PROFESSIONALISATION OF TEACHING AND ITS

BENEFITS IN NIGERIA

BY

OLUREMI AYODELE-BAMISAIYE PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN

PRESENTATION AT THE ANNUAL CONGRESS OF

OSUN STATE ANCOPPS, ON 12 NOVEMBER 2008

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Protocols

I welcome you, my dear colleagues, to this gathering that I

choose to refer to as the Elders Forum in the noble profession of

teaching. This is not to flatter you or inflate your ego. The status of

the Principal Teacher has always been conferred on those who have

the qualification, experience and professional maturity, especially of

interpersonal relationship, as shown in exemplary track record as a

follower while serving in the lower wrungs of the seniority ladder. I

remember when late Governor Bola Ige was invited as a guest to the

University of Ibadan during his tenure. The students of Educational

Management asked to be appointed as Principals of schools straight

from graduation, because according to them, they were being trained

to manage schools, not to teach. The Cicero himself replied that he

would not give the leadership of any school to people who could not

teach, because they would not themselves be able to administer

teachers unless they had been teachers. According to him, late Papa

Alayande was known as a schoolmaster, even though he was a veteran

Principal. That put paid to the demand of our trainees, some of whom

may be here today. This reference is being made to show that this

forum is qualified to discuss professionalisation of teaching because it

is comprised of professional teachers who, have climbed the ladder of

seniority based on qualification, experience and good performance. It

is difficult to understand the pangs of childbirth unless one has been

in labour before. You have taught (and are some still teaching?) so;

you know what it means to be a practising teacher. Once again I

welcome you to our forum.

Although I started out an a teacher in 1972, I did not become

professionally qualified until ten years later, when I obtained the

postgraduate Diploma in Education in the University of Ibadan. Since

then, I have been privileged to graduate to the position of being a

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teacher to professional teachers in training. It is therefore very

gratifying to be in this forum to highlight the benefits of

professionalisation of teaching not only to the professional teachers

but to the nation as a whole. I would attempt to carry out this

assignment by answering the following questions:

What is a Profession?

What is teaching?

Why teaching as a profession?

What are the benefits of professionalisation?

This paper will be concluded by a very brief allusion to the efforts

of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria in ensuring

professionalisation of Teaching.

What is a Profession?

The chambers 20th Century dictionary defines a profession as:

An employment not mechanical and requiring some

degree of learning; calling, habitual employment, the collective body of persons engaged in any profession1.

It is noteworthy that this definition specifically states that

teaching is “not mechanical”, i.e. it is not a trade that you learn by

observation as we have in the apprenticeship system. Again, a

profession requires some degree of learning, so it is knowledge based.

The longer it takes to learn, the higher the professional status rating.

This perhaps explains why graduates of course which take longer

years to specialize in are also accorded higher status ratings than

those which take less time to qualify. Again, a profession is not part-

time work. It is habitual employment. Some professions do not have

regular hours of work. For example, doctors can be called to work

anytime of the day. This makes it near impossible to combine medical

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practice with any other work. It is also rare to hear people say

something like:

“I’m part-time lawyer but a full-time banker”.

The last in the definitions refers to the people in the practice of a

profession. By implication, it means that this collective body here

present today can be referred ass a professional body of teacher just

as we have the body of benchers, (i.e. the members of legal disciplinary

council).

Professionalism dates back to the Renaissance period when

three professions were dominant. These were Catholic priesthood,

medicine and law2. Today, we have other professions like,

architecture, accountancy, banking, journalism among others. Here,

we shall focus on the professional status of teaching because of the

social roles of the teacher as a member of a society.

Literature on professionalisation usually lists criteria of

professional status as:

• absolute knowledge by professional

• professional life and training

• professional oath-taking

• professional pride and commitment

• control of entry

• freedom to practice the profession.3

In our ICT – dependent world, it becomes difficult for any

professional claim ABSOLUTE knowledge in any area, judging by the

rate at which new knowledge renders its antecedents obsolete.

