Instead, it is much more: it is working with social workers, therapists, specialists and many more who bring support to teachers and children. This raises the question: are teachers professionals in more jobs and roles than teaching solely?
Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘professional’ as ‘relating to or belonging to a profession’. Although this definition is understood as meaning, for example, professionals in healthcare potentially belong to a Healthcare profession, there are many attributes of an individual which make them a professional. Being a professional means meeting standards and expectations of society, policy and those set yourself with consideration of ethics, values and beliefs. An important element of being a successful teacher is being a professional; the way you conduct yourself, behave and how your professional role is portrayed. To be a professional in teaching, it is important to ensure you are a good example for young children to follow. It is also important to consider the way you conduct yourself to your peers and to wider society, not just to your colleagues, because teachers being known as professionals can depend highly on the way they are viewed by society, which relies on the way the individual is portrayed to others.
I strongly think teachers’ roles being viewed as professionals is hugely dependent on the close community and wider society. The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) sets out a Code of Professionalism and Conduct (COPAC) in order to put in place key principles and standards expected of registered teachers, to ensure members of society have trust in teachers. The Code of Professionalism and Conduct is not only for registered teachers, but is also available to members of the public, therefore supporting the suggestion that teachers being viewed as professionals or unprofessionals is dependent on society. Saying this, it may also influence members of public to have a deep understanding of what is expected by teachers and therefore raise issues where teachers are identified as not meeting the standards. Therefore, this resulting in teachers not being appreciated as professionals. Although every teacher is different and will carry differing points of view on issues, varying values and personal beliefs, The General Teaching Council for Scotland strives to improve professional standards for teachers.
Yes, teachers should be identified as professionals, however it is dependent on how individual teachers conduct themselves, behave and portray their personality that defines whether they are being a professional.
