Teachers and Teaching in Context 2013 Teacher Professionalization and Professionalism Dr. James Ko Overview – learning outcomes Able to understand the concepts of teacher professionalization and professionalism Able to tell the constructions of professional identities as professionals in Hong Kong Able to address the issues related to teacher professionalization and professionalism in Hong Kong PART I: Professionalism and Professionalization Four Ages of Professionalism and Professional Learning by Hargreaves (2000) Characterizing the stages of professionalization of teachers 1. Define professionalism 2. Define teachers as professionals What constitute a person to be a professional? Watch him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhNpo5O_gcE FOUR AGES: • the pre-professional age; • the age of autonomous professional • the age of collegial professional; • the age of post-professional or postmodern The Pre-professional Age • Factory-like public education • Traditional, recitation/lecturing based teaching with four main purposes: – Maintaining student attention, – Securing coverage of content, – Eliciting some motivation – Achieving some degree of mastery • Lesson structures orient toward collective student, rather than individuals • Emphasis on overall flow of lesson and order and control • ‘Restricted professionalism’ (Hoyle, 1974), • Dominant in East Asian countries under Confucian traditions The Age of Autonomous Professional • An era of curriculum innovation led by individual teachers (Weston, 1979); • Educational changes were not yet institutionalized as teaching routines in practices (Fullan, 1991); • Dependent on individual's professional judgment professional and autonomy became inseparable; • ‘licensed autonomy’ as teachers enjoyed trust, material reward, occupational security and professional dignity and discretion with pedagogical freedom (Dale, 1988); • Progressivism has not showed strong evidence of successes as the realities of classroom haven’t changed • Teaching is still vey much individualistic (Hargreaves, 1980) “teachers are isolated people. They don’t know what others are doing” (Johnson, 1990, p.151); • Causes and consequences of individualism in teaching (Hargreaves, 2000, pp.160-161) The Age of Collegial Professional • “Teachers rework their roles and identities as professionals in a more consciously collegial workplace” (p.162) • Causes for collaborations (pp.162-163): – – – – – – Expansion and rapid changes in teachers’ work Additional pastoral work Inclusive education practices Growing multicultural diversity Structural limits to improving classroom teaching; Alienations for many secondary students who can’t fit in schools as adolescences; – Changes in school management and leadership that led to teamwork and collaborative decision-making – Some successful implementation of change • Professional learning communities evolve from strong collaborative culture (Nias et al.,1989) or professional community (Talbert & McLaughlin, 1994) in school; The Age of Post-professional or Postmodern • Two possible trends: – Open. Inclusive, democratic – Restructured to remain competitive and respond quickly – Teacher professionalism become diminished/abandoned – Subject to globalization and digital revolution; – Defend deprofessionalization, blaming and shaming – All teachers must value and defend their entitlement Guided questions for reading: • Hargreaves mentions a set of practices inherited from the earlier generations that defined the essence of teaching. What practices comprise this historical legacy and persist in pockets of the profession today in the Hong Kong context? • “[Teaching] profession is subjected to public blaming, shaming and intrusive inspection” (p. 169). Is this true in Hong Kong? Why or why not? • Does the teaching profession in Hong Kong also bear the marks of the four ages of professionalism? If yes, what is the impact of each age? • How do you understand professionalism and professionalization based on the reading? Teacher professionalization in Hong Kong: Historical Perspectives-by A. Sweeting (2008) What is “professionalization”? Eric Hoyle (1982:161) defined professionalization as “the process whereby an occupation increasingly meets the criteria attributes to a profession”. Teacher professionalization in HK What’s the concept of “profession”? • “Profession is regarded as “contested”. It applies variously, perhaps indiscriminately, to a broad range of occupations. • Nowadays, it is commonly used about by medial doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers; sometimes as an aspiration by teachers or as form of modification about them. Teacher professionalization in HK Two poles of teacher preparation During the past four decades: • microteaching • competency/performance-based teacher education • “teacher-proof” curriculum packages • externally-imposed “standard” for teachers • standardized curricula From the liberal pole towards the technical pole. Teacher professionalization in HK The Chinese Background • The traditional Chinese respect for teachers is