Job Discussion Forums

[denise]

Something that keeps coming up on the thread about teachers' conduct is the issue of teaching not being a "profession." There are comments on that thread along the lines of "we are not teachers; we are merely foreigners," "teachers forget that they're not that important," etc.

Frankly, as a teacher who takes her job seriously, I get tired of reading that what I do is not serious work. For me, teaching English IS a profession, because I choose to treat it that way and act professionally in the classroom.

I believe that thinking that EFL/ESL are not serious professions is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you think that what you/we do is a joke, you will probably act accordingly, and people will respond to your actions accordingly.

What do the rest of you think? Is this a profession, a joke, or something in between?

d

[anthyp]

Though I've only been teaching for a little while, I got into this viewing it as serious a profession as anything else, demanding a professional attitude inside, and usually outside, the classroom, as well. Nobody is going to convince me I am taking the wrong ("naive") attitude towards what they believe to be a way of screwing around, financing travel plans, and so on. I think you can only say that this job is what you make of it, like anything else.

[Bindair Dundat]

[ls650]

[sidjameson]

In my experience in Japan I have often thought that there is a correlation between the longer somebody had been here teaching and their general competency to teach. The trouble was that excluding the first couple of years it was a negative correlation. The old guys who've been here 10 years plus always look a right dodgy bunch in the bar.
I would say that EFL teaching is a lightly skilled occupation but one which enthusiasm is probably the most sought after commodity. Given the above and the reluctance to over stretch the meaning of the word "profession" I would have to say that it is not.

[struelle]

[rj]

After looking up "profession" in Webster, I would say there are arguments for both sides.

You could argue that being a native speaker qualifies you for a lot of positions but that no academic preparation is needed. Does being a native English speaker qualify as "specialized knowledge"? To other speakers, no. To those wishing to learn? I suppose it may. Then again, not all native speakers are created equally and someone who struggles with speaking English correctly can still be a native speaker.

In another thread, someone mentioned nurses and EFL teachers being similar in regards to this question. I think they are somewhat related (though much less so in recent years). At one point, education wasn't necessary to be a nurse and for many positions, the same is true of EFL.

As time went on and the regulations for nursing changed, so did the requirements. You must be licensed to practice nursing and you spend a minimum of a year in school for LPN and two years for RN. While you could argue that these minimums don't qualify as "long and intensive academic preparation" they do provide you with specialized knowledge.

I would imagine that as (if?) the requirements for EFL become more demanding, more people will begin to accept it as a profession. Though I would say that there are professionals working in EFL since a number of people have qualifications well beyond being a native speaker and they qualify as professional teachers.

[Gordon]

I'd imagine it depends on where you work. If you're in a conversation school where you are mostly talking to students and generating discussion, you could argue that most any native speaker could do this. Most other places are a profession.
So much of it is attitude as others have said. It's what you make of it. I certainly think what I'm doing is professional. I do more than just "get by" and try do my best. If I feel over my head in an area of my work, than I get additional training or study up on that subject. That is what makes us better teachers.
If you respect what you do, than so will your students (is not always the case, but many times it is). I've known teachers who are often late and don't prepare as much as they should and then complain that students don't respect them. I wonder why?

[laodeng]

In a word, "no."

But, more seriously, part of the classical sociological definition of a profession is that members of a profession are self-governing or at least self-regulating. By this criterion, I certainly wasn't in a profession when I taught public-school English in the U.S.

Another part of the classical definition is that members of a profession go through formal training followed by licensure. So I guess I'm not a professional in China either.

[denise]

Interesting answers. I've avoided replying to them because I'm finding myself (naturally?) agreeing with some and not with others, and that's not the point.

A couple of follow-up questions:

If your answer was yes, does the image of the native-speaker/backpacker/dancing monkey bother you? (I.e., you feel professional, but there are loads of people who don't--do you wish they would see you for who you are?)

Same question for those who answered no: does the image bother you? (You're in a field that you don't consider professional. Why are you doing it? Does the dancing monkey image bother you?)

d

[Gordon]

Denise, I really don't care what others think of my profession. I can explain to people what I do and they can be the judge. I think there is a lot of ignorance about our job, so people don't understand what it is we do.
I think I give people a lot of slack who are just starting out in this field and are the "backpacker types". We all start somewhere. Most of those people either change "professions" or get some sort of certification and training. Many don't stay backpacker teachers for long.

[arioch36]

Whether it is a profession is not as important to me as whether the teachers have professionalism



My first teaching job was teaching CPR with the American Red Cross and Air Force. I was a poor teacher at first. I just did it a little on the side to earna little extra money with the Air Force, and to put it on my resume. Even doing this, it is a skill to be learned. Over time I learned how to teach, and became a very good CPR teacher. Which was much more fun being a good teacher. People said good things to me, and we had more fun, because I was prepared, I knew my stuff, I knew what I wanted my students to do, and my students knew what I wanted. Teaching is a skill that needs to be developed

I learned the rewards of professionalism

So when I was a good teacher, everyone benefitted. I find the same is true in teaching English. Some teachers start off poorly, and never get better, never try. Everyone loses. That teacher has no professionalism

When I became a good teacher, it was a positive reflection on the Air Force. I became the coordinator for 11 Air Force teachers who also taught in the local community. One time the director of the Red Cross came to me and said how one of the instructors taught a local class, and his conduct was unbecoming ...he was hitting up on the students, putting his hand on there arm, leg. He had no professionalism.


Taking pride in doing a good job, being professional about what you do, whether is is flipping burgers at McDonalds, being a doctor, being a baseball player making millions, being a professional in your approach to your job should be the attitude we look for and expect. I ask the same in my students. Being a student is their job.

Everyone who has an unprofessional attitude makes it more difficult for the others. This includes both students and teachers.

[Aramas]

Loosely speaking, a profession requires a four year degree. Licensing only applies in the US. Other English speaking countries have professional associations that regulate and administer the professions.

By that definition, school teachers and nurses in Australia are semi-professionals. While the fourth year of their degree is spent doing practical work, the same is true of other professions (eg. optometry). Teachers and nurses are generally administered by unions rather than professional associations and remuneration is set by enterprise bargaining between unions and employers on behalf of the 'professionals'. It seems to me that school teaching is currently in a transitional phase between trade and profession.

The point I made in another thread is that some professions (including teaching) have only been elevated to professional status quite recently, and so infrastructure and public perception hasn't yet caught up.

However, that only applies to school teaching in the west. EFL teachers working at universities (whether in the west or overseas) that require an EFL-specific four year degree would seem to be equivalent to university tutors. Where a four year degree is optional then describing a position as professional seems a bit of a stretch.

Of couse, whether a position is categorised as a profession or not has nothing whatever to do with 'professional behaviour'. Such behaviour is desirable in any employment, be it aerospace engineering or mopping floors.

The issue of our own perceptions of our social status is only indirectly related. I've only recently come to understand just how significantly my self-perception is effected by general perceptions of social status. If I figure it out I'll let you know

[struelle]

[anthyp]