Is teaching a profession?

There has been an abundance of research discussing the difference between a profession and other occupations. Past discourse has focused on a whether a specialised, theory-based body of knowledge is required; commitment to a perceived noble vocation; and whether an occupation requires a higher ethical standard than other occupations. Martinez, Desiderio and Papakonstantinou (2014) surveyed teachers, including teacher training students and beginner teachers, to ask their perceptions of the role - profession or job? The results suggest that the majority of teachers believe that teaching is a profession and most of the respondents attributed this to either passion or the high educational demands of teaching. Discussions with colleagues suggest that other factors, such as adhering to a code of ethics, a requirement to belong to a professional association, accountability and the perceptions of the public are also pertinent to our perceptions of teaching as a profession. There was much debate but no consensus. I personally consider the theory based knowledge and professional standards requirements are determining factors in considering myself a professional. 

What is a professional identity?

Having established  what a profession is, what then is a professional identity? A professional identity is an individual's professional concept of self  based on "attributes, beliefs, values, motives, and experiences" (Ibarra, 1999; Schein, 1978). Longan, Floyd and Floyd (2019) describe 'professional identity' as a melding of both personal and professional values. In their book ‘The Formation of Professional Identity : the Path From Student to Lawyer’ Longan et. al (2019) discuss the acquisition of a professional identity with respect to lawyers but there is a clear parallel with other professions including teaching. They propose that an individual can have many different roles concurrently, and over the course of their lives. It is the integration of the values held in all of these different roles that constitutes one’s personal identity. Longan et. al. state that when entering a new profession, you do not yet have a “deep sense of yourself in this new role”. Through learning about and understanding the non-negotiable values that underpin a profession, in the case of teachers, ‘Our Code Our Standards’, and marrying these with the values that underpin personal identity (a conglomerate of your 'other' roles), you develop your professional identity.  Bergner and Holmes (2000) agree with this theory, stating that professional identity includes “such aspects as traits of character, values, social roles, interests, physical characteristics and personal history” (Bergner & Holmes, 2000; Kihlstrom & Klein, 1994) and as such include both personal and professional identities. Further, they suggest that a conflict between the values of each identity would be consistent with a lack of fulfillment and wellbeing (refer to L & B, Domain 1).

Ibarra (1999) proposes that adapting to new roles is a process of "observing role models to identify potential identities, experimenting with provisional selves, and evaluating experiments against internal standards and external feedback". She argues that professionals need to act their role long before they have internalized the professional identity because identities take time to form.  In the meantime, individuals put forward their "provisional selves" (Ibarra, 1999) while they are assimilating the attitudes and behaviors they believe are expected of them in the new role.

Like Bergner and Homes, Māori activist Tame Iti discusses the strength of knowing yourself. In the Ted Talk, “Mana: the power in knowing who you are” (2015), he explains that everyone has ‘mana’ which comes from “knowing who you are, where you come from and your connection to the land”. Tame Iti’s focus on ‘knowing who you are’ relates to the idea of professional identity, because as discussed, who you are (your personal identity) is underpinned by character traits and these are formed as a result of the values instilled by your family and life experiences within a particular socio-cultural context. The importance that Tame Iti places on 'place' and 'whakapapa' in self-concept while not unique to Māori, is a distinctly Māori perspective. While I respect this perspective for Māori and other cultures, as a Pākehā, and an immigrant to New Zealand, I am not entirely comfortable with the importance placed on 'place' in terms of my own personal identity as I do not have this concept of tūrangawaewae, fundamental to Māori identity. This has raised some questions for me, especially when sharing my pepeha (Appendix 1). Is the notion of personal, and thus professional identity something that is experienced differently by different cultures?