closely related to their respect of scholars. • In the various region in China, a range of educational institutions provided opportunities for different types of teachers, with different status, but with little or no sense of collegiality. The goal of education Text-based Scholarship Male-specific Hortatory in style Teacher professionalization in HK Professionalization in Pre-colonial Hong Kong • During this period, vocationalism was an uneasy precursor of professionalization, serving as times as a substitute and an obstacle to be overcome. • On the whole, professionalism was NOT a feature of education in the Hong Kong region before the arrival of the British, although some of the prerequisites for its development, including concern over standards, already existed. Teacher professionalization in HK Professionalization in Early Colonial Hong Kong • The arrival of the British from the early 1840s made little difference in the short term to teacher professionalization. • In 1848, grounds for differences became firmer when Hong Kong Government set up a small Committee of Superintendence to satisfy itself about the standards of teaching and learning in the Government-supported schools. • This top-down approach did little to enhance the professionalism of local teachers, but it did serve as early examples of a move towards “passive teacher professionalization”. Teacher professionalization in HK Professionalization in Colonial Hong Kong • Government approved the introduction of pupil-teacher schemes of “professional” preparation in 1853 and eventually at its own showpiece establishment, the Central School, from 1865. • For opening of evening “extension classes” for in-service teachers at the new Technical Institute in 1907 was justified on grounds of value for money. • In addition, the first sign of teacher unionization appeared, with the Hong Kong Teachers’ Association established in 1934. Other signs include the formation of subject associations to enhance developments in a number of curriculum areas. Teacher professionalization in HK Teacher Preparation and Status during the Japanese Occupation • The Japanese authorities made no provision for university level education throughout their occupation in Hong Kong. • In 1943, they opened a girl’s secondary school as a pale substitute for the University to offer “normal school education” with the focusing on the training of elementary school teachers. • However, Japanese reinforced their acknowledgement of the importance of teachers at the end of 1943. Teacher professionalization in HK Limitations to Teacher Professionalization during Postwar Reconstruction • The main factors influencing policy and practice about teacher preparation in Hong Kong are financial constraints and supply considerations. • Government commitment to teacher professionalization was limited and did not reflect an urgent priority. The results included : an increasing number of untrained teacher Problems concerning teacher morale A conspicuous lack of teacher participation in education policy making. Teacher professionalization in HK Progress towards Teacher Professionalization during the Second Half of the 20th Century • Basic considerations related to teacher supply in a time of rapid school expansion influenced the creation of new teacher training institutions and courses. • Teacher’s support for activist unions is NOT necessarily compatible with self-motivated professionalization. • HK Professional Teachers’ Union (PTU) concerned more with political and economic issues than with ethics, the enhancement of teaching skills and pedagogical knowledge, service to clients, or collegiality. Teacher professionalization in HK Progress towards Teacher Professionalization during the Second Half of the 20th Century • In June 1989, the first teachers’ centre was opened and it played a small, practical part in teacher professionalization, by providing some resources, less isolation and more exhortation. • In 1991, the establishment of a special (“functional” constituency for teachers in the indirect Legislative Council elections was another politically oriented development for teacher professionalization. However, in practical terms, the functional constituency of teachers did NOT invariably serve of teacher professionalization. Teacher professionalization in HK Education Reforms and Teacher Professionalization 1 • The education reform movements in Hong Kong were mainly top-down initiatives and they were confined to quantitative expansion, such as “blister programme” at HKU and CUHK. • Although the two programmes did facilitate a radical reduction in the proportion of untrained teachers in secondary schools, it caused disruption organizationally and for some staff, in personal terms. Teacher professionalization in HK Education Reforms and Teacher Professionalization 2 • The establishment of new Institute of language in Education (ILE) in 1982 together with other government initiatives, led to some improvements both in quantitative and in qualitative terms. • However, it is more than likely that the government’s main