Category Archives: 1 Prof. Values & Personal Commitment

Professional VS Profession

Professional vs Profession

Professional

  • An expert in some skill or field of knowledge (google)
  • Have a particular ethical or moral character (Carr)
  • Require a high degree of individual autonomy (Elsevier)
  • Engages in a specific activity as a paid occupation not an amateur (Google)
  • Enhancement of status (Elsevier)
  • Responsibility
  • An activity which one is paid as opposed to doing voluntarily (Elsevier)

Profession

  • A vocation requiring knowledge of some departments of learning (google)
  • Provide an important public service (Elsevier)
  • Wants to be part of society
  • Requires organisation and regulation for purpose (Elsevier)
  • Oldest profession – prostitution
  • Level of skill applied (Carr)
  • Competent in chosen sector
  • Improvement in the quality of service (Elsevier)
  • Keep working at it, CPD
  • Formal Qualifications: certificate/higher degree
  • Prolonged training
  • Commits to behaving ethically

Teaching is a profession laden with risk and responsibility that requires a great deal from those who enter into it (John. I. Goodland)

The Moral Base for Teacher Professionalism (Hugh Sockett, 1993)

Hoyle (1980)

  • Professional ~ Focus is on the quality of a person’s professional practice
  • Profession ~ Status of the occupation
  • Professionalism ~ community, knowledge, accountability & ideals

Bruner (1974)    “Foundations of any subject can be taught to anybody at any age in some form”

Sockett (1993)   “Professionals believe in the purpose of their profession”

The Role of the Teacher (Hoyle, E. 1969)

The Criteria of a profession ~ “Profession isn’t a precise descriptive concept, it’s an evaluative concept”

* A profession performs an essential social service

* A profession is founded upon a systematic body of knowledge

* A profession requires a lengthy period of academic and practical training

* A profession generates in-service growth

Changing Education Paradigms

Sir Ken Robinson – Changing Paradigms Notes

  • Economics – How do we educate our children to be able to take part in the 21st Century?
  • Culture – How do we educate our children so they have a sense of cultural identity?
  • Hard Work = Do Well = College = Job            VS    Now->           a Degree ≠ Guarantee a job
  • We have to raise educations standards
  • Our education system was designed for a different era
  • Assumptions on social structure and capacity
  • Academic Ability -> Academic VS Non Academic
  • ADHD isn’t an epidemic … drugs = focus = calm
  • Our children are living in the most intensely stimulating period in history
  • Computers/Phones/TV but they get penalised for getting distracted
  • The arts are the victims of this mentality
  • Aesthetic Experience = Operating at a peak
  • Anaesthetic Experience = Shut your senses off
    • “We shouldn’t be putting them asleep, we should be waking them up!”
    • Schools still run on factory lines
  • Ringing Bells/ Separate Facilities/ Corridor Movement
  • Why split children by age? Why not group size/ ability?
  • Divergent Thinking = an essential capacity for creativity
  • The ability to see lots of possible answers
  • Think laterally – not linear
    • Creativity = the process of having original ideas
  • 98% of nursery children were ‘genius’ at divergent thinking
  • But this lowered as children grew older
  • Inside = “Don’t Look” “Don’t Copy” = That’s copying VS Outside = collaboration
  • We have to think differently about human capacity
  • Academic/non academic = a myth
  • Most great learning happens in groups
  • Collaboration = growth

My Educational Philosophy

A personal teaching philosophy that will be implemented in my future classroom will take into account; the teacher I mean to be, how I’ll support my pupils, what my classroom will involve and the type of education I mean to deliver.

I intend to be an influential teacher, I’ll instill a love of learning in my pupils and share my own love for learning with them. I will be willing to go that extra mile, to be open-minded and to do the unexpected. I will equip children with the information needed to make intelligent choices whilst I have balanced and unbiased views.

I believe that every child should be treated as a unique individual. Pupils will be my key concern as will listening to their thoughts and opinions. I will help them to realise their full potential by helping them discover who they are. As pupils grow and mature I will be preparing them for life society by challenging them, leading to developing together.

In my classroom children will discover for themselves through active learning. This will be done through a safe learning environment with an inclusive classroom which encourages social and interaction skills. This will also allow for freedom of expression and creativity.

Finally I plan to run a child-centred education. This gives the children motivation to work on their chosen aspect and also engages them in lessons. I will plan lessons that have clear expectations and that are interesting and meaningful – relevant to life experiences.

I do believe that my philosophy and teaching style may change throughout my teaching career as I will learn from experiences but also from the children I teach and the colleagues I work with.