Teaching as a Profession

by Yuvi - September 18, 2021

Explain Teaching as a Profession ?

Teaching is a profession-indeed a noble one, conceptually and ideally. It is also different from other professions because of its multitude of dimensions. Teachers are the largest professional group engaged in human development activities. It is only in the case of teaching there is much more that is required to be accomplished than in the case of other professions.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

“A profession is a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain.”.

Characteristics of a Profession:.

The list of characteristics that follows is extensive, but does not claim to include every characteristic that has ever been attributed to professions, nor do all of these features apply to every profession:.

1. Skill based on theoretical knowledge: Professionals are assumed to have extensive theoretical knowledge (e.g. medicine, law, scripture or engineering) and to possess skills based on that knowledge that they are able to apply in practice.

2. Professional association: Professions usually have professional bodies organized by their members, which are intended to enhance the status of their members and have carefully controlled entrance requirements.

3. Extensive period of education: The most prestigious professions usually require at least three years at university.

Undertaking doctoral research can add a further 4-5 years to this period of education.

4. Testing of competence: Before being admitted to membership of a professional body, there is a requirement to pass prescribed examinations that are based on mainly theoretical knowledge.

5. Institutional training: In addition to examinations, there is usually a requirement for a long period of institutionalized training where aspiring professionals acquire specified practical experience in some sort of trainee role before being recognized as a full member of a professional body. Continuous upgrading of skills through professional development is also mandatory these days.

6. Licensed Practitioners: Professions seek to establish a register or membership so that only those individuals so licensed are recognized as bona fide.

7. Work autonomy: Professionals tend to retain control over their work, even when they are employed outside the profession in commercial or public organizations. They have also gained control over their own theoretical knowledge.

8. Code of Professional conduct of ethics: Professional bodies usually have codes of conduct or ethics for their members and disciplinary procedures for those who infringe the rules.

9. Self-regulation: Professional bodies tend to insist that they should be self-regulating and independent from government,.

Professions tend to be policed and regulated by senior, respected practitioners and the most highly qualified members of the profession.

10. Public service and altruism: The earning of fees for services rendered can be defended because they are provided in the public interest, e.g. the work of doctors contributes to public health.

11. Exclusion, monopoly and legal recognition: Professions tend to exclude those who have not met their requirements and joined the appropriate professional body. This is often termed professional closure, and seeks to bar entry for the unqualified and to sanction or expel incompetent members.

12. Control of remuneration and advertising: Where levels of remuneration are determined by government, professional bodies are active in negotiating (usually advantageous) remuneration packages for their members.

13. High status and rewards: The most successful professions achieve high status, public prestige and rewards for their members. Some of the factors included in this list contribute to such success.

14. Individual clients: Many professions have individual fee paying clients. For example, in accountancy, “the profession” usually refers to accountants who have individual and corporate clients, rather than accountants who are employees of organizations.

15. Middle-class occupations: Traditionally, many professions have been viewed as ‘respectable’ occupations for middle and upper classes.

16. Male-dominated: The highest status professions have tended to be dominated although females are closing this gender gap Women are now being admitted to the priesthood while its status has declined relative to other professions. Similar arguments apply to race and class: ethic groups and working-class people are no less disadvantaged in most professions that they are in society generally.

17 Ritual: Church ritual and the Court procedure are obviously ritualistic.

18 Legitimacy: Professions have clear legal authority over some activities (e.g. certifying the insane) but are also seen as adding legitimacy to a wide range of related activities.

19 Inaccessible body of knowledge: In some professions, the body of knowledge is relatively inaccessible to the uninitiated.

Medicine and law are typically not school subjects and have separate faculties and even separate libraries at universities.

20 Indeterminacy of knowledge: Professional knowledge contains elements that escape being mastered and communicated in the form of rules and can only be acquired through experience.

21 Mobility: The skill knowledge and authority of professionals belongs to the professionals as individuals, not the organizations for which they work. Professionals are therefore relatively mobile in employment opportunities as they can move teacher employers and their talents with them. Standardization of professional training and procedures enhances this mobility.

Teacher education as a profession –

Teachers play a vital role in the improvement of the quality of education.

In any assessment of the educational system, it is important to know whether there are enough teachers, who are not only well qualified to each different subjects, but are also able to cope with the changing curriculum and growth in knowledge.

It is important to know about the facilities that exist for upgrading their knowledge and improving their skills of teaching.

The professional development of teachers has received a great deal of attention in all countries, including India, .

The volume of professional and research literature on in-series education and professional development is also considerable.

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