Profession, professionalisation, professionality, professionalism — historical and systematic remarks using the example of German teacher education

Abstract

What professionalisation means has to be clarified in relation to the terms profession, professionality and professionalism. Is it about an occupation becoming a profession or about the individual development of professionality or about the formation of a professional identity? These questions are discussed systematically from the point of view of general educational science, complemented by a historical view of the development of teacher education and training in Germany. It is no surprise that the conceptualisation of professionalisation is contested. Against this background the importance of a clear conceptual basis is emphasised both for national and especially for international-comparative research.

Keywords:

• profession
• professionalisation
• professionalism
• professionality

Notes

1. An overview of the structure of the German education system today can be found on the webpage of the The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (http://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/doc/Dokumentation/Bildungswesen_en_pdfs/en-2014.pdf).