Professional life and training while still relevant, can also be acquired

via electronic and other devices as we have with the training of

software engineers and other related professions. Oath taking is not a

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part of the training: it is administered after training and prior to entry

into professional practice. However, professional autonomy,

commitment and control of entry remain vital to professionalisation,

especially when we discuss teaching as a profession.

What is Teaching?

Again the chambers 20th century dictionary defines

teaching as

The act, practice, or profession of giving instruction …4 From this meaning we can see that teaching can have two-

dimensional meaning, i.e. as

• an intellectual activity, and,

• a profession.

Both interpretations are relevant to this discussion because the

professional status rating of the teacher is highly dependent on

his/her intellectual status rating by students.

According to Bamisaiye (1989) generally, students respect the

knowledgeable but firm teacher and are contemptuous of teachers

who would rather be friends with learners than address themselves to

the work to be done. They expect emotional caring more from home

than from school, and more professional efficiency from the teacher.

From this, we can see that professional status is achieved, according

to teacher’s performance level.5

However, while individual status rating of the teacher depends

on his/her efficiency as perceived by the learners under his/her

tutelage, professional status rating is legal, i.e. established by law and

therefore a constitutional matter which is independent of learners

opinion. One needs to add quickly that in countries where teaching

enjoys high professional status, inefficiency in classroom practice can

lead to revocation of teacher’s licence.

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As a profession, teaching is the performance of a specialized

social role. Teaching like other professions is operated on the socio-

economic principle of division of labour and specialisation. In order

for society to optimize the abilities of her workforce, there is need for

people to specialize in different professions, one of which is teaching.

In order to be an efficient and effective professional, however there is

need for professional training and preparation for practice. Part of

this professional training is the development in the training, apart

from knowledge of academic subject matter, knowledge of principles

and practice of teaching at the levels of

• skill

• know-how, and,

• expertise

Skill is “the ability to act according to rules which depend on

feedback from a non-social environment”. One can say that student

teachers undergo this during professional practice when they are

gradually allowed to teach while being supervised and provided with

appropriate feedback.

Know-how “includes skill and is the ability to act in social

context with reference to an institution authority which decides the

rules”. This can be compared with our present experience of teaching

while being subject to government inspection or conditions stipulated

by government agencies like the Teachers Registration council.

Expertise on the other hand is “ability of know-how within a

certain domain and the ability not only to submit to the rules but also

by reflection influence the rules of the domain or tradition”.

While skill acquisition is a product of professional preparation,

one can say that this graduates to the practice of such skill according

to rules. This also leads to development of capacity for both

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professional and collective autonomy of professionals to influence

professional practice according to social needs.

Why Teaching as a Profession?

As earlier said, professions emerged as a response to the need

for division of labour and specialisation – a socio-economic principle

for ensuring optimal use of available resources in a society. With

regards to teaching, one can say that this need is perhaps more

compelling than with other professions while we do not contest the

importance of any. Whereas it is not feasible for every citizen to be a

doctor, lawyer, judge, engineer, IT IS EXPEDIENT FOR EVERY CHILD

TO GO TO SCHOOL. One therefore needs to declare a state of

emergency to ensure professionalisation of teaching in order for

Nigeria to be able to achieve education for all by 2015 as agreed in

Jomtien in 1990. If teaching is to be a profession indeed and not in

name, the three important conditions which have been earlier

identified need to be met. These are: Professional autonomy,

professional commitment and control of entry.

Professional autonomy, according to Akinpelu (2003) implies

“collective responsibility for the definition, transmittal and

enforcement of professional standards of practice and ethics”6 He

quoted Darling-Hammond as follows:

Ultimately, professionalism requires collective control by teachers over the technical decisions that define teaching work, and collective responsibility for the appropriate treatment of students. This means not only peer review of practice, but also means a reconception of administration as a support function rather than a mechanism for the control of teaching7

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The very meaning of professional autonomy therefore implies

complete freedom from government control when deciding conditions

for entry and professional practice for teachers. This is still a far cry

from our present experience of professionalisation at present in

Nigeria. Control of entry is very vital to the professionalisation of

teaching. This is done in all professions. Unless access to any

profession is controlled, it becomes an all-comers arena and therefore,

nobody’s responsibility to promote, nurture, protect or project as it

should be. Nothing precious is cheaply accessible. Gold is part of the

earth, but you need to dig deep to get it.

