EDUCATION PSYCHOLOGY 2..TEACHER PROFESSIONALISM AND VOCATIONALISM: THEORY & PRACTICE

•TEACHER PROFESSIONALISM AND VOCATIONALISM: THEORY & PRACTICE

Different senses of the concept of teaching

•What is teaching?

•The literature acknowledge the ambiguity and the complexity involved in defining the concept of teaching. However, despite of such complexity and ambiguity there have been attempts to define the concept. Generally, there are three different senses of teaching:

First, teaching is defined in terms of ‘PRACTICE’.

•Teaching is a relational occupation that bears distinctive criteria of internal excellence i.e. the importance of those who carry out teaching as practice possess the relevant knowledge base. The teacher must be competent to help his/her clients (students) use academic disciplines effectively.

•Also teaching is a practice since it encourages intellectual growth in its practitioners. In this regard, teaching relates to other professions such as the ministry (priesthood), medicine, law, accountancy, engineering etc.

A second conception of teaching emphasizes teaching as a ‘ROLE’ i.e. teaching is an official employment.

•As a role teaching is concerned with the fulfillment of various duties, responsibilities, obligations and liabilities. Such roles identify the place of teachers in the teaching profession i.e. the teachers serve the interest of his/her employer, the students, the community, the profession and the state at large.

•NOTE: the success of teaching depends much on the teachers’ effectiveness in accomplishing those roles.

The third sense is concerned with teaching as an ‘ACTIVITY’ in which human beings engage.

•Firstly, teaching does not necessarily involve the ROLE aspects. Consider for example in situation where elder children or parents at home teach their juniors on how to wash dishes/plates or clean/mop the floor.

•Secondly, teaching as an activity is not always implicated in the promotion of education. A good example of this sense is that of sports and game coaches, traditional dancer instructors or choir masters/mistress in a church.

•Thirdly, sense of teaching as activity involves the teachings of old religious philosophers and educators such as Socrates, Plato, Dewey and Freire. In their respective societies those great thinkers were defined as educators or teachers

•In religious context, Christianity for example, JESUS CHRIST was referred to as RABBI (which literally means TEACHER). Refer to the (Gospel of St. John 3:2).

•“He came to Jesus at night and said Rabbi; we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with you”

•Prophet Mohammed (SWT) was also regarded a teacher as far as Islamic religion is concerned.

•Unlike other great philosophers such as Socrates who employed SOCRATIC METHODS i.e. guided by questions, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed (SWT) employed parables to clarify the concepts. For example the parables of:

A Parable of man and his camel 

•“Prophet once told the story of a person who set out on a journey with a provision of food and drink on the back of his camel. On the way, in the desert he felt like sleeping. So he got down under the shade of a tree and slept. But his camel ran away. After sometime he got up to find that his camel was missing. He climbed a nearby mound and searched in vain. Then he climbed a second one but could not find it.

•Then he tried to find the camel by climbing a third mound. Finally in utter disgust, frustration and tiredness he returned to the original place where he slept. As he was sitting there he saw his camel coming towards him. How happy the person would be, who lost and found his camel in spite of his great difficulties. Then the Prophet said that God would be more pleased and happier to find his slave coming back to him in repentance”. (Muslim, 1971, Hadith No.6616, p.1434)

-Parable of the Good Samaritan

•30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

•34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (LK 10: 30-37).

-The Parable of the weeds among the Wheat 

•“24 Another parable he put before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also

•. 27 And the servants of the householder came and said to him, `Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?' 28 He said to them, `An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, `Then do you want us to go and gather them?' 29 But he said, `No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Mt 13: 24-30)

-The Parable of the Sower

•“3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow.4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear."  (Mt 13: 3-9).

-The parables of Workers in the Vineyard

•“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About nine in the morning……..” (Mt 20: 1-16).

=In short teaching is a human engagement that can be looked into two faces:

•Literally, teaching is an enterprise which can be carried out by every human being anywhere and through out life.

•Technically/scholarly, on the other hand, teaching is a professional endeavour directed towards certain explicit educational goals.

    THE PROFESSIONAL AND/OR VOCATIONAL CHARACTER OF THE TEACHING ENTERPRISE

   Vocationalism of Teaching

•Etymologically, the word vocation is derived from the Latin word VOCARE which means CALLING. It denotes a commitment to a particular form of service. It has been used to describe both secular and religious commitments.

•For example, some people have felt called or inspired to join a religious order and serve faithfully a given community. Others have felt to serve not the religious purposes but rather other social ones. E.g. many nurses, doctors, teachers etc have felt the kind of magnetic pull towards a life of service to the public.

•Generally, the concept of vocation has both the dimension of religious and secular character. In this view, vocation involves among other things, commitment, respect, tolerance, obedience, love, sacrifice etc. Usually, those who have been called accomplish their services for love rather than money.

•In Tanzania for instance, for many years there have been claims that teaching is an occupation only for people who have been called to be teachers. As a result all colleges of teacher education had the slogan (college motto) “UALIMU NI WITO” literally meaning that teaching is a CALLING (vocation)

 Barrett (2005b), emphasizes that the vocational character of teaching has the following features:

•The kind of occupation that people enter purely for love rather than money i.e. money is not the primary factor which attracts people to choose teaching as a career.

•In a name of a very high calling, probably similar to the religious view of vocation, teaching upholds civilized standards and values. In this regard, teachers are viewed as exemplars of moral standards and values.

•In this light, it seems that many people enter into vocations (ministry, teaching, nursing etc) not because of LOVE, but because they are the only alternatives remaining. This is manifested by unethical behaviour practiced by such practitioners.

         Is teaching a profession/vocation?

•There have been many questions per whether teaching is a profession or not. Let’s look on the vocational character and nature of teaching i.e. the professionalism of teaching:

•Firstly, teaching is concerned with provision of public or social good i.e. it renders the vital service to the public that is eradication of ignorance. Teaching like the medicine profession which is concerned with the social good of the patients, is about the social good of school, college or university students and other members of the society.

•Secondly, the knowledge base is another important feature that considers teaching to be a profession. Like any other professions, to qualify to teach one requires a relevant or specialized educational knowledge i.e. a teacher must possess both subject content and professional or pedagogical knowledge. According to Downie (1960) the nature of knowledge relevant to teaching as a professional undertaking include the following factors:

•Teachers’ knowledge must have a wide range though she/he may have specialized in some spheres/areas.

•The knowledge that teachers possess must be relevant to the learners i.e. it should be applicable.

•A teacher should be able to provide justification for the knowledge that she/he possesses.

•Thirdly, professional autonomy is another factor that justifies teaching as a professional undertaking. In order to fulfill their professional obligations and other work various roles. Teachers’ autonomy can be viewed in various ways:

i. Decision over the content and the pedagogy/methodology of teaching i.e. teachers have freedom to decide what, when and how to teach.

ii. Teachers have autonomy to discipline or even suspend misbehaving students without external influence.

iii. Also autonomy to reschedule/arrange the school timetable.

•Fourthly, Code of professional conduct/ethics. Teaching like any other profession has got a code of professional ethics. Arguably, there is no profession that exists without a professional code of ethics.

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•Fifthly, extended period of training and continued learning also makes teaching as a profession.