Teachers are Professionals

So, I go over a month without posting anything and now have 2 within 10 minutes.

On the first day of class, our professor gave us a link to a video:

I posted it on facebook that day because I thought it was interesting and set the tone for me.

What follows below is my contribution to the class discussion board. We had to read a few different codes of ethics and reflect upon them.  I felt it was important to share here as I continue my journey…

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I really appreciated the You Tube video at the end of the presentation. I posted it on my facebook page and received several positive comments with encouragement from my friends. I feel that the video did a great job of framing my reasons for deciding to become a teacher.

When I completed my undergraduate degree, I thought that I was going to become a high powered (and eventually wealthy) marketing executive. I pursued my MBA to help accomplish that goal. However, my professional career has been largely spent in sales to this point. This is a field that is not respected nor considered ethical by many people. I can appreciate this perspective as there is often a large grey area among sales people.

Teaching is far more straight forward. Many of us are in this program for the sole purpose of obtaining a certification to prove that we have met the minimum qualifications to enter the profession. This is similar to professions like Accountant or Lawyer, occupations considered to be professionals. No such certification exists for marketing and sales so the barrier to entry is very low and set by the individual employer.

Both the PA & NEA ethics shared a reoccurring theme. Essentially, as teachers we are to provide an equal education to all of the students without discriminating or favoring students for any of a variety of reasons and we are not to abuse our authority. I believe these to be fair, reasonable and even noble standards.

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