Some people think that the reason for the apparent weak

professional status of teaching is the indefinability of teachers’;

clientele. They argue that whereas we teachers deal with young

children, adolescents and young adults, it is actually their parents or

guardians that are responsible for their upkeep in schools. So,

teachers cannot exercise the same control over learners as lawyers

would over their mature adult clients. This can be readily contested.

Pediatricians are professional doctors who care for infants and young

children. We do not rate them lower professionally than their

counterparts who treat adult patients. It is not the clientele. It is the

way we rate our profession that we get rated. One sees how other

professionals try hard to ensure that their children succeed them in

their profession. I humbly ask this forum: how many of us ever pray,

wish, or counsel our children to take up teaching as a profession?

Whereas professional autonomy and control of entry can be

decreed or legislated, professional commitment is a value that

becomes a lifestyle of practice of the professional. Referring to a book

titled The Ministry of Teaching by M. V. C. Jeffreys, Akinpelu (2005)

reported.

M. V. C. Jeffreys … defined the concept of commitment in three perspectives of acute

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intellectual engagement, profound emotional involvement and complete physical dedication to whatever one is committed to … whatever one is committed to should be cognitively justifiable as being worthy of one’s attention; it would be something which readily excites one’s curiosity and anxiety; and it would be one for which one is ready to ‘pay any price and bear any burden’ to see it succeed8

From this quotation we can see that commitment is ingrained in

the concept of a profession. One implies the other. A profession is

chosen because we are committed to it. We are committed to whatever

work we choose as a profession because it is our life-wire. When

therefore, we are in a profession and go to work part-time (in order to

earn salary) and allow other activities to take priority over our

profession; we need to check our commitment level. Allow me to

illustrate the concept of commitment by the popular fable of a good

farmer, his cock his hen and his pig.

One day, the pig told the hen and the cock, that he overheard

their masters’ wife telling his children of their father’s approaching

birthday. According to the pig, everybody wanted to do something

special for this kind farmer. The pig then asked what they could do

for their master. The cock volunteered to go round the village and

crow from house to house to invite people to feast with his master.

The hen volunteered to give all her eggs for the family to cook,

breakfast that day. And the pig? He volunteered to provide

hamburgers and sausages for the party!…

One is not saying that we should literally commit suicide in

order to demonstrate our commitment to teaching. There is no

classroom in the grave. However, whatever we commit our lives to,

makes us dead to alternatives, and so in a way we have committed

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suicide. The unfailing key to success in any endeavour is focus.

When we give to teaching what it takes, it delivers to us what it

contains. I say with proof from experience before this elders forum

that teaching CONTAINS A LOT OF BENEFITS, some of which are:

• good health: teaching is a healthy exercise and keeps obesity

in check

• mental alertness: teaching is an intellectual activity that

stimulates you and keeps you mentally active.

• social relevance: as a priest is the interpreter of his God, the

teacher is the interpreter of society’s values from generation to

generation.

• family: teaching gives us families across cultures and

nationalities – our students are sometimes closer to us than

our biological children (e.g. (late Rev. L. d. Mason, Pa E. O.

Alayande, Canon Iluyomade and others).

• Wealth: we have treasures that money cannot buy – the

cultivated minds that continue to build nations into posterity.

When we critically examine the values that make life worth

living, teachers project them all. And money? All these values either

attract money to us or imply money. Money is only meaningful when

there is good health to enjoy it, and a healthy person can always find

ways of making money. Money is a messenger but good health is not

for sale. We shall however look at tangible benefits of teaching as a

profession later.