motivation related to teacher supply and control, rather than teacher professionalization. Teacher professionalization in HK Education Reforms and Teacher Professionalization 3 • Although HKIED undoubtedly contributed to the professionalization of large number of local teachers, continuing problems have tended to distract attention from these contributions. • Similarly, although the Council of Professional Conduct in Education provided teachers and academics with some channels to experience professional autonomy; and despite the official rhetoric about its purpose and importance, it was under-funded and under-deployed. Teacher professionalization in HK Conclusions 1. At least some teachers are making efforts to professionalize themselves, creating the firmest grounds for optimism about the prospects for teacher professionalization in Hong Kong. 2. Professionalization, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, has benefited significantly from newer classroom skills and reflection oriented teacher education programs. 3. However, the academicization of teacher educators now place on research and publications instead of improve the quality of the training teachers. 4. Actual usage of the term “professional” and its derivatives has increased markedly with the high-sounding, but soon moribund. Activity 1: The meaning of professionals Professionals and Professionalization Framework This is a TED talk of a mountain rescue expert. Part of his job is to train youths to become professional mountain rescuers around the world. Summarize as many key points as you can and then compare the ones we went through in Hargreaves (2000) Notes for the video on professionalism • Professionals deliver JUDGMENT – more uncertainties we face more important judgment becomes (Think: what certainties we face in the classroom) – and more important the role the professional (Logic: the more uncertainties the classroom has, the more important role the teacher has) • Attitude (drives) behavior (drives) action (reinforces) Attitudes • To be a professional is a process (a journey) : – take real internal drive and motivation – sparkled with interest in desire – develop value and judgment that is mission critical to what we do • A framework to be a professional: 1) 2) 3) 4) KNOWING – is more than awareness, understand and take the knowledge to APPLY it and DOING – developing SKILLS through PRACTICES MANY OPTIONS AND SOLUTIONS TO SOLING PROBLEMS HELPING – giving, helping and being there for people; HELPING PROFESSIONALS HELP PEOPLE LEARNING – make a COMMITMENT TO LIFELONG LEARNING to keep knowledge and skills UP-TO-DATE (yesterday knowledge is not always good enough for future problems) PART II: Professionalism and Ethics Professionalism and ethics in teaching – by D. Carr, D. (2000) Fundamental assumptions and basic questions (pp.3-8): 1) Teaching is a professional activity; 2) Any professional enterprise is deeply implicated in ethical concerns and considerations; 3) Teaching is also an enterprise which is deeply and significantly implicated in ethical concerns and considerations; 4) There are distinctions among teaching, education, and schooling; 5) Teaching concerns intentional activities to promote learning; 6) Effective teaching is a matter of acquiring behavioral skills of promoting learning; 7) Teaching is art of mastering particularity – able to perceive what is pedagogically or interpersonally salient in a specific educational circumstance. Professionalism and ethics Functions of teaching (p.9) • There are normative constraints on teaching; – Less technical and aesthetic; – More moral and ethical; • Good teaching is not just teaching that is causally effective or personally attractive, but that seeks best to promote the moral, psychological and physical well-being of learners; • All teaching must be bounded by professional ties of accountability and responsibility to employers, parents, pupils, etc • Professions and professionals are bounded by their professional ethics Professionalism and ethics What makes an occupation professional?(p.23) 1. Professions provide an important public service; 2. They involve a theoretically as well as practically grounded expertise; 3. They have a distinct ethical dimension which calls for expression in a code of practice (knowledge, skills, values, attitudes or motives); 4. They require organization and regulation for purposes of recruitment and discipline; 5. Professional practitioners require a high degree of individual autonomy – independence of judgment – for effective practice. Activity 2: Professionalization vs Fabrication • What does it mean by being a professional model? • Being professionals is NOT BECAUSE you fit the preferred or privileged (image) requirements for a legend • The process of professionalization is NOT a process of FABRICATION by yourself or others • Be aware of FABRICATIONS or MYTHS for teaching and teachers • FABRICATIONS and MYTHS are superficial and shallow, but they profoundly affect us, creating biases, stereotypes, insecurities, and hates • Professionalization builds up