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Hunter Gosse
Educational Professionalism: Reflections

1) How do you define professionalism for educators?

To me, professionalism for educators is not simply one thing or a singular quality that

one can possess. I believe that a definition of educational professionalism amounts to

possessing five key qualities and corresponding behaviours in professional practice. A

professional educator must be present, responsible, passionate, a student of the craft, and an

adaptable innovator. Thus, I have to agree with an article from The Atlantic that posits great

teaching “​...requires a mixture of tenacity and instinct” (Romeo, 2014, 4).​ I will now deconstruct

each of the components of my personal definition of professionalism for educators.

Firstly, a professional educator must be present. I am not simply referring to physical

presence, or in other words merely showing up for class. Being present as a professional

educator instead refers to being present mentally and in terms of practice. When a teacher

enters a classroom they must be fully engaged with their students and the course material they

are presenting. Teachers must come fully prepared to tackle any and all questions or difficulties

students have pertaining to curriculum material, and must be alert and attentive at all times so

they may stimulate the interest their students may have in a given topic. Being present also

encompasses being attentive to students as individuals. This includes being able to notice when

a student is off or in distress and being prepared to respond to any problem a student is facing

outside of academia in a thoughtful and appropriate manner. This may require educators to

leave their own external stresses or negative moods at the door when they come school, as

once an educator enters their workplace, they need to assume the necessary calm and attentive

disposition required to satisfy the above conditions.

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Secondly, professionalism as an educator requires a high degree of personal and

occupational responsibility. This includes not only fulfilling the requirements obligated to be

adhered to legally by contract but to ethical responsibilities that insure the safety of all students

and faculty members in the workplace. Responsibility also means having a certain level of

integrity in your interactions with students on a daily basis. For example, being professional

means getting feedback on assignments to students in a timely fashion, keeping your word,

being punctual, and always striving to act as a role model for students. Professional educators

are not only responsible to their employers but to their pupils as well.

A third requirement of professionalism is having the passion to to do your job and to see

students succeed not only in academia, but in life. Someone who is a professional is someone

who is dedicated to their craft, and in the case of educators, this means being dedicated to

students and peers. This does not require having to love every second of your professional life,

although it does call for a love of the purpose of education - which is to better the lives and skills

of students, while helping them to achieve the most possible. This of course extends to having

compassion and moral fiber in all interactions with students, as the purpose of education is not

only to produce intelligent students but emotionally healthy, well-adjusted members of society

as well.

The fourth requirement for professionalism as an educator involves being a student of

the craft of education, as well as an instructor. A true professional is attentive and salient. This

means continually evolving personally and in practice alongside the ever changing education

system and society as a whole. This includes familiarizing oneself with new educational

technology, staying up to date and cognisant of evolving social situations, and improving oneself

on a daily basis. No teacher is perfect, and in order to be true professionals we must learn from

our students as much as they learn from us, never to become complacent in our understanding
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of educational practice. Again, I have to agree with the article ​Are Great Teacher Born or

Made?,​ “...making teachers better than they currently are is a reasonable and laudable goal…”

(Romeo, 2014, 4).

The final component to maintaining professionality as an educator is the ability to adapt.

This is crucial as in order to be effective in our field as work, we must adapt to the individual

needs of each student we encounter. This requires a great deal of flexibility that in my opinion,

is a non-negotiable, fundamental requirement of the profession. We can not hope to do our job

by adhering to cookie cutter models of education. We must adapt to differences in the cultural

backgrounds, socio-economic situations, medical conditions, and other distinguishing features

of all students. In order to unlock an individual’s full potential, we must undoubtedly engage with

them according to their strengths and weaknesses and adjust our methods accordingly.

While perhaps these aforementioned criteria cannot be mandated by school boards, in

my opinion they are what makes a true professional. A professional educator is someone who is

not merely just following the rules of their trade but is someone who seeks to push these

guidelines to their limits and to improve the institution they have elected to join. The

demonstration of these qualities should not be used to determine whether a teacher is “good” or

“bad”, but rather whether they possess what is necessary to practice education in the first place.

2) What are some examples from your own experience as a student and/or teacher?

I am now going to connect to each of the components I have used to define

professionalism with personal experiences I have had as both a teacher candidate and student.

Throughout my time in the education system, I have encountered teachers who have lived up to

and failed to meet these professional expectations.

