ELT 523 – Professionalism in Teaching

(PGDE)

Welcome to Lecture 2
Unit 1: Concepts of Teaching & Professionalism

• 1.Definitions: - Professionalism
- Teaching

2. Attributes of Professionalism
and Teaching
 Session outcomes

• Define the meaning of

Professionalism & Teaching
• Identify the attributes of
Professionalism and Teaching
 Professionalism
• The definition provided by Hoyle (1980), is adapted for this
course:

• ‘Professionalism’ means to describe the quality of practice,

that is, the manner of conduct within the teaching
occupation, how members integrate their obligations with
their knowledge and skills in both a context of collegiality and
their contextual and ethical relations with clients (Hoyle,1980)

• Most specifically the term was used to describe the extent to

which teachers subscribe to a professional code, that is, a set
of ethical standards of conduct for teachers.
 Professionalism..
The word “ profession” is synonymous to:
Occupation, job, career, work or line of work.

The word “professional” = person

- long and arduous years of preparation
- a striving for excellence
- a dedication to public
- commitment to moral and ethical values.
 Professional
• A professional is a learned person who has had to
study in a field of learning before qualifying as one
who can ‘profess’ (Beare, 1992)

• Teachers have often been regarded as professionals

since they have had to undergo a lengthy period of
academic education and training before practicing as
professionals.

• Professionals had to be creative for Creativeness is

the basis of the art or the spirit of teaching and not to
operate by routine.
 The attributes of a profession
 Specialized intellectual study and training
 Controlled entry into the occupation
 Set code of conduct
 Affiliated to a professional organisation
 Independence and freedom to practice
without any interference
 Professionalization
• Hoyle (1980) defines ‘professionalization’ as a
process by which an occupation becomes a
profession and the changes in status that this
implies.

• Professionalism, on the other hand, as stated

previously, describes the quality of practice.
 Professional Development
• The term ‘professional development’ is in wide
usage and is often used to refer to activities related
to the development of teachers as professionals.

• Professional development is any activity or process

intended to improve skills, attitudes,
understandings, or performances in present or
future roles (Fullan, 1992; Cheng, Ng & Tam, 1995)
 Restricted & Extended Professionality

• Sockett (1983) states that there are both

restricted professionals and extended
professionals.

• A restricted professional practices intuitive

teaching based on personal experiences while
an extended professional relates theory to
practice through reflectively analyzing the
teaching-learning process.
 Definitions of teaching given by various
psychologists

H. Morrison – Teaching is an intimate

contact between a more mature person
and a less mature one which is designed
to further the education of the latter.
Definitions of teaching cont…

 Edmund Amidon – Teaching is defined as

an interactive process, primarily involving
classroom talk, which takes place between
the teacher and pupil and occurs during
certain definable activities.
 Definition of teaching cont…

• B. O. Smith – Teaching is a system of actions

involving an agent, an end in view, and a
situation including two sets of factors – those
over which the agent has no control (class
size, size of classroom, physical characteristics
of pupils etc) and those he can modify (ways
of asking questions or ideas gleaned.)
 Teaching also involves:
 The promotion of learning by providing
appropriate conditions for learning by the
teacher
 Helping other people to learn
 Art of imparting knowledge
 Art of building the society by the way it is
done
 Process of inducing learning
 teaching cont…
 Guiding someone to behave in a certain manner
beneficial to himself and the society at large
 Process in which the teacher guides the learner
in acquiring knowledge, skills, attitudes (KSA)
 Interaction involving teacher, learner and the
learning materials
What is your definition of teaching?
• So teaching can now be seen as the teacher’s input
in successfully imprinting a permanent change on
the learner’s cognitive, psychomotor and affective
domains through the process of teaching.

• What then, is Learning?

• Learning is said to have taken place when/ if the
learner has consciously made permanent changes
in the cognitive, psychomotor and affective
domains through practise and examples.
Relationship between Teaching & Learning

• If a connection truly exists, then……….

 Your ability to teach should be judged
on the basis of student learning.
 You should be held accountable for
student learning despite poor parenting,
negative attitudes, and other social ills.
• there is not necessarily a connection between
teaching and learning simply because;

 some students can and will learn in

spite of bad teaching.
 some students will not learn even with
the best teaching.

 Teaching is different from being a

teacher. You should be paid for
teaching and not for being a teacher.
 THE TEACHING PROFESSION
 TYPES OF TEACHERS
Some teachers are teachers by;
 Choice
 Chance
 Force
 Accident
• Under which category do you aspire to fall?
 THE TEACHING PROFESSION

• The teaching profession can be regarded in

three ways:
 Teaching as a Profession
 Teaching as a Mission
 Teaching as a vocation
 If you consider teaching as a profession
then:
You must be willing to go through a long period
of preparation
 You must be willing to go through continuing
education (continuous development of
potentials)
 You must strive (struggle) for excellence
 You must commit yourself to moral, ethical and
religious values and dedicate yourself to service
 Teaching as a Mission

 The word “mission” is derived from the Latin

word “missio” which means “to send”.
 The Webster’s Dictionary defines “mission” as
“task assigned”.
If teaching is your mission then it means:

A)It is the “task” entrusted to you in this world.

B) It is your assigned task thus you’ve got to
prepare for it!
C) It calls for a continuing professional
education.
Activity
What does the following expression infer?
“ Once a teacher, forever a student”
 Teaching as a Vocation

• The word “vocation” comes from the Latin

word “vocare” which means “to call” thus
vocation is a “call”.
 If teaching is your vocation then it means

 You said YES to your call to teach!

 You commit yourself in the total transformation
of the learner.
 You consider teaching as a lifetime commitment
thus aim through the years towards quality
teaching.
N.B “ Teaching may not guarantee financial
security but love of teaching has served as a
motivating factor to many teachers through the
years”. Teaching has remained inspiring and
fulfilling.
TEACHING AS BOTH AN ART AND SCIENCE

Is teaching an Art or Science? Justify your point

of view.
 TEACHING AS AN ART
 Teaching is viewed as an Art because it is both
Reflective and Inventive
a. Art: Teaching is an act of interpretation
and self-expression on the part of the
teacher.
b. The art of teaching involves the
adaptations, a teacher must make to
accommodate his/her specific situation
and style.
c. The art comes from the teachers
personality, experience and talents
 TEACHING AS A SCIENCE
Teaching as a Science: effective techniques
 Science: Teaching follows research-based
practises to promote student achievement.
 The science of teaching involves the
generalisations from research about effective
teaching.

 The science comes from knowledge of child

development and the structure of the
curriculum.
 EFFECTIVE TEACHING IS A CRAFT
• Combining science and art makes teaching a
craft. It combines the science of educational
psychology, human development,
communication with a talent for teaching,
connecting to learners and the intuitive ability
to communicate so that a person can refine
and become more competent in the craft of
teaching.
 Tutorial Activity

• With examples, explain how teaching relates

to learning.
• “ Once a teacher, forever a student”. Discuss
this statement with supportive evidence from
personal experience.
• “ Good teachers are born, not made”. Discuss
this statement with supportive evidence.
• If someone labels you to be ‘living in the
past,’ how does that person see you?
End of Lecture

Mr Boku