Teachers perceived as professionals or technicians : a longstanding contemplation that impacts the type of professional development offered and/or sought

Abstract

Teaching is nowadays widely referred to as a profession. Yet, when compared to other professions, many teachers a ck now ledge that they are not shown similar respect and recognition by the general public and are not afforded the same rewards by employers (Cheers 2001). According to Riley (2003), being professional also involves a degree of regulatory autonomy. This however, is typically denied to teachers when faced by 'prescriptive, teacher-proof curricula and instructional strategies driven by politically mandated forces' (Helterbran 2008, 124). This lack of autonomy is further augmented with top-down teacher accountability that is habitually driven by narrow standardised tests (Moore and Berry 2010). If teaching is taken-for-granted to be considered a profession, many actions and decisions related to the 'profession' show otherwise. When focusing on the professional development of teachers, similar messages are given. Around the globe, a standards-based view of teacher development still prevails. According to Kennedy (2005, 241) such a view 'sets clear expectations regarding the extent to which teachers should take responsibility for their own professional learning and encourages them to be reliant on central direction, even in assessing their own learning.' This has obvious implications as to how teachers, as well as the general public, interpret professionalism in teaching. It is unsurprising perhaps for teachers to end up seeing themselves as professionals if they do what they are told to do well (Helterbran 2008). This is indeed paradoxical as such a statement goes against the notion of being professional. But this is the message given when the vast majority of professional development opportunities are transmission type models, even though a slight shift towards transformative learning models has recently been noted. It is ironic that this is still happening in an era where the dominant discourse in education is to promote students' analytical skills, creativity, reflexivity, and to help them develop into autonomous and independent lifelong learners who can continuously develop in a knowledge society. To do this teachers need to tailor teaching and learning to students' individual needs. But why do policymakers seem to forget such notions when the focus is teacher learning rather than student learning? This chapter attempts to analyse various forms of professional development opportunities that promote transformative learning and how these have an impact on the notion of professionalism in teaching. It also highlights the desired future directions for teacher professional development if teaching is to be truly considered a profession.