Evaluating teaching as a profession—implications of a research study for the work of the teaching council

Abstract

This article describes research that examines how Irish second-level teachers view themselves as professionals and, on the basis of its findings, offers tentative suggestions on how the recently established Teaching Council might further its remit to promote teaching as a profession. It suggests that two related though distinct approaches can be taken in examining this issue. The first involves an evaluation of teaching by reference to the attributes of the classical professions. The study concludes that while teaching does bear favourable comparison with these long-established professions, the approach is, nonetheless, inherently flawed and of little merit. The second approach, which entails an evaluation of teaching by reference to the skills, attitudes and practices of teaching itself, essentially involves an examination of teacher professionalism and is recommended as a preferable approach. The research indicates that teachers view their professionalism in pragmatic, classroom-based terms rather than in terms of wider educational, philosophical or theoretical concerns. It is argued that teachers must be more willing to engage with the ‘bigger issues’—the moral, political, social and philosophical issues that shape the wider education agenda—if they are to achieve the enhanced professional status they appear to desire, and it is proposed that the Teaching Council can play a major role in advancing this professionalisation process.