Professionalism in teaching : a comparative study : England and Greece

• Main Author: Starida, Assimina
• Published: University College London (University of London) 1991
• Subjects: 370; Education & training
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.308067

This thesis examines the contemporary aspects of professionalism in teaching in the light of growing central government control over the conditions under which teachers carry out their work in England and Greece. In both countries, major and recent legislation, have brought about fundamental revision in the context in which educational provision evolves. Such changes have resulted in the increase of government control over teachers and questioned whether teachers can exercise any control over their own work. The key to the analysis of the issue of teachers' occupational control is the concept of professionalism. It is the main contention of the study that the conceptualisation of professionalism can be best explained by an examination of the context within which it is embedded. Thus, the primary concern of the study involves the development of a multi-dimensional model which may serve to gain additional understanding of the dynamics involved in the functioning of "professionalism". Subsequently, the model is tested in two different settings: England and Greece, so that common factors may be identified and differences revealed. Chapter I examines the characteristics of professions and the nature of professionalism. Chapter II describes the historically dominant elements that shape professionalism. Chapter III deals with the significance of the evolving nature of the relationship between teachers and the State. Chapter IV is an analysis of factors which set the context within which professionalism functions. It is primarily concerned with the construction of a model representing the ways in which these factors act and interact. Chapter V and VI furnish the contextual information as a means of applying the model to England and Greece respectively. Chapter VII analyses the issues raised in the two case studies and against the rather broader context of the development of education in the European Community, identifies some of their implications. Chapter VIII concludes with the assessment of the major framework conditions which have been used in the study to conceptualise professionalism. Professionalism in teaching is not a monolithic concept, but a dynamic one, changing meaning over time. Its conceptualisation within the context of its interrelated contemporary elements is essential to an understanding of control exercised over teachers' conditions of work.