Moving into the 21 st century, changing views on professionalism

Transcription

1 1 Moving into the 21 st century, changing views on professionalism Frank Jansma SBL Introduction In retrospect we may say that the development of teacher standards in the Netherlands started in 1993 when a Parliamentary Commission published a report about the future of the teaching profession 1. The title of the report was the dreamed up kingdom, a direct reference to the illusion of the autonomous teacher as the king of his classroom. This report sounded the alarm over the decline of the teaching profession and the disastrous effects that would have on the quality of education. Countermeasures were proposed and largely agreed upon by the Ministry of Education and the Parliament. In short these countermeasures aimed at boosting the professional development of the teacher, the school organisation and school management. As part of the analysis, the existing system for the qualification of teachers was criticised as to static. In short, once a teacher got qualified by passing exams and attaining a diploma of a teacher training institute, he was presumed to be competent for the rest of his career. By introducing teacher standards in the form of competence demands which are regularly updated, one thought to bring a more dynamic qualification process into play, while at the same time promoting a more continuous professional development. It took ten years to develop a proposal for competence demands and an additional two years to make them official. On 13 October the Dutch Parliament accepted the proposal and now the implementation process is underway. Legislation takes a long time, but in the Netherlands more than new legislation is at stake. In fact we are at a turning point for the teaching profession. Step by step new governance principles are emerging in which teachers are challenged to take the responsibility for the quality of teaching into their own hands. Dutch teacher unions and other organisations of teachers together formed an open professional organisation (SBL) in which all teachers (organised and unorganised) can participate. Through this organisation teachers as a professional group have proved to be able to develop their own standards. Now the question is, do we succeed in the further professionalisation of teachers and schools, what do we aim at, how do we go about change and what challenges lie ahead? In this article we will describe our view on professionalism and professionalisation in this new political context. Extrinsic and intrinsic aspects of professionalism Professionalism and professional development are key concepts in Dutch educational policy, but these concepts are not very clear. They contain issues that have to do with the development of teaching as a profession, with developing professionalism in teaching and with the development of theories, technologies and methods in teaching. Those are different but closely related processes. Partly these processes are unintended and unguided effects of overall changes in society. Teaching emerged as an occupation as part of an ongoing process of division of labour. And teaching methods are as much the effect of the standardised developments of schools in the industrial society as vice versa. Partly these processes are also driven by intentional actions from the professional group or other actors in society. Professional groups have explicit strategies externally oriented towards the maintenance and advancement of the social position of the profession (extrinsic professionalisation). Some groups have strategies internally oriented towards the improvement of practice (intrinsic professionalisation) 2. 1 CTL, C. T. L. (1993). Een beroep met perspectief. De toekomst van het leraarschap. Amsterdam. 2 Jansma, F., T. Wubbels, et al. (1991). Teacher-research and professionalism. ATEE 1991: New Prospects for Teacher Education In Europe,, Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, Institut of Teacher Education, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.; Jansma, F. and T. Wubbels (1993). School development as part of a professionalization strategy. Teacher education 9: Research and developments on teacher education in the Netherlands. J. T. Voorbach. De Lier, Academisch Boeken Centrum:

2 2 The intrinsic aspect of professionalism (in our view the essence) is knowledgeable practice. In modern terms, practice based on scientific insight and improvement of practice through evidence based development of methods. We can recognise professionalism by it s basic pattern of professional practice, a regulative cycle in which observation and diagnoses are followed by design, planning, action and evaluation at which point the cycle starts anew 3. A view on professionalism that is quite similar to Donald Schön s idea of the reflective practitioner 4. Figuur 1: intrinsic professionalism The extrinsic aspect of professionalism can be represented as an open ended list of characteristics like status, high income, professional autonomy, legal closure, etcetera. Though it is doubtful that these can be seen as essential characteristics 5, the complete lack of these characteristics make it difficult to view an occupation as a profession. If we look for the extrinsic and intrinsic aspects of professionalism in teaching, we get an ambiguous picture. This ambiguity has been with teaching, probably from the beginning. Lortie, for example gives an historic overview of the development of the teaching profession on themes like income and social position and concludes it s only halfway professionalised, that is, if those characteristics are a hallmark of professionalism 6. His study deals with teaching in the United States even going back to colonial times, but the same conclusion has been reached for example in the Netherlands 7. A two sided professionalisation strategy Professionalism on one side hinges on the availability of a knowledgebase that supports professional action through evidence based methods and on the other side, the acknowledgement by society of the value of the profession. Nowadays we hold the view that the professional is responsible and accountable for the quality of his professional actions. Responsible in the sense that he has the authority and the (relative) autonomy to decide upon the way to go about his work; accountable in the sense that he gets results and can explicate and account for the way he does. In this view we need a two sided strategy for professional development. One side externally oriented, the other internally oriented. The one can strengthen the other with the development of professionalism as a pivotal process. 3 Strien, P. J. v. (1986). Praktijk als wetenschap. Methodologie van het sociaal-wetenschappelijk handelen. Assen, Van Gorcum. 4 Schön, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner. How Professionals Think in Action. Aldershot, Avebury. 5 Torstendahl, R. (1990). Essential properties, strategic aims and historical development: three approaches to theories of professionalism. Professions in Theory and History, Rethinking the Study of the Professions. M. Burrage and R. Torstendahl. London, Sage Publications Ltd: Lortie, D. C. (1975). Schoolteacher A Sociological Study. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press. 7 E.g. Knoers, A. M. P. (1987). Leraarschap: Amb(ach)t of professie. Professionalisering van de universitaire lerarenopleiding. Assen, Van Gorcum.. Kwakman, C. H. E. (1999). Leren van docenten tijdens de beroepsloopbaan. Studies naar professionaliteit op de werkplek in het voortgezet onderwijs. Nijmegen, Katholieke Universiteit. contains an overview in Dutch of relevant (mostly Dutch) literature on both the extrinsic and intrinsic aspect of professionalism in teaching.