inner strengths, while fabrications build up insecurity Teacher professionalism and Teacher Education in Hong Kong-by Paul Morris (2008) • What is the difference between “Professionality”, “Professionalism” and “Professionalization”? • Improving the professionalism of teaching = improving the status of teacher education Professionality Professionalism Professionalization Knowledge, skills Various factors The process of trying to and procedures which affect the improve the level of teachers use orstatus, salaryofand professionalism (status, • which OED: The competence skill expected a professional. in the process of conditions of the pay, self-regulation, etc.) teaching profession Teacher professionalism and Teacher Education Teacher professionalization in HK before 1997 The features of teaching in Hong Kong that have served to define its status and level of professionalism prior to 1997 were: 1. No minimum entry requirements for people to obtain employment as teachers 2. Teachers had no background in majoring the subjects which they were teaching, like English and Arts 3. Most teacher education courses were sub-degree programmes that were outside the mainstream university sector 4. A strong distinction between the status and qualifications of secondary school teachers of academic subjects and that of both primary teachers and secondary teachers of non-academic subjects. 5. No agency that serves to represent teachers professionally or to regulate teachers’ professional behavior Teacher professionalism and Teacher Education The Context Prior to Reunification with China Until 1990s, attempts were made in Hong Kong to enhance the status of teaching due to the following factors: 1. A signal failure in the policy making process to anticipate the impact on teacher education and the teaching profession 2. Many of those who were making decisions about education policy were reluctant to see the government lose its control of those institutions School curricula were depoliticized and focused on far away places and times 3. Teacher professionalism and Teacher Education Professionalism, Accountability and Self-Regulation • The government’s desire to avoid the emergence of a stronger teaching profession was to develop a selfregulating and accountable profession in Hong Kong. • The Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Qualifications (ACTEQ) is the only formal body empowered to support the process of professionalization of teaching. However, it is a classic example of the government’s instinct to reply on a top-down, bureaucratic and paternalistic approach. Teacher professionalism and Teacher Education 1997+ – the quest for quality Enhancing teacher quality (qualifications) Establishment of the HKIED 35 % of teachers in primary schools should be graduates Teacher professionalism and Teacher Education The quest for quality 2 How to achieve this goal? Developing and implementing educational reform policies to improve the quality of schooling New curriculum framework Matters of accountability and quality assurance Policy on medium of instruction Capabilities and qualifications of teachers Teacher professionalism and Teacher Education The quest for quality 3 A number of interconnected tactics to support government’s intentions to promote educational reform : 1. 2. Fostering of a climate of heavy-duty criticism of the status quo as the rationale for introducing new policies Extensive reference is made to the need for fundamental or revolutionary rather than evolutionary change 3. A range of measures made by government to directly evaluate, monitor and control teachers 4. A process of dealing with any perceived criticism of government policy in a way which combines vilification with retribution (??) Teacher professionalism and Teacher Education Conclusion Contradictions between the govt’s desire to upgrade teaching profession and its policy actions remains marginalized How to explain this paradox? 1. The decline of the welfare state and the emergence of a fundamental paradox in education policies can be regarded as a broader global trend 2. The ongoing ideological tension between the state and its teacher, like case of HKIED 3. Overarching impact in Hong Kong of the government’s low level of legitimacy on all aspects of policy making 4. The government played an increasingly interventionist role through the active promotion of the role of the market and of contractual relationships. References • Carr, D. (2000). Professionalism and ethics in teaching. London: Routledge. • Hargreaves, A. (2000) Four Ages of professionalism and professional learning, Teachers and Teaching, 6(2), 151-182 • Morris, P. (2008). Teacher professionalism and teacher education in Hong Kong. In McGregor, D., & Cartwright, L. (Eds. ), Teaching : professionalization, development and leadership. (pp. 119-138). New York : Springer. • Sweeting, A. (2008). Teacher professionalization in Hong Kong : Historical perspectives. In McGregor, D., & Cartwright, L. (Eds. ), Teaching : professionalization, development and leadership. (pp. 4565). New York : Springer.
