While I definitely agree that there is artfulness, even artistry, to good teaching....I've wanted to reject the spiritual language describing teaching. The reason is less that I don't think these things are true about teaching and teachers, because I do...both from my past experience as a teacher and my experience with teachers.
For me, I think the issue with too easily carving out the word teacher with flowy language, is the danger we spoke about in class, how one's desire and happiness as a teacher can used to subjugate, exploit, and condemn teachers to deserving less than equitable. While some of the gendered content of this has been drawn out a little from the associations one has with teaching as a profession, there's still a cultural value to teaching that ranges from the enthusiasm some people feel toward their past teachers and your own being or becoming a teacher to more neutral stances to negative associations, whether from a set of past experiences that soured someone on education or teachers, to, and not insignificantly, the attempts to paint teachers (alongside just about any public employee) as moochers, as union thugs, as overpaid, or as underpaid. That you can't start off a comment about teaching without pay lip service to the notion of "of course there are bad teachers out there.....something about sending those folks packing...." (I am never sympathetic to the glee for politicians' being able to fire teachers) says a lot about the attempts to define what a teacher is.
So, to that end, I think there is value is professionalizing teaching internally and externally....to create standards (no clue how to do this) and to not be defacing about the role and value of teaching, as well as, not falling into the trap of allowing the desire to teach to replace the need for dignity, confidence, and awareness of intrinsic and extrinsic worth as teachers.
I think of teaching as a profession because there are standards that people have to uphold. These standards differ slightly depending on what you teach and where. In addition, there is certification requirements that all public school teachers have to endure. Lawyers, physicians, dentists, nurses, actuaries, and accountants all have some kind of certification that they are required to pass.
However, teaching is a profession that places great demand on the will and passion of the teacher. These two traits are directed toward the students as the particular teacher hopes to meet the needs of each student as well as the requirements that the school district and school administration has placed on him or her. In every profession mentioned, the individual is tested on his or her merits. However, what those merits entail differs tremendously between professions.
With accounting, it is primarily precision and accuracy, although teamwork and patience are also required. Teaching, however, requires dedication, patience, open-mindedness, and the ability to have a broad sense of creativity. This creativity is vital when dealing with students of wide differences in learning and academic ability. Teamwork is another important skill, but it is common in accounting, medicine, finance, and engineering to a lesser extent.
Last, teaching is about changing what is accepted through inspiring young minds to question, to think critically, and to become more open minded about the world around them. Students in areas with a lack of resources, supplies, and in poverty, especially need inspiration to create motivation and momentum to succeed. The other professions mentioned provide a service, but they do not help people, in earlier stages of their development, make crucial decisions about their lives that could impact them many years later.
To surmise, teaching requires the practitioner to serve young adults, children, and adults by helping them better understand life and gain skills that allow them to grow academically, socially, culturally, and perhaps politically and economically. These students need these tools to go further in their lives.
I definitely think of teaching in public schools as a profession. It requires education, training, certification, membership in a community of practitioners, and payment for ones services. However the larger work of being a teacher can be stifled by considering it a profession. Profession as a term has been infused with meaning from the corporate world of human resources and leadership studies. It has come to be a word used to oppress those in professions beholden to higher authorities within organizations. Profession as a word makes me prickle. However, it would provide a powerful opportunity to teachers if they were to harness the potential of the word. It might provide a unity of purpose to teachers and a strong sense of identity as they advocate for their communities, students, and themselves.
When I think of a profession, I think of a job that involves a specialized set of knowledge that goes above what one would require for a standard "minimum wage" type job, for lack of a better term, a large time commitment, and a dedication to the field. The first jobs that meet these criteria the come to mind are doctor, lawyer, and teacher. Thinking of teaching as a profession requires some tricky thinking, as personally it could classify as either a job, or as a profession. Becoming a doctor requires all sorts of knowledge about anatomy, biology, and a myriad of other things on top of passing the MCAT, residency, and a final battery of tests to become certified. To be a lawyer? That means passing the LSAT, learning about various legal precedents and statutes and how to present facts in front a jury or to another lawyer on behalf of a corporation, and then the bar. To become a teacher, however? That involves a much murkier set of skills that can be hard to pin down. Some people believe anyone can become a teacher. You take a few classes, pass a few tests and become certified. That overlooks the complexity of what it takes to become a good teacher, and if someone is a good teacher then teaching becomes a profession. A truly good teacher can inspire their students to achieve greater things then they initially thought they could. Maybe that is a simple as working harder to pass the class, or that could be to go on and become a professional in a field they had never dreamed of before. This requires a tremendous amount of skill, not only in imparting knowledge in a meaningful and lasting way, but also in connecting with students. Moreover, teaching requires more than showing up from 8 in the morning till 3 in the afternoon to become one's profession. You have to go above and beyond just showing up. Good teachers will stay up late correcting papers, crafting lesson plans, and going over ever minute detail to make sure they don't short change their students. They put in the time and effort to make the greatest impact for the short 8 months that they have available, usually for little of no recognition from the students who don't realize what is going on behind the scenes. For teaching to become ones profession means dedicating not only time, but also putting in every ounce of energy available to make an impact on students, otherwise it's just a job. -Sean McFadden
Teaching to me is a profession. It is a profession because it needs a certain skill set and certain knowledge. In addition to that though, teaching requires a unique person to truly be successful at the profession. No one becomes a teacher for the presige or the pay. You become a teacher to help, inspire, and nurture other human beings. Everyone may have the knowledge to teach, but not everyone can be successfully teach and that is what sets teaching apart from any other profession. A teacher must be a preformer, a knowlegable source and a trustworthy leader. This unique person must also have the ability to inpsire young minds to aspire to do whatever it is that they strive to achieve. Being a teacher is more than just content knowledge to me. It is passing along a passion for content knowledge as well as a passion for learning and a confidence to succeed. Teaching is not just a profession, it is a way of thinking and living that you pass on to your students through inspiration and dedication to each and every students success.