Having moved around for much of my life, I don’t feel a belonging to a particular place. My parents moved from their homes in England and Scotland at an early age, and travelled for most of their lives (and mine). They themselves did not have a strong bond to their ancestral home, perhaps because they left to escape a society to which they felt disconnected. Being of Anglo-Saxon descent, the long history of occupation from Germanic origins through Roman, Viking and Norman hegemony there has been such an integration of cultures over time that a true sense of cultural identity, of what it is to be British, is less distinct than for other cultures. Perhaps, within a limited geographical area such as New Zealand, with a low ethnic diversity, the ability to make meaning of familial connections, to even make these connections at all, is particularly relevant. Perhaps when your ‘land’ can be directly related to  your people, your community and your history, they become more important to your sense of personal identity.  Having traditions that reinforce whakapapa (eg. tekoteko, poupou, mihimihi) and ancestral stories that give life and personalities to people and places may account for this strong connection. However, if you have been removed from your land in this context for hundreds of years, does it hold the same value? Identity is more complex than personal and professional. It also includes cultural, social and ethnical identities (Viladrich & Loue, 2009) and also impacted by in-group/out-group dynamics. Ethnic identity, relevant to my question, is constructed through participation and holding a shared belief system, knowledge of one's ancestry, geographical location as well as associated historical information (Paringatai, 2014). Paringatai goes on to explain that one's Māori identity is transmitted inter-generationally through tribal structures, and the urbanization of many Māori and consequent separation from these structures can impact identity. It would be interesting to explore this notion more, to fully understand my own ethnic identity.

My personal identity is not tied to a particular place or to my even my whakapapa beyond immediate family, but rather to my experiences in growing up in a particular societal and cultural context. My parents were both from working class families, brought up in England during the second world war. Their experience of a social class and of the war shaped them. Education was valued as a great equaliser, giving them choices in life they would not otherwise have had. Shaking off the barriers of a class system, and ideals of altruism and equity influenced the choices they made. Both were well educated professionals, life long learners and retrained several times during the course of their lives. They devoted many years to running schools and hospitals in remote parts of Melanesia where I was born and spent my early childhood. This is my cultural context and the values that underpin my personal identity - a strong desire to make a difference. Reflection on these ideas has increased my awareness of my own cultural lens and the unconscious biases that may result. It has also solidified the reasons for my discomfort when I have been called upon to share my story of the people and places I'm connected to. While I understand the importance of sharing your pepeha as part of whānaungatanga, for the above reasons it has felt forced and therefore insincere. Since moving to Northland and experiencing the strong whānaungatanga of my cluster, I have gained a much stronger understanding of this concept. It was not until I attended a one day course on the Mana Potential programme that I clarified my understanding of mana, and could see the strength in identifying who stands with you - behind you, beside you, and in front of you. Understanding that you carry the mana of these people with you, and that you can add to their mana or take away from it, has shifted my perspective and I have rewritten my pepeha with this notion as the reference point (Appendix 2). This reflects a growth in my understanding of the concepts of mana and whānaungatanga and the importance of  sharing your personal identity, and in doing so, making real and genuine connections and building  meaningful relationships with others in both personal and professional capacities.

As discussed previously, a professional identity is developed by melding personal identity with the values, competencies and expectations of your profession. As an experienced teacher of many years, I have been through the process of synthesizing the teaching professional standards and my personal values to form my professional identity as a teacher (Appendix 3). The question thus arises, how does one’s professional identity change when changing career path? The role of RTLB, essentially a specialist teacher, is one of implementing “inclusive approaches which enhance the participation, learning and wellbeing of all children and young people. This includes children identified as priority learners, such as children with disabilities and those who otherwise experience barriers to full participation and wellbeing” (Holley-Boen, 2017). The development of the character traits “capacities or dispositions” that support inclusive education “begins with initial teacher education and continues throughout the teacher’s career” (Florian & Graham, 2014, p. 466) as quoted in Holley Boen (2017). Thus, the underlying values, competencies and expectations of a specialist educationalist are fundamentally the same as for a classroom teacher. I would argue that moving from the teaching profession to the specialist teaching profession only requires the acquisition of the specific procedural and technical knowledge as both professions fall under the same code of standards and require the same “attitudes and understandings” (Mandia Mentis and Kirsten Stevens) as that of a skilled and professional teacher. Therefore, my professional identity is unchanged from my previous role, and I am putting forward my 'provisional self' in this new role while I develop and build the necessary job and region specific skills set and internalize the Cluster's culture.