3 3 Figuur 2: development of professionalism How can we do that? Change in a complex system The core process of education is the interaction between pupils, teachers and content with the intention to stimulate, direct and guide learning. This process is organised in a complex educational system and that system is part of a complex dynamic society. The dynamics of society influence change in the educational system and conversely through the educational system society tries to influence it s own dynamics, be it with varying success. Professionalisation as an intentional change process must be tuned in to the overall changes society is going through. In this dynamic complexity, change is a non-linear process in which it is impossible to trace the links between cause and effects 8. There is no strategic prescription for change, instead we must develop a regulative pattern of action and reflection in which we design interventions at different levels of the system and tune them in to each other. In doing so we develop our professional knowledge about change and improvement in the educational system while working on change and improvement. Figuur 3: professional development through reflective action To make things even more complicated, intentional change requires interventions simultaneously at different levels of the educational system. In the intrinsic perspective to improve practice, professional development requires interventions at the level of interactions between teachers and pupils which can only succeed if they are paired with interventions at the level of the school as an organisation. Both types of intervention can only succeed as far as the environment of the school at least tolerates them, and that requires communication and to some extend maybe also political action. 8 Stacey, R. (1992). Managing the Unknowable. San Fransisco, CA, Jossey-Bass. in Fullan, M. (1993). Change Forces, Probing the Depths of Educational Reform. London, The Falmer Press.

4 4 Figuur 4: change forces and levels of intervention With communication and political action we shift the perspective from intrinsic to extrinsic. Here we have to deal with the major issue in the development of the profession, the question whether teachers themselves are the agents of change or the object of change by others or simply adrift in changing tides. The political context of professional development Intrinsic professionalisation aims at improving and better understanding the core processes of learning and instruction and the way to organise these processes in our society. What does extrinsic professionalisation aim at? In our view extrinsic professionalisation is not about getting all the characteristics of the established professions. Those characteristics are a surface manifestations of the way a profession functions in the economical and political subsystems of society. The public image of the profession, status and income for example are functional for attracting novices on the labour market. Autonomy and authority as well as a code of ethics and disciplinary rules are functional for a certain approach to governance. As surface manifestations they are bound to the structuration principles of the era in which the professions developed, the pre-industrial and industrial society 9. What we mean to say is that in the extrinsic perspective of professional development a profession needs to develop means to function adequately in the economic, cultural and political domains of society, means that fit in with the state of affairs in the rest of society. Our society is rapidly changing and with every passing century the pace of change seems to increase. The mechanisms for steerage and control we know in our society begin to show serious shortcomings. In social cultural perspective we see cohesion threatened by an ongoing decline of traditional bonds and structures, ongoing individualisation and growing cultural diversity. We see the development of mass culture and consumerism that cannot give sufficient meaning and perspective to individual life. In social economic perspective we see the further globalisation of economy and an ongoing process of division of labour. We see economic growth but also the costs e.g. ecological damage and unacceptable inequality and poverty. We see crafts and professions disappear or changing so rapidly that occupational identity is becoming more and more dynamic, requiring lifelong learning and individual responsibility for employability. In political and juridical perspective we see governments wrestling with legitimacy. We see serviceinstitutions in the public domain clog up. We see governments stepping back from responsibility, giving leeway to principles of the free market. We see growing diversity and possibilities to choose, but also the forming of new bureaucracies, secret cartels and a managerial class that provokes society with shameless examples of self enrichment. It is clear that as they break down around us, traditional rule and control systems cannot help us into the future. 9 Here we refer implicitly to the structuration theory developed by Anthony Giddens, e.g Giddens, A. (1984). The Constitution of Society Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Cambridge, Polity Press..

