Professionalism, professionality and the status of the teaching profession
invited seminar paper presented at the University of Ballarat School of Education 7th July 2008 Dr Linda EvansSchool of Education, University of Leeds, UK
The changing face of teacher professionalism in England
1970s practically no centrally imposed curricular regulations
religious education daily assembly – ‘broadly Christian’
anything goes autonomous professionalism
late 1980s – mid 1990s (the market phase) Educational Reform Act (ERA)
national curriculum local management of schools (LMS)
a ‘new’ professionalism/re-professionalism? professionalism determined by market forces client-led focus
1997 – present (the targets phase: standards & modernisation agenda)
pursuit of excellence literacy and numeracy targets managerialism pressured professionalism
Context and objectives
‘new’ or modified professionalisms arising from the ‘standards and modernisation agenda’
how successfully have professionalisms been renovated?
what have been the effects on teachers and the status of the teaching profession?
Key foci ‘new’ professionalism as an instrument
of change the concept of professionalism the substance of professionalism (re)defining professionalism the capacity of reform for achieving
professional development the concept of professional development the substance of professional
development
The concept of professionalism
Literature review: socially constructed contextually variable service level agreement defined externally defined by the professionals themselves constantly being redefined status homogeneity
‘New’ professionalisms prescriptive
descriptive
analytical commentaries
research reports and analyses
key feature – reduced autonomy and control re-professionalisation proletarianisation
Professionality
Eric Hoyle: professionalism - status-related
• the institutional component of professionalisation
professionality - knowledge, skills & procedures
• the service component of professionalisation
‘extended’-‘restricted’ professionality continuum
Professionality orientation: teachers
‘Restricted’ professionality
Skills derived from experience
Perspective limited to the immediate in time and place
Introspective with regard to methods
Value placed on autonomy
Infrequent reading of professional literature
Teaching seen as an intuitive activity
‘Extended’ professionality
Skills derived from a mediation between experience & theory
Perspective embracing the broader social context of education
Methods compared with those of colleagues and reports of practice
Value placed on professional collaboration
Regular reading of professional literature
Teaching seen as a rational activity
Eric Hoyle, Eric Hoyle, 19751975
The ‘restricted’-’extended’ teacher professionality continuum
Professionality and professionalism
Professionality is: an ideologically-, attitudinally-, intellectually-, and epistemologically-based stance on the part of an individual, in relation to the practice of the profession to which s/he belongs, and which influences her/his professional practice.Evans, L. (2002) Reflective Practice in Educational Research (London, Continuum)
Hoyle (2008) ‘the service component of professionalism’
Professionality and professionalism
Professionalism is: the ‘plural’ of professionality; professionality writ large; the amalgamation of individuals’ professionalities.
Professionalism is: professionality-influenced practice that is consistent with commonly-held consensual delineations of a specific profession and that both contributes to and reflects perceptions of the profession’s purpose and status and the specific nature, range and levels of service provided by, and expertise prevalent within, the profession, as well as the general ethical code underpinning this practice.
(Evans, L. (2008) ‘Professionalism, professionality and the development of education
professionals’, British Journal of Educational Studies, 56 (1), 20-38)
Professionalism and professionality
Professionality is: an ideologically-, attitudinally-, intellectually-, and epistemologically-based stance on the part of an individual, in relation to the practice of the profession to which s/he belongs, and which influences her/his professional practice.
Professionalism is: the perceived enactment of professionality-influenced practice that is consistent with commonly-held consensual delineations of a specific profession and that both contributes to and reflects perceptions of the profession’s purpose and status and the specific nature, range and levels of service provided by and expertise prevalent within the profession.
The impact of government policy on teacher professionalism
A closer look at professionalism 2 main perspectives:
subjective professionalism objective professionalism
3 reified states of professionalism Professionalism that is demanded or requested
specific service level demands or requests Professionalism that is prescribed
envisaged or recommended service levels Professionalism that is enacted
as observed Only the 3rd of these is ‘real’
From ‘demanded’ to ‘enacted’ professionalism
The capacity of reform for achieving professional development
A ‘new’ professionalism isn’t a ‘new’ professionalism unless it is enacted.
Reform or policy change is a professional development initiative
How may reformers or change agents achieve professional development within a professionality-influenced professionalism?
Key components of professionalism
Subjective professionalism
Functionalcomponent
Intellectualcomponent
Attitudinalcomponent
proceduraldimension
productivedimension
processualdimension
evaluativedimension
motivationaldimension
perceptionaldimension
epistemologicaldimension
rationalisticdimension
comprehensivedimension
intellectualcomponent
epistemologicaldimension
rationalisticdimension
comprehensivedimension
What is the basis of practitioners’ knowledge?
To what extent do practitioners apply reason to decision making?
What do practitioners know and understand?
Common sense and experience?Research and/or scholarship?
