Gulan A.Mohammed, Pedagogy R5, LFU.

What are the elements of professionalism?

Every teacher must develop the characteristics of a professional and model
professionalism every day. There are some critical elements that a teacher must
focus on in order to develop a strong sense of professionalism. The purpose of this
essay is to address three elements of attitude, behavior, and communication.

An effective attitude is an important factor of professionalism (Hurst and Reding

2000). Beginning on the best level, teachers cannot permit their personal or private
lives intervene with their professional attitude. In particular, teachers need to avoid
outside concerns or distractions and keep their focus on the task at hand. This is in
addition of carrying his/her love for students and making personal connections with
them. These identifiable traits lead teachers to become a professional who doesn’t
view his/her profession as just a job, but rather as a calling that is mainly about caring
for students (Pajak 2001).

Behavior Numerous behaviors are related to professionalism. Wong and Wong

(1998) states that “a professional is defined not by the business a person is in but by
the way that person does his or her business.” One behavior associated with
professionalism is preparedness, which counts to be a crucial focus in the current
standards movement. In fact, among the standards of the National Council for
Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) is a requirement for “the teacher
candidate knows the subject matter and can teach it effectively so students can learn”
(Wise and Leibbrand 2001). This clearly means teachers need to be prepared to teach
the content of their lessons, as well as be prepared with the proper materials and
1
resources. Hurst and Reding (2000, 45) reminded us, “Teachers need to be prepared
every time they enter the classroom.”

Another factor that affects professionalism is communication. There are numerous

aspects of communique among those are collaboration, cooperation, aid and
encouragement, and participation in getting to know communities, in addition to
fundamental modeling of right language usage. The NBPTS recognized
collaboration as one of the center propositions of completed coaching
Communication Numerous aspects of communique effect professionalism. Among
those are collaboration, cooperation, aid and encouragement, and participation in
getting to know communities, in addition to fundamental modeling of right language
usage. The NBPTS recognized collaboration as one of the center propositions of
completed coaching

References

• Pajak, E. 2001. Clinical supervision in a standards-based environment:

Opportunities and challenges. Journal of Teacher Education 52(3): 233–43.
• Wong, H. K., and R. T. Wong. 1998. The first days of school: How to be an
effective teacher. Mountainview, Calif.: Harry K. Wong Publications.
• Hurst, B., and Reding, G. 2000. Professionalism in teaching. Upper Saddle
River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
• Wise, A. E., and J. A. Leibbrand. 2001. Standards in the new millennium:
Where we are, where we’re headed. Journal of Teacher Education 52(3): 244–
55.