“Your profession is not what brings home your weekly paycheck, your profession is what you're put here

on earth to
do, with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.”
Vincent Van Gogh
WEEK 2 TEACHING AS A PROFESSION

LEARNING OUTCOME: Examine the teaching profession against the elements of a profession

In Activity: Propesyonal nga ba?

Cite two instances when the word “professional” is used. Explain what the word professional means in
each case. Use the space below. Be ready to share your work to class.
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KEY POINTS
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Through Activity:
Profession’ derives
What is a profession? What does it take to be a professional? What are the elements of a
from the Latin word
profession? Let us examine closely how.
‘profiteor,’ to profess
‘Profession’ derives from the Latin word ‘profiteor,’ to profess, which can also have the
connotation of making a formal commitment in the sense of taking a monastic oath. This root might
suggest that a professional is someone who claims to possess knowledge of something and has a
commitment to a particular code or set of values, both of which are fairly well-accepted characteristics of
professions.

A dictionary defines a profession as a paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged
training and a formal qualification. It is synonymous to career, occupation, calling, vocation, line of work,
and line of employment. It is an act of declaring a particular feeling or quality.

In his speech, Alex S. Brown identified the Nine elements of a

profession.

1. Initial Professional Education. Professionals generally begin their

professional lives by completing a university program in their chosen
fields – law school, medical school, engineering school, and so on.

2. Accreditation. University programs are accredited by oversight bodies

that determine whether the programs provide adequate education.
Accreditation assures that graduates from accredited programs start their professional lives with the
knowledge they need to perform effectively. The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
(ABET) oversees engineering programs.
3. Skills Development. For most professions, education alone is not sufficient to develop full
professional capabilities. Nascent professionals need practice
applying their knowledge before they are prepared to take primary
responsibility for performing work in their fields. Physicians have a KEY POINTS
three-year residency. Certified public accountants (CPAs) must
work one year for a board-approved organization before receiving
their licenses. Professional engineers must have at least four years The nine elements of a
of work experience. Requiring some kind of apprenticeship assures profession (by Brown):
that people who enter a profession have practice performing work 1. Initial Professional
at a satisfactory level of competence. Education
2. Accreditation.
4. Certification. After completion of education and skills 3. Skills Development
development, a professional is required to pass one or more exams
4. Certification.
that assure the person has attained a minimum level of knowledge.
5. Licensing.
Doctors take board exams. Accountants take CPA exams.
6. Professional
Professional engineers take a Fundamentals of Engineering exam at
Development.
college graduation time and then take an engineering specialty
7. Professional Societies
exam about four years later. Some professions require
8. Code of Ethics
recertification from time to time.
9. Organizational
Certification
5. Licensing. Licensing is similar to certification except that it is
mandatory instead of voluntary and is administered by a
governmental authority. [Only licensed professionals can be found guilty of malpractice, but following
generally accepted practices of your profession can be a defense against accusations of malpractice. Non-
licensed workers are rarely sued for poor work, except in extreme cases of neglect or intent to harm;
usually the company employing the worker is sued if its workers produce defective products. Dissatisfied
customers can sue the licensed professional AS AN INDIVIDUAL, in addition to suing their employer.
Along with licensing comes malpractice insurance, to allow the licensed professional to practice his or
her craft without fear of personal bankruptcy.

6. Professional Development. Many professions are required to keep their professional education
current. Ongoing professional education maintains or improves workers’ knowledge and skills after they
begin professional practice. Professional development requirements tend to be strongest in professions
where a body of technical knowledge is rapidly changing. Medicine is perhaps the most notable because
of the constant improvements in drugs, therapies, medical equipment, and diagnosis and treatment
procedures. After a professional’s initial education and skills development are complete, this additional
education requirement helps to assure a minimum competency throughout the professional’s career

7. Professional Societies. Professionals see themselves as part of a community of like-minded individuals

who put their professional standards above the individual self-interest or their employer’s self-interest.
When a professional society is just beginning, it usually promotes the exchange of knowledge, and over
time its function evolves to include defining certification criteria, managing certification programs,
establishing accreditation standards, and defining a code of ethics and disciplinary action for violations of
that code.

8. Code of Ethics. Each profession has a code of ethics to ensure that its practitioners behave responsibly.
The code states not just what its practitioners actually do but what they should do. Professionals can be
ejected from their professional societies or lose their licenses to practice for violating the code of ethics.
Adherence to a recognized code of conduct helps professionals feel they belong to a well-regarded
community, and enforcement of ethics standards helps maintain a minimum level of conduct.
9. Organizational Certification. In many professions, not only must individuals be certified, their
organizations must be certified. Accounting firms are peer reviewed. Hospitals are accredited, as are
universities. For fields as complex as accounting, education, and medicine, organizational certification is
a response to the reality that individual competence is not sufficient to guarantee adequate levels of
professional service; organizational characteristics can have as much influence as individuals’
characteristics.

Source: http://www.alexsbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/prof9.pdf

Think and Reflect:

Review the nine items, and ask yourself: Are these characteristics applicable to teaching? Defend your
answer.
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Is Teaching a profession or not?

Professions have a more recognizable set of characteristics that distinguishes them from the non-
professions. As you read the following lists of characteristics, check whether you think teaching qualifies
on each premise.

Does teaching qualify?

Yes No
1. A profession renders a unique, definite, and essential service to society.
Only the people in the particular profession render the service; for instance,
only lawyers practice law. The service rendered must be considered so
important that it is available to all the people in a society

2. A profession relies on intellectual skills in the performance of its service.

This does not mean that physical actions and skills are not needed; rather the
emphasis in carrying on the work is on intellectual skills and techniques.

3. A profession entails a long period of specialized training. Because

professional work requires special intellectual skills, it requires specialized
intellectual training. General education such as represented by a bachelor’s
degree is valued but is not considered adequate. The specialized training
must cover a substantial period and not to be obtained in a cram courses or
correspondence schools.

4. Both individual members of the professional group enjoy a considerable

degree of autonomy and decision making authority. Professional groups
regulate their own activities rather than having outsiders set policies and
enforce adherence to standards. Whereas factory workers have very limited
decision making power and closely supervised in the performance of their
work, professionals are expected to make the most of their own decisions
and be free of close supervisions by supervisors.

5. A profession requires its members to accept personal responsibilities for

their actions and decisions and in general, for their performance. Because the
professional’s service is directly related to the clients’ welfare, this
responsibility is an especially serious one.
 6. A profession emphasizes the services rendered by its practitioners more
than their financial rewards. Although the personal motives of any individual
professional re not necessarily any higher than any other worker’s, the
professional group‘s public emphasis is on service.

7. A profession is self-governing and responsible for policing its own rank.

This means there are professional groups that perform a number of activities
aimed at keeping the quality of their services high and looking out for the
social and economic well-being of the professional members. Also, these
self-governing organization s set standards of admission and exclusion for
the profession.

8. A profession has a code of ethics that sets out the acceptable standards of
conduct for its members.

Out Activity:

Read carefully and examine the work of Stan Lester entitled “On professions and being professional”, as
well as the discussions above. Create your own checklist of characteristics of teaching as a profession.
You may also refer to the lists discussed in this lesson as your guide

Characteristics of Teaching as a Profession

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Source: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0c01/c931220b7d598a071f0e88ce17e24f5e7fdf.pdf