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria and

Professionalisation of Teaching

It is gratifying that our government has gone beyond paying lip-

service to the need for professionalisation of teaching by setting up the

Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria. In our times when what

makes news is the failure rate, rather than the success rate of our

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students we have to honestly accept that we need to “tune up” our

level of commitment to play our own part as professionals of

excellence. This makes the following mandatory for anybody who

desires to be a registered teacher of the federal Republic of Nigerian in

our times.

• Professional qualification: This ranges from NCE to Ph.D in

education. This means that teachers are categorized as

follows:

A Class – Holders of Ph.D in education or Ph.D in other fields

and a degree/certificate/diploma in education (e.g. PGDE,

NCE).

B class – Holders of Masters degree in Education or Masters

in other fields plus education (e.g. PGDE, NCE).

C class – Holders of Bachelors degree in Education or

Bachelors in other fields plus education (e.g. PGDE, NCE).

D class – Holders of National Certificate r equivalent

TCII certificate are deemed to have expired at the end of 20069

Legal Requirements for Registration

• Pass qualifying examination and complete practical teaching

as prescribed by the council

• Possess a foreign professional teaching qualification from a

country which permits Nigerian professional teachers to

practice in her system.

• Attainment of 21 years of age

• Good character

• No record of past criminal offence10

In addition to these, we teachers are expected to undergo

internship after graduation, obtain and renew our professional licence

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annually and undergo continuing professional education in order to

update our knowledge and thereby maintain our relevance.

Distinguished colleagues, I have earlier identified what can be called

the qualitative benefits of teaching as a profession. Let us conclude

this paper by briefly identifying the more tangible benefits of teaching

as a profession.

• Legal Status - This accords us financial benefits of special

scale salaries as other professions. In the long run, as

custodians of the professional practice, we would be the most

qualified owners of educational institutions if we choose to go

into private practice.

• Freedom of the professional to teach both within and outside

Nigerian once we are certified by TRIN

• Participation in all TRIN activities.

• Appendage of Professional titles prefixes to the name of the

professional as determined by the TrIN.

In order to protect our profession from abuse, the TRIN has also

put in place two organs to provide checks and balances on the

conduct of professionals.

Firstly, it is now illegal to teach in any school in Nigeria without

a teaching qualification. Whoever employs an unqualified person as a

teacher is also liable of criminal act.

Secondly, we now have a Teacher’s Tribunal in Abuja to enforce

discipline of errant professionals who have been investigated and

found liable of misconduct. This is like the medical tribunal or the

body of benchers. In the different states, we have the Teachers

investigation Panels (TIP) who are appointed and sworn into office to

investigate reported cases of misconduct and recommend to the

tribunal at Abuja as appropriate.

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Dear colleagues and elders, you will agree with me that the era of

all-comers’ trespass into the hallowed landscape of the teaching

profession is over. It is now our responsibility to protect and improve

on this priceless heritage that has been committed to us in our

generation. My prayer is that we shall not fail those coming after us.

May the golden scepter of honour not depart from the teaching

profession in Jesus name. Thank you all for listening.

References

1. Macdonald, A. M. (Ed.) (1981). Chambers Twentieth Century

Dictionary, Edingburg, W. & R Chambers.

2. Bamisaiye, Remi (1989). Sociological Foundations of Nigerian

Education, Ibadan AMD publishers P. 158.

3. Ibid. P. 158-161.

4. Macdonald, A. M. (Ed.) Op. cit

5. Bamisaiye, Op.cit. p. 155

6. Akinpelu, J. A. Ethics and the Teaching Profession in Oluremi

Ayodele-Bamisaiye, I. A. Nwazuoke and Abiodun Okediran (eds)

Education this Millennium – Innovations in Theory and Practice,

Ibadan Macmillan Nigeria Publishers P. 8

7. Ibid

8. Akinpelu, J. A. (2005). Themes in Philosophy of Education for

Teachers Ibadan, Tafak Publications. P. 78

9. Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) (2004).

Teacher’s Code of Conduct, p. 13.

10. Ibid. 86