How do we develop a professional identity?

Etienne Wegner proposes that we acquire the values of a profession through 'communities of practice'. Mandia Mentis and Wendy Holley-Boen, in the Specialist Teacher course material,  state that “identity development occurs through co-constructing meaning with others in educational contexts within your community of practice", essentially a community of learning (Wegner, 2020). Wegner defines a community of practice as a group of people "who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor". He goes on to say that communities of learning can be formal or informal and exist in many different and varied contexts. What makes these groups a community of learning is a shared purpose or interest and a common desire to improve. An important aspect is that the shared learning is not necessarily an intentional act. It involves developing a relationship and having a mutual desire to share knowledge and expertise, and in doing so, the members of the community naturally learn from one another. Wegner emphasises the importance of developing a relationship which "takes time and sustained interaction" (Wegner, 2020).

The two essential features of communities of practice identified by Wegner resonate with me. I work within the RTLB Cluster 1 in the Far North. Collectively we make up a practice. Within this practice, we're divided into four teams: Kaitaia, Māori medium team, Kaikohe and Pewhairangi (the Bay of Islands) which is where I'm based. Within each of these teams, individuals are based in different offices. The relevance of this is that the practice as a whole only meet in person once a term. Those within a team meet once a fortnight. Because relationships can only be developed by ongoing interactions, we form communities of learning with those with whom we spend most time - in this case, those that share an office or form a relationship outside of work. Another challenge is that many of those in our team are new themselves, and therefore haven't had the time required to assimilate the body of knowledge specific to the RTLB service in the context of this Cluster. We are, as Wegner puts it "competence that is pulling the experience along, until the learner's experience reflects the competence of the community" (Wegner, 2020). However, because we are so many 'newbies' and sometimes lack the Cluster-wide 'competence',  it can be more the blind leading the blind. Communities of practice also exist in each of our schools. Again, these tend to happen in liaison schools. More time is spent in these schools and therefore they present better opportunity to develop relationships than in schools that you're popping in and out of. I feel like part of the team in my liaison schools and a guest in non-liaison schools.

I belong to several communities of practice with a fluid and overlapping membership: a small group of colleagues that I engage with frequently, two schools that I liaise with regularly, a peer group (assigned membership), 2 study groups (evolved this way), and to the wider Cluster as a whole. Cluster interactions are few but we have a shared understanding that every member of the cluster is available and willing to collaborate whenever needed. Despite challenges of distance and time, we all recognise and value each others' strengths and share these as the need arises rather than on a regular basis. As someone new to the RTLB role, I began practicing last year, relying on existing competencies and, over time, through these communities of practice, I am negotiating a shared understanding of my role, expectations and practices. I have noticed that different teams seem to operate separately  and distinctly from one another and so there isn't necessarily a shared competence over the Cluster as a whole. Inconsistent messages make it difficult to fully develop team-wide let alone Cluster-wide competency. It also means that some people work 'under the radar', to enable continuation of practices deemed not within the scope of practice by some. In some cases, I see this as positive disobedience that may be influential in making positive changes from within, and developing a positive culture and perception of the service as a whole. Perhaps because of the demographics of the Far North RTLB cluster, I am also aware that some lack the “common desire to improve”, which according to Wegner (2020), is also a necessary requirement of a community of practice. It is these nuances, perhaps, that illustrate the constant adjustments required to assimilate professional identity by melding of personal and professional values.

Both educational institutions and business organisations have attempted to make use of the principles of communities of practice as a means of advancing the professional development of students and employees and to promulgate specific knowledge and objectives, with varied degrees of success. Unfortunately, trying to put artificial constructs on what is a natural and organic social paradigm is often doomed to failure. The arbitrary establishment of community membership is contrary to the natural process of group evolution over time and ignores that the shared learning that occurs is frequently inadvertent. Artificially establishing communities of learning and imposing group membership does not necessarily mean that a genuine community of learning will evolve, as evidenced by my own experiences.

