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What the term ‘professional’ mean to me?

I think the best way to start talking about what the term professional means to me is to scope how others have defined it.  Being professional is to be trusted and to deliver on that trust. Ron Brandt makes the comparison between the levels of professionalism expected by educators with that of medical staff (Ron, B., 1993). I strongly agree with this comparison, although education is not a life and death situation, this is someone’s future we are dealing with.

Professionalism is not a one sided struggle, institutions should provide the scaffolding to facilitate a professional staff cohort. "Continuing education on the job, desirable working conditions - including adequate supplies and equipment, opportunities to interact with colleagues, and reasonable latitude in making decisions" all play apart in the over professionalism of a department (Ron, B., 1993.).

Professional means different things to different people, especially in terms of digital migrant vs. digital Native. Allison fine believes the older generation stereotype professional with notions of "wearing a uniform of some kind, talking in a certain language, carrying a brief case (or more recently a Blackberry or iPhone)" where as younger generations see professionalism as a mind-set (Fine, A., 2012). I agree with the latter, it is no longer OK to presume someone is unprofessional because they do not conform to a certain stereotype. We live in a world where the likes of Mark Zuckerberg can become millionaires over night and yet their overall attitude and appearance hardly change at all. 

I believe that the term "professional" has a lot to do with striving to be your very best, looking for ways to improve, listening to advice from others and setting goals. "Watch a video of yourself teaching without sound, now listen to the sound track only. Ask a teacher with real expertise in performance to give you a private critique", these are all suggestion by Paul Dix on how to go from "good" to "outstanding". Incidentally, professionalism in some respects could be summarised as the quest for "outstanding". In order to maintain a professional level it is important to reflect on past performances and adjust future plans, to improve the value of your endeavours.

Personally, I try to maintain an up to date skill set which is driven by a thirst for knowledge, and a passion to share what I learn. I do my best to remain approachable, honest and reasonably tidy in appearance (sometimes a little scruffy). I throw myself into everything I do empathise with others who show enthusiasm to the point that it drives me to work harder. I am on the cusp of digital native, though to me professionalism is definitely a mind set and not an appearance. 

References:

Ron, B., 1993. What do you mean, “professional”? ASCD. Available at: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar93/vol50/num06/What-Do-You-Mean,-%E2%80%9CProfessional%E2%80%9D%C2%A2.aspx.

Fine, A., 2012. What does “Professional” Look like today? Harvard Business review, pp.5-9. Available at: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/05/the_new_professional.html.

Annotated literacy review

Open publication - Free publishing - More digital divide

Research Proposal

Activity 5