My reflection on reasons for thinking teaching is a profession or not a profession.
I got a chance this week to do some reading on teaching as a profession. Out of all my reading my idea if teaching is viewed as a profession was really shaken by reading " Past as prologue: A historical overview of teaching in America".
The idea of teaching has really changed over the years, during the school house days of yore, when a teacher usually wasn't educated and the only expectation of the teacher was to teach reading, writing and arithmetic, I might have been on the side arguing that teaching wasn't much of a profession, and that it would be a great job for young women to do before they got married, which was the practice during the time. But times have changed. And now if you were to ask me if teaching is a profession I would say yes. When once you didn't need much training, now you need at least a Bachelors degree in Education or the equivalent. You then need to take several examinations to get your license to teach, you have to have criminal background check, and sometimes even a little more than that. After all that, you still need to take classes on a regular basis, go to conferences, professional development. My students are always shocked to know that I have "Homework" too and that I go to "classes" to keep getting trained in new techniques to present material, new concepts on how children brains work and the best way to engage them, the best way to make sure your student is learning, and how to know if you should suggest they get external help. And that's before getting a masters. I am not sure if things are the same in the States right now. But at the school I teach at most teachers hold a masters or are studying for their masters, and in Finland, where my husband comes from, if I ever want to pursue a job there I would need at least a masters.
The idea of teaching has really changed over the years, during the school house days of yore, when a teacher usually wasn't educated and the only expectation of the teacher was to teach reading, writing and arithmetic, I might have been on the side arguing that teaching wasn't much of a profession, and that it would be a great job for young women to do before they got married, which was the practice during the time. But times have changed. And now if you were to ask me if teaching is a profession I would say yes. When once you didn't need much training, now you need at least a Bachelors degree in Education or the equivalent. You then need to take several examinations to get your license to teach, you have to have criminal background check, and sometimes even a little more than that. After all that, you still need to take classes on a regular basis, go to conferences, professional development. My students are always shocked to know that I have "Homework" too and that I go to "classes" to keep getting trained in new techniques to present material, new concepts on how children brains work and the best way to engage them, the best way to make sure your student is learning, and how to know if you should suggest they get external help. And that's before getting a masters. I am not sure if things are the same in the States right now. But at the school I teach at most teachers hold a masters or are studying for their masters, and in Finland, where my husband comes from, if I ever want to pursue a job there I would need at least a masters.
So yes, once upon a time, teaching was not a profession. But, the winds, they are a changing. And it has become a profession. Are some people slow to change with the wind? Yes. Are there teachers out there who don't want to study more and get more from the career, sure. But, I would defiantly say that the amount of education needed for me to teach at the schools I want to teach at would make me and my fellow educators professionals.
No comments:
Post a Comment