The Professional culture in education

The members of a profession interact during their training, in their places of employment, within their professional associations and also informally. Through these interactions, a profession thus generates a distinctive culture embracing s fundamental

values, the norms which govern the behaviour of members and its symbols — including its history, folklore, special vocabulary, in sigma, and stereotypes. This culture is thus the source of professional solidarity, self-esteem, and self-consciousness. The professional culture, thus serve as a source of unity. Lecturers in Teacher Education Units of various institutions hardly see their students as professional colleagues. The culture of the teaching profession has not been widely studied as to perform the enumerated functions above thus preventing common commitment to the teaching profession.

The Teaching Career

The concept of ̳career‘ implies both the notion of a commitment to a form of life-work or “calling” and the process whereby an individual progresses upwards through a hierarchy of professional roles. Upward mobility in the teaching profession often requires teacher to leave the classroom for an administrative role in the schoc1 or within the local authority, for College or University lecturing, for inspectorate, for a research post, or for any one of a

number, of other possibility (Adegoke 1998). Unfortunately, the prospect for majority of the teachers to reach this peak is very limited since there are only few positions at a time. Majority thus retired without getting to the top.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

Review of Renumeration

It is widely noted that incentives for schools and teachers in the public education system to perform well are frequently weak due to ineffective incentives and sanctions. This is particularly the case when teachers cannot be effectively disciplined for unacceptable behaviour (absenteeism, lateness, poor teaching, and abusive behaviour towards pupils) by school managements because it is very difficult to dismiss them and pay and promotion are largely unrelated to actual performance.

Where worker‘s pay is very low, there is normally de facto recognition that the ̳labour process‘ in schools has to be organised in such a way that enables teachers the autonomy to generate additional income. More generally, there is a widespread acceptance that ̳you get what you pay for‘, which is not very much when pay does not meet minimum livelihood needs. Secondary employment activities are likely to both directly and indirectly lower the motivation of teachers in their main jobs. Thus this group will wish to recommend an upward review of teachers‘ remuneration package.

Need for Commitment to the Profession

If teachers do not enjoy their work and have doubts about their careers, they should reexamine their attitudes and intentions and, one hopes, they will renew their commitments to education. By so doing, they will convince themselves once again that teaching is not simply an ordinary job; it is the profession that they willingly choose to pursue. Teaching is how they establish their identity and manifest their values. But commitments bear no fruit until they are substantiated by action. Once they have affirm ed their commitments, teachers must devote their time and energies to their professional activities. They should ask themselves, for instance, to what extent are they involved in the new course that has been introduced? In what way have they affected the shifts in subject matter, and the change in methods of instruction that have occurred? Do they attend professional meetings and help formulate professional policies? What attempts have they made to give direction to educational and social change? All these questions suggest that the functions and responsibilities of teachers are not confined to the classroom.

Teachers should actively join in curricular development, instructional design, theoretical inquiry, and technical planning, as well as policy making. They should have certain organized ways in which they can participate in the formation of the controlling aims, methods, and materials of the school system of which they are a part. Therefore, teachers' organizations have a very important role to play in the advancement of the teaching profession.

REFERENCES

1.       Wells, G. (1982). Teacher research and educational change. Toronto, OISE  

Press, pp. 1 - 35.

2.       Farrell, J.P. and J.B. Oliveira. 1993. Teachers in developing countries.  Improving effectiveness and management costs. Economic Development

Institute, World Bank, Washington D.C.

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