5 5 On this battlefield of changing structures and competing values, new forms of governance and a compatible form of professionalism need to develop. In answer to this challenge Dutch government is implementing a new governance policy. Key words in this policy are: Clarity Clear goals; clear results; clear responsibilities; Openness Openness about ambitions and limitations, quality and shortcomings, success and failures; transparency of processes; Trust and accountability Trust in professional responsibility counterbalanced by the obligation to give account. In this policy the service-institutions in the public domain have a conditional autonomy and deregulation combined with lump sum financing give them a lot of leeway for policymaking of their own. This creates a problem space for professional development in which we see competing possibilities. On the one hand we see a strong bureaucratisation tendency in which managerial layers expand and professionals are more and more reduced to executing plans and programs from others. This tendency results in deprofessionalisation. On the other hand we see new forms of professional cooperation with, in addition to the executive aspect, a greater emphasis on the design and engineering aspect of professionalism. Also we see new roles in innovation, knowledge production and research. Especially in these new roles we see forms of cooperation emerging in networks and knowledge communities 10. What tendency will have the upper hand remains to be seen. However it is certain that further development is not a simple choice between the one and the other. A further differentiation in professional roles in teaching seems likely and probably also is desirable from the point of view of cost effectiveness. There simply always is more executive work to be done and the further we develop evidence based practice, the more we may rely on professional routines. That development in itself makes it possible for teachers themselves to invest time in design and engineering for individual needs, for innovation and for research 11. The challenge ahead The question is whether we find ways in our schools to keep the expansion of managerial layers in check and find ways of organising education that make it possible for teachers and other staff to engage in various professional roles, executive, engineering, innovation and research. In the intrinsic perspective this means that teachers should continuously be engaged in the development of their practice and the underlying knowledgebase in various roles. In the extrinsic perspective this means that the new governance principles must also be implemented within the school and within the professional group. Standards for teachers, developed and updated by teachers themselves play an important role in this process. Through those standards autonomy is conditionally paired to accountability. Furthermore, where teachers are given the opportunities to reclaim their responsibility, the teacher becomes visible as highly skilled and knowledgeable problem solver, educational engineer and knowledge producer. There the erosion of the status and public image of the teacher stops and turns around. This view on professional development asks for teachers who as free agents form a strong professional group that doesn t operate from defensive trenches but directs the improvement of the educational system as it directs it s own formation and development. Perhaps this new professional was heralded by Arnold Cornelis, a Dutch philosopher who brought forward the optimistic concept of communicative self steerage. People as free agents, engaged in dialogue with each other find a dynamic balance between self interest and public interest and between individuality and the collective 12. Though this view is far from practical it shows a direction in which to proceed. 10 WRR, N. S. C. f. G. P. (2004). Proof of good service provisions: summary ( 11 Mertens, F. J. H. (2005). Bewijzen van goede dienstverlening, commentaar op een WRR rapport. NTOR, Tijdschrift voor onderwijsrecht en onderwijsbeleid(2-juni 2005): Cornelis, A. (1997). Logica van het gevoel. Filosofie van de Stabiliteitslagen in de Cultuur als Nesteling der Emoties. Amsterdam / Brussel / Middelburg, Stichting Essence.

6 6 References Cornelis, A. (1997). Logica van het gevoel. Filosofie van de Stabiliteitslagen in de Cultuur als Nesteling der Emoties. Amsterdam / Brussel / Middelburg, Stichting Essence. CTL, C. T. L. (1993). Een beroep met perspectief. De toekomst van het leraarschap. Amsterdam. Fullan, M. (1993). Change Forces, Probing the Depths of Educational Reform. London, The Falmer Press. Giddens, A. (1984). The Constitution of Society Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Cambridge, Polity Press. Jansma, F. and T. Wubbels (1993). School development as part of a professionalization strategy. Teacher education 9: Research and developments on teacher education in the Netherlands. J. T. Voorbach. De Lier, Academisch Boeken Centrum: Jansma, F., T. Wubbels, et al. (1991). Teacher-research and professionalism. ATEE 1991: New Prospects for Teacher Education In Europe,, Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, Institut of Teacher Education, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Knoers, A. M. P. (1987). Leraarschap: Amb(ach)t of professie. Professionalisering van de universitaire lerarenopleiding. Assen, Van Gorcum. Kwakman, C. H. E. (1999). Leren van docenten tijdens de beroepsloopbaan. Studies naar professionaliteit op de werkplek in het voortgezet onderwijs. Nijmegen, Katholieke Universiteit. Lortie, D. C. (1975). Schoolteacher A Sociological Study. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press. Mertens, F. J. H. (2005). Bewijzen van goede dienstverlening, commentaar op een WRR rapport. NTOR, Tijdschrift voor onderwijsrecht en onderwijsbeleid(2-juni 2005): Schön, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner. How Professionals Think in Action. Aldershot, Avebury. Stacey, R. (1992). Managing the Unknowable. San Fransisco, CA, Jossey-Bass. Strien, P. J. v. (1986). Praktijk als wetenschap. Methodologie van het sociaal-wetenschappelijk handelen. Assen, Van Gorcum. Torstendahl, R. (1990). Essential properties, strategic aims and historical development: three approaches to theories of professionalism. Professions in Theory and History, Rethinking the Study of the Professions. M. Burrage and R. Torstendahl. London, Sage Publications Ltd: WRR, Netherlands Scientific Counsel for Government Policy (2004). Proof of good service provisions: summary (