To me a profession is specialized work an individual does in order to support themselves (in a capitalist system). This creates the complicated dynamic of obligation and necessity to complete the “work” of that profession, while also significantly contributing to both that individuals identity and skill set. Ideally, we like what our profession is, though unfortunately many people do not. Regardless, by this definition I do consider teaching to be a profession. It is something we (hopefully) acquire highly specialized skills in order to do in return for a pay check which supports our livelihoods. In fact, it is much more specialized than many other things that I would consider “professions” and therefore perhaps requires more dedication as well as qualification.
Fortunately, I realized before going to college that it would be important for me to choose a “profession” that I was passionate about, instead of just going to school to gain a set of credentials in a field I knew would be lucrative. Therefore I have pursued teaching as something very much above and beyond a mere means to the end of financial gain (teaching would hardly have been the logical option were that my only priority) and I have a significant personal investment in (to sound very cliché:) using my selected profession to contribute as a positive force in my society.
Another important angle of recognizing teaching as a profession is the sense of “professionalism” that comes along with it. Educators have a number of responsibilities and values to uphold, some of them as basic as arriving in time to prepare for the beginning of class each day and having instructional materials planned and ready ahead of time. Aspects of professionalism which are just as important but may require more consideration and subjective judgment include our jobs as role models for our students and the boundaries we draw in our classrooms.
I would definitely say that teaching is a profession. For starters, a teacher is paid. Semantics? Probably somewhat, but at it's core, being a professional involves getting paid. But that isn't the intriguing aspect of the question. That involves taking a bit of a step back looking at what makes something a profession, as opposed to some other activity for money. For starters, there is a required degree of specialization and training, with the implication that not any random person off the street could not do whatever it is that the profession does. A profession also has a set of standards and values that outline proper behavior and etiquette for those who practice that profession. And finally, I would say that a profession has a degree of self-administration/monitoring/policing/enforcement as a way of ensuring that the standards and expectations of performance are being met. Viewed through this lens, teaching definitely fits the bill for a profession.
But... perhaps the more interesting discussion would be about the standards and values of the profession. After all, I could be a professional cat burglar (no, I'm not. I've never stolen a single cat). And that would be my "profession" but it carries a very different connotation than a teacher, engineer, or doctor, for example.
I have no doubt that teaching in a profession. Teachers receive salary, healthcare benefits, pension, etc. For me, this defines a profession. I believe if your employer makes a financial commitment to you, i.e benefits, then it can be considered a profession. Beyond the benefits, teaching requires specialized schooling and passing certain tests in order to become a teacher. If it did not and all a person had to do was fill out an application and complete an interview then it would not be seen as a profession.
Now another question is, Is teaching seen as a profession in the workforce? I believe the answer would be yes. Any educated individual should be able to see how a teacher effects society both positively and negatively depending on how they go about their job. If a teacher is not doing well and doesn't care about their job then they effect the society negatively and vice versa if they care and work hard for their students then they can effect the society positively. So, YES teaching is definitely a profession which is not for everyone.
I believe Teaching is a profession. It requires training and particular skills to be effective. Some people believe that individuals can teach from experience which to some degree I believe is true, but how effective will that teacher actually be? Even with all three goals in mind mentioned by Labree there’s not a way to allot equal access to education if all teachers aren’t trained equally, there’s not a way to allot social efficiency if teachers aren’t trained with skills to make a certain trade useful, and there’s not a way to allow social mobility if some teachers are trained with more skill than others.