•In which disciplines/subjects?•What depth?•What width?•Contextual differences?
Is practice underpinned by rationality, intuition, or a mediation of the two?
What does the professional knowledge base comprise?Are there specialist areas?Are there minimum (general) practitioner knowledge requirements?
attitudinalcomponent
evaluativedimension
motivationaldimension
perceptualdimension
How do practitioners evaluate things(issues, situations, people, activity, etc.)?How do they evaluate their profession and its purpose?
How motivated are practitioners?What motivates them?
How do practitioners perceive things (issues, situations, people, activity, etc.)?How do they perceive their profession and its purpose?
What values do practitioners hold?How widespread/consensual are thesevalues?Are there any key/core values?
How motivated are practitioners?What motivates them?
What perceptions do practitionershold?What perceptions do they not hold?How widespread/consensual are specificperceptions?Are there any key/core perceptions?
functionalcomponent
proceduraldimension
productivedimension
processualdimension
What procedures do practitioners apply to their practice?What hierarchical procedures operate within the workforce?What stratification exists within the workforce?
What is the nature of practitioners’output?How much do practitionersproduce?What (if any) productive yardsticks guide them?
What processes do practitioners apply to their practice?
Mode(s) of communication?Mode(s) of implementing policy?Mode(s) of regulating?Mode(s) of innovating?How is responsibility distributed -for knowledge/role coverage?What layers of practice exist?
What do practitioners ‘do’ – their remit and responsibilities?Is their workload determined by the clock – set hours?Is workload determined by the task –in response to need?
Advising?Educating?Regulating?Policy analysis?Knowledge generation?Learning?Inter-institutional collegiality?
The capacity of reform for achieving professional development
The problemsReform or policy change initiators: focus predominantly on achieving functional
development; ignore, or neglect, the importance of attitudinal
and, in some cases, intellectual development; are unaware of, minimize, or ignore the
professionality-influenced heterogeneity of professionalism;
manifest simplistic, naïve inadequate understanding of human nature.
The professional development process
The process involves enhancing individuals’ professionality.progression along the professionality
continuum
What does the professional development process in individuals involve?
The professional development process in individuals
Components: recognition that there’s an alternative
a better way ‘encountering’ a specific alternative evaluating the specific alternative recognising the specific alternative as a better way
implies recognition of the perceived relative inadequacies of previous practice/views/knowledge etc.
adoption of the perceived better way evaluation of the newly adopted practice/views/attitudes etc. as
better than what it/they replacedEvans (2008) work-in-progress
Professional development through reform or policy change
Dependent upon: attitudinal development on the part of the
‘developed’ or ‘developee’ that is congruent with the reform/change agenda;
shared perceptions of deficiencies and imperfections;
shared perceptions of what constitutes a ‘better way’;
change initiators’ willingness to accommodate this heterogeneity.
The effect of imposed policy & reform on teacher professionalism
Has teacher professionalism been redesigned? on one level, undoubtedly
compare 1970s with present day on another level …
the professionality range remains wide lack of uniformity/homogeneity much ‘irony of presentation’
• ‘manifests itself in the manner in which members of an organization present an image of the organization to the outside world that is not wholly congruent with the reality of its daily practices.’
(Hoyle, E. and Wallace, M. (2007) Educational reform: an ironic perspective, Educational Management, Administration & Leadership, 35(1) 9–25 )
the ‘paying lip service’ approach ‘pernicious differences between the “paper” and the “real”’ (Stronach, I. et al (2002) Towards an uncertain politics of professionalism: teacher and nurse
identities in flux’, Journal of Education Policy, 17 (1), 109-138)
Professional status
Have teachers lost any of their status as professionals?
Is teaching any less of a profession than it previously was?
How do we define a profession? How important is it to be a profession? Developmentalism is professionalism re-
invented and re-named, for greater applicability to 21st century working life.
Developmentalism …
means a commitment to (self-)develop(ment). is an antidote to complacency. is the mindset that engages practitioners in the
business of striving to improve their practice. manifests itself as relatively frequent and regular
engagement in ‘ostensible CPD’. is a component of the individual’s stance in relation
to the practice of the profession to which s/he belongs, and which influences her/his professional practice professionality
Practitioners with a strong developmentalist attitude will typically: be analytical and self-critical in evaluating
their own practice; manifest single-minded concern for the
quality of their work; continually strive for excellence, according
to her/his own definition and measurement of it;
perceive each new task as a challenge: an opportunity to perform better, and achieve more, than ever before;
be ‘extended’ professionals.
From professionalism to developmentalism The calibrations on the ‘profession - semi-
profession – non-profession’ yardstick are being increasingly blurred.
How may we make qualitatively-based distinctions between occupational groups?
Developmentalism autonomous developmentalism compliant developmentalism
How developmentalist are teachers, in comparison with other occupational groups?
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