Professionalism

I believe that there have been many instances that have contributed to the increasing requirements to be a true professional teacher. However the single greatest influence has been the evolution of the union. The union has stood for many years to make life better for all people. Whether it is hours an individual was allowed to work safety issues or pay increases the union has always been the first in line to defend an individual’s right. For years people would graduate college, get a teaching job and work there for the next 30 years without ever trying to gain new knowledge or new instructional techniques. Through time the unions contributed to teachers being required to receive their masters in a certain amount of time to constantly stay fresh with the new techniques. Also required was that when teachers apply for their licensure renewal that they have taken 6 credit hours to show that they are continuing their education. With these improvements that teachers are taken they are receiving compensation for the willingness to be more of a professional. Another improvement that can be contributed to teacher unions as well is the L.P.D.C. hours where an individual each year has to take 7 hours worth of outside course improvement workshops. These 7 hours are then compensated with a teacher receiving a day off of work. If teacher unions had stayed in the same mode we may not have seen these vast improvements in our profession. These improvements have made teachers an even more highly regarded profession. In jenny’s presentation she also made a statement about unions being our voice for our collective bargaining. If we did not have these unions to back us up we would never be able to negotiate a contract to receive the compensation deserved for the work that we do. So I believe that due to the vision of where the unions would like to be it has contributed to the increasing professionalism of teaching.