While I definitely agree that there is artfulness, even artistry, to good teaching....I've wanted to reject the spiritual language describing teaching. The reason is less that I don't think these things are true about teaching and teachers, because I do...both from my past experience as a teacher and my experience with teachers.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I think the issue with too easily carving out the word teacher with flowy language, is the danger we spoke about in class, how one's desire and happiness as a teacher can used to subjugate, exploit, and condemn teachers to deserving less than equitable. While some of the gendered content of this has been drawn out a little from the associations one has with teaching as a profession, there's still a cultural value to teaching that ranges from the enthusiasm some people feel toward their past teachers and your own being or becoming a teacher to more neutral stances to negative associations, whether from a set of past experiences that soured someone on education or teachers, to, and not insignificantly, the attempts to paint teachers (alongside just about any public employee) as moochers, as union thugs, as overpaid, or as underpaid. That you can't start off a comment about teaching without pay lip service to the notion of "of course there are bad teachers out there.....something about sending those folks packing...." (I am never sympathetic to the glee for politicians' being able to fire teachers) says a lot about the attempts to define what a teacher is.
So, to that end, I think there is value is professionalizing teaching internally and externally....to create standards (no clue how to do this) and to not be defacing about the role and value of teaching, as well as, not falling into the trap of allowing the desire to teach to replace the need for dignity, confidence, and awareness of intrinsic and extrinsic worth as teachers.
I think of teaching as a profession because there are standards that people have to uphold. These standards differ slightly depending on what you teach and where. In addition, there is certification requirements that all public school teachers have to endure. Lawyers, physicians, dentists, nurses, actuaries, and accountants all have some kind of certification that they are required to pass.
ReplyDeleteHowever, teaching is a profession that places great demand on the will and passion of the teacher. These two traits are directed toward the students as the particular teacher hopes to meet the needs of each student as well as the requirements that the school district and school administration has placed on him or her. In every profession mentioned, the individual is tested on his or her merits. However, what those merits entail differs tremendously between professions.
With accounting, it is primarily precision and accuracy, although teamwork and patience are also required. Teaching, however, requires dedication, patience, open-mindedness, and the ability to have a broad sense of creativity. This creativity is vital when dealing with students of wide differences in learning and academic ability. Teamwork is another important skill, but it is common in accounting, medicine, finance, and engineering to a lesser extent.
Last, teaching is about changing what is accepted through inspiring young minds to question, to think critically, and to become more open minded about the world around them. Students in areas with a lack of resources, supplies, and in poverty, especially need inspiration to create motivation and momentum to succeed. The other professions mentioned provide a service, but they do not help people, in earlier stages of their development, make crucial decisions about their lives that could impact them many years later.
To surmise, teaching requires the practitioner to serve young adults, children, and adults by helping them better understand life and gain skills that allow them to grow academically, socially, culturally, and perhaps politically and economically. These students need these tools to go further in their lives.
I definitely think of teaching in public schools as a profession. It requires education, training, certification, membership in a community of practitioners, and payment for ones services. However the larger work of being a teacher can be stifled by considering it a profession. Profession as a term has been infused with meaning from the corporate world of human resources and leadership studies. It has come to be a word used to oppress those in professions beholden to higher authorities within organizations. Profession as a word makes me prickle. However, it would provide a powerful opportunity to teachers if they were to harness the potential of the word. It might provide a unity of purpose to teachers and a strong sense of identity as they advocate for their communities, students, and themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of a profession, I think of a job that involves a specialized set of knowledge that goes above what one would require for a standard "minimum wage" type job, for lack of a better term, a large time commitment, and a dedication to the field. The first jobs that meet these criteria the come to mind are doctor, lawyer, and teacher.
ReplyDeleteThinking of teaching as a profession requires some tricky thinking, as personally it could classify as either a job, or as a profession. Becoming a doctor requires all sorts of knowledge about anatomy, biology, and a myriad of other things on top of passing the MCAT, residency, and a final battery of tests to become certified. To be a lawyer? That means passing the LSAT, learning about various legal precedents and statutes and how to present facts in front a jury or to another lawyer on behalf of a corporation, and then the bar. To become a teacher, however? That involves a much murkier set of skills that can be hard to pin down. Some people believe anyone can become a teacher. You take a few classes, pass a few tests and become certified. That overlooks the complexity of what it takes to become a good teacher, and if someone is a good teacher then teaching becomes a profession.
A truly good teacher can inspire their students to achieve greater things then they initially thought they could. Maybe that is a simple as working harder to pass the class, or that could be to go on and become a professional in a field they had never dreamed of before. This requires a tremendous amount of skill, not only in imparting knowledge in a meaningful and lasting way, but also in connecting with students. Moreover, teaching requires more than showing up from 8 in the morning till 3 in the afternoon to become one's profession. You have to go above and beyond just showing up. Good teachers will stay up late correcting papers, crafting lesson plans, and going over ever minute detail to make sure they don't short change their students. They put in the time and effort to make the greatest impact for the short 8 months that they have available, usually for little of no recognition from the students who don't realize what is going on behind the scenes. For teaching to become ones profession means dedicating not only time, but also putting in every ounce of energy available to make an impact on students, otherwise it's just a job.
