Q.1 Explain the concept of profession. Discuss teaching as profession?
Course:: Professionalism in Teaching
Course code 8612
Level: B.Ed Solved Assignment
Answer:
A profession is
something a little more than a job; it is a career for someone that wants to be
part of society, who becomes competent in their chosen sector through training;
maintains their skills through continuing professional development (CPD); and
commits to behaving ethically, to protect the interests of the public.
We all rely on
professionals at many points of our lives – from dentists to teachers, from pension
managers to careers advisers, from town planners to paramedics. We rely on professionals
to be experts and to know what to do when we need them to. Back in the
nineteenth century, the professions were defined as law, religion, and
medicine. Nowadays, the number of professions is much wider and
ever-increasing, as occupations become more specialized in nature and more ‘professionalized’
in terms of requiring certain standards
of initial and ongoing education – so
that anything from automotive technicians to web designers can be defined as
professionals.
A profession is
a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which
is to supply disinterested objective counsel and service to others, for a
direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other
business gain.[1] The term is a truncation of the term "liberal
profession", which is, in turn, an Anglicization of the French term
"profession libérale". Originally borrowed by English users in the
19th century, it has been re-borrowed by international users from the late
20th, though the (upper-middle) class overtones of the term do not seem to
survive retranslation: "liberal professions" are, according to the
European Union's Directive on Recognition of Professional Qualifications (2005/36/EC)
"those practiced on the basis of relevant professional qualifications in a
personal, responsible and professionally independent capacity by those
providing intellectual and conceptual services in the interest of the client
and the public".
The professions are for you if you want...
•
An occupation which will help you to build your skills and develop your
expertise in a field which interests you;
•
To keep learning, be challenged and stay up to date with the latest
developments in your chosen area;
•
To solve problems, do good work, and be involved in making decisions which help
to improve people’s lives.
•
To earn more money! Professionalism pays: people with professional body
membership will earn more than those without (an average of £152,000 more in
fact).
THE FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROFESSION:
1. Great responsibility: Professionals deal in matters of vital
importance to their clients and are therefore entrusted with grave
responsibilities and obligations. Given these inherent obligations,
professional work typically involves circumstances where carelessness, inadequate
skill, or breach of ethics would be significantly damaging to the client and/or
his fortunes.
2. Accountability: Professionals hold themselves ultimately accountable
for the quality of their work with the client. The profession may or may not
have mechanisms in place to reinforce and ensure adherence to this principle among
its members. If not, the individual professional wills (e.g. guarantees and/or
contractual provisions).
3. Based on specialized, theoretical
knowledge: Professionals render
specialized services based on theory, knowledge, and skills that are most often
peculiar to their profession and generally beyond the understanding and/or
capability of those outside of the profession. Sometimes, this specialization
will extend to access to the tools and technologies used in the profession
(e.g. medical equipment).
4. Institutional preparation: Professions typically require a significant
period of hands-on, practical experience in the protected company of senior
members before aspirants are recognized as professionals. After this
provisional period, ongoing education toward professional development is
compulsory. A profession may or may not require formal credentials and/or other
standards for admission.
5. Autonomy:
Professionals have control over and, correspondingly, ultimate
responsibility for their own work. Professionals tend to define the terms, processes, and
conditions of work to be performed for clients (either directly or as
preconditions for their ongoing agency employment).
6. Clients rather than customers: Members of a profession exercise
discrimination in choosing clients rather than simply accepting any interested
party as a customer (as merchants do).
7. Direct working relationships: Professionals habitually work directly with
their clients rather than through intermediaries or proxies.
8. Ethical constraints: Due to the other
characteristics on this list, there is a clear requirement for ethical
constraints in the professions. Professionals are bound to a code of conduct or
ethics specific to the distinct profession (and sometimes the individual).
Professionals also aspire toward a general body of core values, which are
centered upon an uncompromising and unconflicted regard for the client's
benefit and best interests.
9. Merit-based:
In a profession, members achieve employment and success based on merit and
corresponding voluntary relationships rather than on corrupted ideals such as
social principle, mandated support, or extortion (e.g. union members are not
professionals).
Therefore, a
professional is one who must attract clients and profits due to the merits of his
work. In the absence of this characteristic, issues of responsibility,
accountability, and ethical constraints become irrelevant, negating any
otherwise-professional characteristics.
10. Capitalist morality: The responsibilities inherent to the practice
of a profession are impossible to rationally maintain without a moral
foundation that flows from a recognition of the singular right of the
individual to his own life, along with all of its inherent and potential
sovereign value; a concept that only capitalism recognizes, upholds and
protects.
Teaching as a Profession
The continued
professionalization of teaching is a long-standing goal of the Alberta
Teachers’ Association. The Association continues to work to advance teaching as
a profession.
Professionalism
is a complex and elusive concept; it is dynamic and fluid. Six generally accepted
criteria are used to define a profession. The teaching profession in Alberta
fulfills those criteria in the following ways:
1. Its members
have an organized body of knowledge that separates the group from all others.
Teachers are equipped with such a body of knowledge, having an extensive background
in the world and its culture and a set of teaching methods experientially
derived through continuous research in all parts of the world.
2. It serves a
great social purpose. Teachers carry responsibilities weighted with social
purpose. Through a rigid and self-imposed adherence to the Code of Professional
Conduct, which sets out their duties and responsibilities, teachers pass on
their accumulated culture and assist each student under their care in achieving
self-realization?
3. There is
cooperation achieved through a professional organization. Cooperation plays an important
role in the development of the teaching profession because it represent s a
banding together to achieve commonly desired purposes. The teaching profession
has won its well -deserved place in the social order through continuous
cooperation in research, professional preparation and strict adherence to the
Code of Professional Conduct, which obligates every teacher to treat each
student within a sacred trust. Teachers have control or influence over their own
governance, socialization into teaching and research connected with their profession.
4. There is a
formal period of preparation and a requirement for continuous growth and development.
Teachers are required to complete a defined teacher preparation program followed
by a period of induction or internship prior to being granted permanent certification.
This period includes support for the formative growth of teachers and judgments
about their competence. Teachers are devoted to continuous development of their
ability to deliver their service.
5. There is a
degree of autonomy accorded the professional. Teachers have opportunities to make
decisions about important aspects of their work. Teachers apply reasoned
judgment and professional decision making daily in diagnosing educational
needs, prescribing and implementing instructional programs, and evaluating the
progress of students. Teacher judgment unleashes learning and creates the basis
for experience.
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