The first experience I want to relate occurred during my second year placement. I

remember one instance when my host teacher, in a human development class, asked to speak
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to a student in the hall during a work period. I remember being slightly confused at this decision

as there was no obvious reason for it. Upon talking to my host after class, he pointed out that

the reason he did this was because the student who was apparently normally very chipper and

pleasant, had been withdrawn and quiet all morning. My host had the presence of mind to notice

this change in behaviour and reached out to the student as a result. It turns out that the student

was facing some troubling personal problems and because my host was present, he was able to

support her and direct her to guidance resources that could help her situation. To me this was a

clear example of why being present and attentive for students is so valuable. Who knows how

profoundly this support helped the student on a personal and academic level? This also

connects to the fourth component of definition of professionalism, passion. This teacher truly

cared about the well being of the student. I know from personal experience (as he also taught

me in the past) that this level of passion for students is not only evident to students but can also

mean the world to them, especially in situations where no other support is available. In addition,

after the class my host immediately contacted the student’s guidance counselor to voice his

concern about the student and even made the principal aware of the student’s situation. To me,

this embodies the responsibility teachers have to do everything in their power to insure their

student’s well being. This event was also a good example of adaptability. Following my host’s

discussion with the student he adapted to the new information he was given, and allowed the

student to take the extra time she needed to complete the in class activity that was being

administered. Which was decided as he realized that the stress the student was under was

affecting her ability to complete the activity in the time allotted. This also exemplifies being a

student of the craft. My host explained that he has honed his ability to provide support over the

years, and taken into account that emphasises on mental health have increased and that the

daily problems students face with things like bullying, have evolved over time. Overall, this
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experience is just one instance of why I hold this colleague in such high esteem, he has proven

over and over to me that he is a great professional and an even better human being.

Most of my experiences with a lack of professionalism in the educational workplace

came when I was a grade 9 student. I remember a geography teacher I had who kind of

represented the antithesis of the qualities I applaud in a professional educator. Firstly, this

teacher was not very present in the classroom environment and didn’t exhibit any passion for

his craft. He directly implied to the class several times that he only there for the pay cheque.

This reflected on me as student as his lack of regard for his craft, translated into a lack of caring

on my part to whether or not I applied myself in his class. I think for the most part, he failed to

fulfill his professional responsibility as a teacher as well. I recall that in the last month of school,

he was perfectly fine allowing myself and two other students to do textbook readings in the hall

instead of participating in his class. In my opinion, it was his responsibility to care about our

learning and encourage participation in his lessons. I think that actions such as this show a very

low ability for adapting as an educator as well. This teacher was unable to cope with the apathy

we showed towards his class and instead of reaching out to us, he resolved to ignore the

problem by having us work independently in the hall. I feel this also precluded a lack of

commitment to professional learning on his part. His actions lead me to believe that he was

never fully able to learn to deal with opposition in the classroom, despite being a teacher for

fifteen plus years. Although not a particularly bad person in general, this teacher nonetheless

left an impression on me. To this date this individual is a reminder of the kind of teacher I do not

want to be, and keeps the importance of professionalism as an educator fresh in my mind.

3) As a future educator, what are your plans for professional development? Provide specific

examples based on resources you have identified beyond optional AQ courses.

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As a professional educator there are several steps I would like to take to better myself

and improve my ability to engage with a variety of students of differing backgrounds and

interests. One of the biggest goals for me in terms of personal and professional development is

to teach abroad. There seems to be several gateways to teaching abroad including recruiting

conferences and programs such as “Trek to Teach” and “World Teach”. Getting first hand

experience not only living, but teaching in diverse cultural atmospheres will provide me with

valuable insight that I will be able to apply to future interactions with students from various

cultural backgrounds. A better understanding of language and cultural preoccupations will

undoubtedly make me more sensitive to the needs of multicultural students, and will also

expose me to teaching philosophies that I can implement in my practice which I would not

otherwise have been exposed to.

As a big part of Canadian identity and history is centered around Canada’s indigenous

peoples, I think it would be valuable to work or volunteer in an indigenous reservation.

Organizations such as “Teach for Canada” provide recruitment opportunities for teaching in

northern First Nations communities as well as opportunities for community involvement on a

volunteer basis. Taking an opportunity such as this would not only provide a valuable learning

experience for informing my future interactions with future indigenous students, but would also

give me an informed position from which to incorporate my knowledge into future class lessons.

As a Canadian educator, I feel it is essential to touch on Canada’s indigenous history and

treatment of indigenous peoples in order to foster proper understanding and compassion

towards ongoing issues of indigeneity in Canada for all my students.