-Sean McFadden
Teaching to me is a profession. It is a profession because it needs a certain skill set and certain knowledge. In addition to that though, teaching requires a unique person to truly be successful at the profession. No one becomes a teacher for the presige or the pay. You become a teacher to help, inspire, and nurture other human beings. Everyone may have the knowledge to teach, but not everyone can be successfully teach and that is what sets teaching apart from any other profession. A teacher must be a preformer, a knowlegable source and a trustworthy leader. This unique person must also have the ability to inpsire young minds to aspire to do whatever it is that they strive to achieve. Being a teacher is more than just content knowledge to me. It is passing along a passion for content knowledge as well as a passion for learning and a confidence to succeed. Teaching is not just a profession, it is a way of thinking and living that you pass on to your students through inspiration and dedication to each and every students success.
ReplyDeleteTo me a profession is specialized work an individual does in order to support themselves (in a capitalist system). This creates the complicated dynamic of obligation and necessity to complete the “work” of that profession, while also significantly contributing to both that individuals identity and skill set. Ideally, we like what our profession is, though unfortunately many people do not. Regardless, by this definition I do consider teaching to be a profession. It is something we (hopefully) acquire highly specialized skills in order to do in return for a pay check which supports our livelihoods. In fact, it is much more specialized than many other things that I would consider “professions” and therefore perhaps requires more dedication as well as qualification.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I realized before going to college that it would be important for me to choose a “profession” that I was passionate about, instead of just going to school to gain a set of credentials in a field I knew would be lucrative. Therefore I have pursued teaching as something very much above and beyond a mere means to the end of financial gain (teaching would hardly have been the logical option were that my only priority) and I have a significant personal investment in (to sound very cliché:) using my selected profession to contribute as a positive force in my society.
Another important angle of recognizing teaching as a profession is the sense of “professionalism” that comes along with it. Educators have a number of responsibilities and values to uphold, some of them as basic as arriving in time to prepare for the beginning of class each day and having instructional materials planned and ready ahead of time. Aspects of professionalism which are just as important but may require more consideration and subjective judgment include our jobs as role models for our students and the boundaries we draw in our classrooms.
I would definitely say that teaching is a profession. For starters, a teacher is paid. Semantics? Probably somewhat, but at it's core, being a professional involves getting paid. But that isn't the intriguing aspect of the question. That involves taking a bit of a step back looking at what makes something a profession, as opposed to some other activity for money. For starters, there is a required degree of specialization and training, with the implication that not any random person off the street could not do whatever it is that the profession does. A profession also has a set of standards and values that outline proper behavior and etiquette for those who practice that profession. And finally, I would say that a profession has a degree of self-administration/monitoring/policing/enforcement as a way of ensuring that the standards and expectations of performance are being met.
ReplyDeleteViewed through this lens, teaching definitely fits the bill for a profession.
But... perhaps the more interesting discussion would be about the standards and values of the profession. After all, I could be a professional cat burglar (no, I'm not. I've never stolen a single cat). And that would be my "profession" but it carries a very different connotation than a teacher, engineer, or doctor, for example.
Karl Ottmar
I have no doubt that teaching in a profession. Teachers receive salary, healthcare benefits, pension, etc. For me, this defines a profession. I believe if your employer makes a financial commitment to you, i.e benefits, then it can be considered a profession. Beyond the benefits, teaching requires specialized schooling and passing certain tests in order to become a teacher. If it did not and all a person had to do was fill out an application and complete an interview then it would not be seen as a profession.
ReplyDeleteNow another question is, Is teaching seen as a profession in the workforce? I believe the answer would be yes. Any educated individual should be able to see how a teacher effects society both positively and negatively depending on how they go about their job. If a teacher is not doing well and doesn't care about their job then they effect the society negatively and vice versa if they care and work hard for their students then they can effect the society positively. So, YES teaching is definitely a profession which is not for everyone.
-Kyle Kimbrell
I believe Teaching is a profession. It requires training and particular skills to be effective. Some people believe that individuals can teach from experience which to some degree I believe is true, but how effective will that teacher actually be? Even with all three goals in mind mentioned by Labree there’s not a way to allot equal access to education if all teachers aren’t trained equally, there’s not a way to allot social efficiency if teachers aren’t trained with skills to make a certain trade useful, and there’s not a way to allow social mobility if some teachers are trained with more skill than others.
ReplyDelete