Teacher professionalism in Jamaica

Cynthia Pearson, GUEST COLUMNIST

It is particularly disturbing to me that the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC), in its proposed education bill with the main objective to (a) "raise the character and status of the teaching profession", shows its own limited knowledge as to who teachers are, what they should really do, and how problematic its proposal is in achieving stated objectives for educational transformation.

First, the proposed bill defines 'educational professionals' only as:

(a) the principal, vice-principal or assistant principal, of a public educational institution or an independent school;

(b) a guidance counsellor;

(c) an early childhood practitioner; or

(d) any person who trains, supervises or inspects teachers or persons mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c);

This set of descriptors for 'professionals' in education raises the question of teacher professional identity and whether teaching is, in fact, a profession. To begin, it would seem that the vast majority of trained or trained graduate practitioners in the system do not even fit in the category of professionals mentioned above. In fact, in the act proposed to establish the regulatory framework for educators and to guide the council, there is a clear description of all the key stakeholders in education, but the word 'teacher' was omitted from among the descriptors given on the list.

Vague language

The word 'instructor', which could be used as a substitute for 'teacher', is at best vague and at worst defined as 'a name entered in a register'. If one were to use the descriptor for the word 'teach' to come up with a description of a 'teacher', one would understand that the teacher's role is largely relegated to a 'deliverer', 'implementer' and 'assessor' of a curriculum or a syllabus handed down to them.

The public may ask, "But what is wrong with that?" But the description given of the nature of the teacher's work presents a traditional and narrow view for what actually occurs in practice and which, for many of us, is far removed from reality. So, how does the JTC view the expert trained classroom teacher if it does not qualify them as professionals, and even after certification and licensing, how would they get to the status of being professionals?

In their attempt to restructure and reform education by "[raising] the character and status of the teaching profession" and to "recognise, regulate and promote the teaching profession ...", from where is the JTC raising the profession and where is it going? Has the JTC seriously considered the professional identity of all classroom teachers? Who really are they?

It seems to me that with the JTC's emphasis on greater accountability and professional standards through licensing and certifying of the teachers, which is a good thing by local and international standards, the professional identity of its chief stakeholders is insufficiently described, and what teachers do within their professional context is inadequately outlined by members of this regulating body who, for the most part, are distanced from the classroom.

Limited description

Second, in "raising the status of the teaching profession", there is an explicit acknowledgement that teaching is a profession, but this assertion may be debatable given the limited role of the teacher described in the act. Unlike other professions, like doctors and lawyers, that are autonomous in making professional judgements, generating professional knowledge and holding special responsibilities in sharing research for the public good, does the JTC have such a vision for teachers and the teaching profession?

Further, whereas other professions are largely self-regulated, the teaching profession is centralised. Teachers are told what to do and their professional judgement is called into question. Were teachers invited to sit among the council members to develop this proposed act? Or is it that the JTC is making an assumption that the myriad problems in our education system can be simply fixed by teachers' compliance to be licensed and certified, among other things in the bill?

If the regulating body does not understand and cannot fully operationalise the professional identity of their teachers, and the vast majority of teachers do not really know what their status is under the provisions of the act, is it any wonder that our educational system is spiralling downhill?

For while it is true that one of the major problems in education is poor teaching, and that improvements in teaching rest mainly with teachers, it might serve the JTC to articulate other initiatives to raise the character of teaching by first validating all teachers as professionals, which would go beyond a long list of expected competencies and behaviours. Even if the initiatives to certify and license teachers do raise the status of the profession, they are not enough in professionalising teaching.

Finally, my experience as one of the named 'professionals' reveals that, generally, teachers do far more than implementing and assessing a syllabus in their own classrooms. It also includes how their professional knowledge and expertise contribute to the school system and to the wider community.

Additionally, apart from professional development events put on by the Government, teaching, as a profession, should seek to foster teachers' improving their own practice through ongoing classroom-based research. These continuous in-school activities will help to promote quality teaching as practitioners develop professional knowledge and skills embedded within practice to solve their own local problems. People who have never taught and are at a distance from the classroom cannot do this for the profession and they would be foolish to think that they know how to do this better than the teachers themselves.

I do not believe that the bill initiated by the JTC has even begun to conceptualise and to articulate well who a teacher really is, what the teacher should do in practice, and how to truly professionalise teaching for educational transformation. More dialogue among the nation's practitioners and the JTC is required.

Cynthia Pearson is a high-school teacher. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and cynthpear@gmail.com.