One other type of resource that I am very interested in for furthering my professional

development is environmental programs such as “LSF” (Learning for a Sustainable Future). This

program in particular focuses on educating teachers on how to adequately teach students about
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environmental sustainability in their communities. It is integral for all Canadians to do their part

in cultivating a sustainable and healthy environmental ecosystem. In general, I think that

environmentalism will continue to become more and more of a collective concern in the future.

With this, I feel obligated to put myself ahead of that curve, proactively, in order to educate

future generations and myself about environmental responsibility.

As stated previously, I believe part of professionalism is being adaptable and continually

striving to learn more in order to improve proficiency in my craft. I think that planning to utilize

the three aforementioned types of resources is a good start in that department. Learning first

hand about cultures will definitely improve my ability to adapt to the different cultural

backgrounds of my students, while engaging in programs that promote the embrace of

indigeneity and environmentalism will help fulfill my responsibilities as Canadian educator.

These are values that permeate our own cultural identity and it is important to pass them on to

future generations in order to make social progress.

4) How will equity and inclusion inform your daily teaching practices?

In order to create optimal learning settings, equity and inclusion must always be in the

forefront of the minds of educators. The content we have covered thus far in PROF 310 has

furthered my knowledge in terms of the types of concessions that must be made to insure

student equity. A wide variety of criteria such as cultural background, socioeconomic status,

learning proficiency, as well as bodily conditions must be considered when creating lessons,

issuing assignments, and designing the classroom environment. As specific guidelines from

Equity and Inclusive Education in Ontario Schools ​states, “Equity does not mean treating all

students in the same way but, rather, responding to the individual needs of each student and

providing the conditions and interventions needed to help him or her succeed” (Ministry of

Education, 2014, 15). Students must be able, comfortable, and feel safe in order to reach their
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potential as “E​quity and inclusive education contribute to every student’s sense of well-being”

(​Ministry of Education, 2014, 15). In order to do this, we must be careful not to inadvertently

alienate individuals due to our own ignorance.

Keeping equity in mind, I think it is very important to determine any background factors

that might affect learning early on when being introduced to a class. In practice it would be very

helpful to begin the school year with diagnostic activities concerning personal information. One

way I might implement this in a secondary institution is by having students design a visual or

written project detailing things like their family structure, cultural background, hobbies, personal

strengths and weaknesses, and future goals. This will help me better understand my students

on an individual level, while establishing open communication with students pertaining to factors

that could potentially affect their educational development. This could prove an invaluable

resource for my practice as it may provide insight into background information that might not be

included in an IEP.

When it comes to incorporating this information on a daily basis, there are several

different instances in which I will modify my conduct in order to be inclusive. For example, when

structuring the spatial layout of a classroom I will be cognisant of factors like sensory disabilities

to insure students are positioned adequately to be able to fully participate in the learning

environment. This might entail having students with visual or hearing deficits be situated closer

to the area of presentation or designing a class layout that is easily accessible for a child in a

wheelchair. I will extend this attention to detail to the lesson plans and assignments I devise as

well. For example, when designing an evaluative assignment such as a personal interest book

report, I will allow students to choose texts written in their first language so as not to limit their

choice to western novels. I want students to be able to freely express and celebrate their culture

in creative ways, while still meeting course expectations. I will also make sure to accommodate
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the various socioeconomic situations of my students when developing assignments, by making

sure all my students have equal access to the materials they need to complete what I am asking

of them.

In terms of lesson planning and my own engagement with the class, I will be sensitive to

the various backgrounds in my classroom. One way I will do this is by including trigger warnings

for potentially sensitive material, say for instance difficult culturally relevant events, subject

matter relevant to forms of violence, and material that touches on social ills. My presentation will

also account for any sensory deficits in the classroom by including visual, auditory, and hands

on components to all the material I am presenting. This will also accommodate the various

preferred learning styles of my students. For example, if I was presenting a discussion of

Macbeth​ to my class I would include a spoken lecture component, written and symbolic visuals

that correspond to what I am saying, and an in class activity where I get students to physically

act out a scene of the play. My overall expectations of students must also be tailored to insure

equity. It is simply unfair to expect the same exact results from students with widely different

strengths and altered preoccupations.

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References:

Romeo, N. (2014, August 06). Are Great Teachers Born or Made? Retrieved November 07,
2017, from
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/08/are-great-teachers-born-or-made/375656

The Ministry of Education (2014). Equity and Inclusive Education in Ontario Schools. Retrieved
November 07, 2017, from
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/inclusiveguide.pdf