The ubiquity of digital technology means that businesses and institutions, particularly education institutions, have promoted the use of social media to establish online communities. Again, with mixed results. A meta study by Melhuish (2013) found that educators use social media sites for professional development (resources, mentors and advice). Melhuish identified collaboration, connectedness and information sharing as the main benefits of the use of social media for professional development. The sites themselves provide beneficial platforms for exchange of information and collaboration but the trade-off is the anonymity of participants, quality control of information shared, time sifting through the vast quantities of information, control of responses and privacy. Melhuish concluded that self-motivation and self-direction was an important factor in the effectiveness of its use as a means of professional development. Arnold & Paulus (2010) cited by Melhuish, raises doubts about the effectiveness of social media as a platform for communities of practice and in particular,  individuals who are "lurkers", that is, participate by reading blogs (threads, groups etc.) rather than contributing. Arnold et. al. stated that while being a 'lurker' was a legitimate way to participate in online communities it may not have a significant impact on practice. Melhuish goes further to question the depth of learning and impact of any sites as they tend to reaffirm current practice rather than challenge thinking (confirmation bias). I agree with Melhuish. I have previously been an avid user of social media as a tool for self-directed learning. Because there are no mechanisms of filtering the validity and robustness of the information provided in social media platforms, as a professional, it has been my experience that you have to troll through too many entries to find the occasional pearl. However, if a relationship exists, the negative aspects of online communities of practice are reduced (Arnold & Paulus, Melhuish), and there is a greater likelihood of participation and professional contribution. For example, having read ‘Colouring in the White Spaces’ by Anne Milne, I have chosen to buy her book and follow her on social media. 

It could be argued that an unintended outcome of engagement with social media is increased digital literacy (Melhuish (2013). This is certainly true. However, there are so many different social media platforms that it’s difficult for many users to know which is the most appropriate for different purposes. Time is such a major factor for most professionals, that the process of developing competency is a huge investment so one wants to invest wisely. Personally, as a teacher of senior digital technology, I am satisfied that my digital literacy is sufficient to meet personal and professional needs and I contribute to my team by sharing these skills whenever possible (Appendix 4). 

It is important that  in working collaboratively within our communities of practice, we include other relevant professionals to develop successful inter-professional learning. Inter-professional learning describes the outcome of an interactive process of education and practice. It develops as a result of the interdependent relationship between inter-professional education, learning about each other's 'roles, expertise and responsibilities' and inter-professional practice, working collaboratively together. An example of collaborative practice in the school context is the Individual Education Plan (IEP), called a Collaborative Action Plan (CAP) in the RTLB service, essentially a team approach to developing a plan to ensure implementation of appropriate supports so that the needs of a child or group of children are met.

The RTLB Cluster 1 and Far North MOE have developed a model of whole day professional development, which includes opportunity for informal discussion as well as  a more formal presentation from a provider. However, in my experience, these interface workshops have only occurred once in the past nine months. There is one planned for early July which conflicts with Massey block course, so this is essentially an annual event. 

At this stage of my learning journey, I am confident that the communities of practice to which I belong, through a process of ongoing discussion and collaboration, will give me the procedural, local (including inter-professional and cultural ) knowledge I need. Therefore, my learning goals are to more fully develop my knowledge and expertise of the factors that affect learning; best schoolwide, classroom, and targeted practices to ensure positive outcomes for all learners; and to fill my knowledge gaps associated with primary versus secondary teaching (eg. understanding how students learn to read). From a personal perspective, I cannot possibly understand a student's learning context if I have no understanding of that particular context. Essentially the stem of the T in the T-shaped model of a professional.  I am hoping that this postgraduate course will provide me with a structured learning pathway to achieve the depth of learning required to give me this competence.

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