Commentary
Congratulations! You have now completed 17 SBTD activities. In thinking about Question 10, we are setting out some activities that will develop your knowledge, understanding and skills with regard to:
- what it means to be professional;
- reflecting on your own professional development; and
- identifying your continuing professional developments goals.
People often say that someone is “very professional,” or that they are “a hard-working professional.” What do they mean by this? Many would say it implies a person who is organised, efficient, knowledgeable, and works well with other people. Defining professionalism is not easy, but we recognise it when we see it. For example, we recognise that a person, such as a nurse, bank clerk, teacher or doctor is acting professionally when they provide a service that enables their customer, student or patient to achieve an outcome that is most appropriate for them.
Sometimes, being professional is confused with being a member of a profession. Belonging to a profession means belonging to an occupation that requires specialist training with regard to an agreed body of knowledge and defined ways of working that inform the profession and give the profession its status and ethos. A code of conduct that regulates the way that people behave often controls such professions. Teaching is one such profession that usually has a code that details the duties of the teacher and the expected standards of behaviour it expects teachers to abide by. As members of the teaching profession, teachers accept these expectations and standards as core to their ways of working and behaving while working.
Simply having a code of conduct does not mean that all teachers will follow it or operate and behave professionally — although it is expected that they will. To be a teacher, you have to comply with the code and to be professional you have to work by the code to the best of your ability, acknowledging the importance of all the roles and responsibilities a job such as teaching demands of you. The code does not specify the detail of methods that a teacher should use, as these are dynamic and change according to the students’ different needs, and as research informs practice about how children learn best.
But the code does highlight the teacher’s responsibility to conduct themselves in a manner fitting to their post, to working professionally and to the best of their ability to meet the learning needs of the children and young people they teach. This means keeping up to date with current research and developing and extending their range of skills, strategies and understanding of the different ways of working to enhance the learning of all children and young people. This is the professional behaviour expected of teachers.
It is possible to identify five main areas of professional development namely:
- personal and professional qualities (such as always wanting to do your best and reflect on your practice);
- team-working qualities (such as listening to and sharing ideas with others);
- professionalism in practice (such as always being prepared for lessons);
- understanding children and young people as learners and supporting that learning (such as differentiating activities to help learners who are at different stages);
- partnership with parents/guardians (such as sharing successes and asking for help with their children’s learning).
There needs to be an openness to change and a willingness to reflect on and evaluate your own practice. The next activity asks you to reflect briefly on what these areas mean to you.