Teaching is Not Only a Profession, but an Art
November 15, 2004
In our sociology of education text, Barakett and Cleghorn (2002) address whether or not teaching is a full profession since the responsibilities, rights, and duties are not fully compatible to those of say a dentist or lawyer (pg. 48). In their argument, they address such issues as accountability, the client relationship, and prior knowledge.
When it comes to accountability, Barakett and Cleghorn (2002) admit that a teacher is obliged to teach children to the best of his/her ability, however the teacher is not legally responsible for the results. In other words, success or failure to learn belongs to the child.
I disagree with that last statement, especially when it comes to provincial achievement test grade levels. Every mark a child receives on assignments or exams is filtered through some degree of administration (or as is the case with provincial exams, even public scrutiny). If your students are not learning the designated curriculum, you are held MORALLY responsible which I think is a bigger deal than being legally responsible. In the end, you may not be sued a bunch of money, but a judgement will be made about your character that will make it hard to remain in the teaching profession, or switch careers because you couldn’t even communicate your thoughts and ideas to children.
The second argument clearly spells out that the teacher-student client relationship is not direct (Barakett and Cleghorn, 2002). Stated another way, teachers do not bill students directly for their services, but rather are paid for by educational authorities-the government, the school board, the community. I believe this is how education should be paid for since ultimately, these students will be serving the common good of society at the end of their education program (regardless of the level of educational attainment). The government, school board, and community will be repaid ten fold when the student obtains a job and begins paying taxes. These organizations will see even more money if these past students decide to have children of their own. Whether the relationship is direct or indirect then appears to have no significant bearing on the functionality of this relationship. The ultimate goal of a teacher is to provide training to make students competent workers in their field or trade. Society appears to still be functioning, so teachers must be doing something right. The only flaw in this argument exists with the people who live off social assistance. However, living solely off social assistance is getting harder to accomplish due to the steady increase in quality of living. Almost everybody has at least a part-time job in his/her lifetime.
The third argument states that teachers are socialized into the profession, and not educated to the same degree as doctors or lawyers who enter their field of expertise (Barakett and Cleghorn , 2002). That is, prior to entering the program, most teachers if not all, hold a distinct image of what makes a good and a bad teacher. Most of this knowledge was obtained during their prior experience as a learner. As someone who always rated my teachers, I have to admit that I did admire and aspire to be like all my favorite teachers, and vow never to be like the teachers I hated. However, prior to entering the education faculty, I was never able to pinpoint why the good teachers were so great, or why the bad teachers absolutely sucked. And even if I could nail down those characteristics, I had no idea how to prevent myself from slipping into those habits once in the real world. Ultimately, my practicum experiences give me the opportunity to practice my so-called “great” ideas at a time when I’m still allowed to make mistakes. This way, if something doesn’t work, or I have a few bad habits, there is the opportunity for correction before it costs me my job. I mean let’s face it; there’s a lot of pressure involved with being a teacher. You are responsible for the future of mankind, and sometimes that’s an overwhelming burden. If one wasn’t trained for this job position, there would be a lot of people quitting after a few years from the stress, and society would never be able to accommodate the staff turnover. Ultimately, our education extends leaps and bounds above our socialization experiences. I believe without the education, our success rate in this career would diminish. We would be doomed to make the past mistakes of all teachers we hated and even admired. Human beings are not perfect, so why do we all of a sudden think good teachers are the almighty role model?
From the above statements, it is obvious that I think teaching is not only a profession, but also an art. Even though it may be possible to acquire the technique of teaching through observation, in order to be labeled a masterpiece and deemed authentic, teaching must be learned.
In our sociology of education text, Barakett and Cleghorn (2002) address whether or not teaching is a full profession since the responsibilities, rights, and duties are not fully compatible to those of say a dentist or lawyer (pg. 48). In their argument, they address such issues as accountability, the client relationship, and prior knowledge.
When it comes to accountability, Barakett and Cleghorn (2002) admit that a teacher is obliged to teach children to the best of his/her ability, however the teacher is not legally responsible for the results. In other words, success or failure to learn belongs to the child.
I disagree with that last statement, especially when it comes to provincial achievement test grade levels. Every mark a child receives on assignments or exams is filtered through some degree of administration (or as is the case with provincial exams, even public scrutiny). If your students are not learning the designated curriculum, you are held MORALLY responsible which I think is a bigger deal than being legally responsible. In the end, you may not be sued a bunch of money, but a judgement will be made about your character that will make it hard to remain in the teaching profession, or switch careers because you couldn’t even communicate your thoughts and ideas to children.
The second argument clearly spells out that the teacher-student client relationship is not direct (Barakett and Cleghorn, 2002). Stated another way, teachers do not bill students directly for their services, but rather are paid for by educational authorities-the government, the school board, the community. I believe this is how education should be paid for since ultimately, these students will be serving the common good of society at the end of their education program (regardless of the level of educational attainment). The government, school board, and community will be repaid ten fold when the student obtains a job and begins paying taxes. These organizations will see even more money if these past students decide to have children of their own. Whether the relationship is direct or indirect then appears to have no significant bearing on the functionality of this relationship. The ultimate goal of a teacher is to provide training to make students competent workers in their field or trade. Society appears to still be functioning, so teachers must be doing something right. The only flaw in this argument exists with the people who live off social assistance. However, living solely off social assistance is getting harder to accomplish due to the steady increase in quality of living. Almost everybody has at least a part-time job in his/her lifetime.
The third argument states that teachers are socialized into the profession, and not educated to the same degree as doctors or lawyers who enter their field of expertise (Barakett and Cleghorn , 2002). That is, prior to entering the program, most teachers if not all, hold a distinct image of what makes a good and a bad teacher. Most of this knowledge was obtained during their prior experience as a learner. As someone who always rated my teachers, I have to admit that I did admire and aspire to be like all my favorite teachers, and vow never to be like the teachers I hated. However, prior to entering the education faculty, I was never able to pinpoint why the good teachers were so great, or why the bad teachers absolutely sucked. And even if I could nail down those characteristics, I had no idea how to prevent myself from slipping into those habits once in the real world. Ultimately, my practicum experiences give me the opportunity to practice my so-called “great” ideas at a time when I’m still allowed to make mistakes. This way, if something doesn’t work, or I have a few bad habits, there is the opportunity for correction before it costs me my job. I mean let’s face it; there’s a lot of pressure involved with being a teacher. You are responsible for the future of mankind, and sometimes that’s an overwhelming burden. If one wasn’t trained for this job position, there would be a lot of people quitting after a few years from the stress, and society would never be able to accommodate the staff turnover. Ultimately, our education extends leaps and bounds above our socialization experiences. I believe without the education, our success rate in this career would diminish. We would be doomed to make the past mistakes of all teachers we hated and even admired. Human beings are not perfect, so why do we all of a sudden think good teachers are the almighty role model?
From the above statements, it is obvious that I think teaching is not only a profession, but also an art. Even though it may be possible to acquire the technique of teaching through observation, in order to be labeled a masterpiece and deemed authentic, teaching must be learned.
posted by Chantelle @ 10:59 PM
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