I hear teachers complain about not being treated as professionals, but as a parent I sometimes find their professionalism lacking. Don’t they have a responsibility to help their own cause?
According to the Britannica Dictionary, a professional is “someone who does a job that requires special training, education, or skill.” Such people are generally treated with trust and respect, but that isn’t always the case with teachers. Fortifying that respect is the responsibility of both teachers and the public.
For their part, the public (and parents specifically) should not view teachers as customer-oriented professionals like landscapers and cosmetologists who they expect to execute their personal wishes. Children aren’t products to be customized. They are individuals to be educated. That’s a parent’s job. Teachers, though, with their specialized training, absorb most of the burden, doing en masse what parents would find challenging to do individually. This places teachers among more service-oriented professionals like soldiers and doctors, who (should) elicit a different sort of trust.
For our part, teachers have opportunities to act more professionally. Britannica defines that version of the word as “showing the skill, good judgment, and polite behavior that is expected from a person who is trained to do a job well.” If you’re a teacher, here are some actions parents might (or might not) like you to consider:
• Answer emails and calls promptly — No one expects professionals to be at one’s beck and call, but it’s unprofessional to send a response days after the inquiry or, worse, not at all.
• Enter grades as promptly as possible — Electronic reporting allows parents to view kids’ grades in real-time, so timeliness matters. Taking six weeks to enter a short quiz is as unprofessional as a financial planner failing to provide you with timely updates on your investments.
• Dress professionally — Neckties and business suits aren’t necessary, but a modicum of professionalism would go a long way. When you wear the same sloppy sweats and flip-flops as students, it doesn’t appear you’re trying very hard to garner professional respect.
• Beware of social media — Posting photos of the ski trip you took when everyone else was in school is unhelpful. Likewise, if your posts consist of rants against your students or a steady diet of images from your party-hard lifestyle, consider setting your account to (very) private.
• Go to school — Obviously, illnesses and family hardships will exact their toll, but taking a day off every couple of weeks for, say, “mental health” will make parents (and others) wonder if you are professionally up to the rigors of the job.
• Say no when you need to — You’re the expert in your field, so don’t allow yourself to be treated like a valet. When parents demand you honor their most ridiculous requests, calmly, politely and professionally decline. No doctor would give in to a patient who demands treatment that makes the illness worse. If a parent insists that you provide extra tutoring to a child who never does his homework, it should be professional* to say: “This will enable, not help him. Let’s see what he can do by completing his homework for two weeks. Then, if he’s still struggling, let’s revisit the issue.” [*I say “should be professional” because this requires having a principal on board with it, and most teachers don’t have that.]
• Stay in your lane — Being the expert on teaching doesn’t make you the expert on everything. You lose professionalism when you recommend medicating a student or use the classroom to push partisan political positions.
• Adhere to general standards of professionalism — Using appropriate language, being prepared and on time, and doing your job with maximum competency and efficiency are among the behaviors that people expect from a professional.
Being treated as a professional is quid pro quo. It requires the public to trust in the people regarded as professionals, but it also requires those people to behave in a trustworthy manner. In this case, there’s room for both sides to improve.
Jody Stallings has been an award-winning teacher in Charleston since 1992 and is director of the Charleston Teacher Alliance. To submit a question, order his books or follow him on social media, please visit JodyStallings.com.
