THE PROFESSION OF TEACHING

Professionals Professional : Possess a high degree of specialized theoretical knowledge, along with methods and techniques for applying this knowledge in their day-to-day work. To be professional means that you have some type of specific knowledge/skill that you use at work!

Professionals Professional baseball players can hit, run, field better than the average person. Doctors know more about medicine, the human body, and treatment of illnesses than the average person. Accountants are highly trained in tax laws and regulations. Is teaching a profession?

Professionals Professionals are defined by 9 criteria: Monopoly of services Autonomy Years of education and training Provides an essential service Degree of self-governance Professional associations Professional knowledge and skills Public trust Prestige, benefits, and pay

Monopoly of Services Only lawyers can practice law. Only doctors may practice medicine. Monopoly of services means that only certified members of that association can practice that role. Are teachers the only ones who can teach? Yes and no. Private schools hire non-certified teachers. Alternative certification allow non-certified teachers to teach while getting certified. Other teaching outside of schools are done by non-certified people.

Teacher Autonomy Teachers have great autonomy! (Ability to work separately, without interference.) They teach behind closed doors and are seldom observed. They have freedom over their curriculum. They have control over how they teach. There are constraints: They don’t choose their clients. Must teach standards within subject. Data may be available to public.

Education and Training Teacher training is one of the shortest of all of the professions. Only 4 years of college is required. Doctors and lawyers need much more schooling. Most professions require an extensive internship, teaching does not. Student teaching is usually short and not as realistic.

Essential Service Essential service means that professionals provide an important service to society. Teachers provide such service, but is not as valued by the public as doctors and lawyers.

Self-Governance Self-governance refers to the ability to have some control over the requirements of the job. Teachers have little say so in the guidelines by which they teach, which is usually set by people who have never taught. Things are changing as more teachers are given a greater voice over curriculum, standards, budgets, evaluation, etc.

Professional Associations There are many professional organizations to which teachers belong to: National Education Association National Council of Teachers of English National Council of Teachers of Mathematics National Middle School Association Council for Exceptional Education American Federation of Teachers And many, many more… The major problem is that these associations do not control standards.

Professional Knowledge Professionals have a certain status in society because of the knowledge and skills they possess that the average person does not. There is not a unanimous set of knowledge and skills that teachers need to know. There are various teaching programs in the over 1,300 colleges that train teachers. Progress is being made as the National Board for Professional Teaching is clarifying these standards. This is the most prestigious credentials teachers can receive.

Trust Because of the enormous number of teachers, public trust is much less than that of other professions. Hard to maintain high professional standards. There is a lot of public scrutiny and control by outside forces. With that said, the public trusts teachers more than lawyers, journalists, politicians, etc.

Prestige, Benefits, and Pay Although teachers do not receive the salaries of other professions, it is still more than the general public. Any prestige is based off of level of education and not salary. 69% of the public are in favor of increased salaries for teachers.