In this chapter we organize our discussion of teachers and professionalism around the following questions:
-
How, if at all, has the occupation of teaching in various historical and societal contexts been considered to be a profession?
-
How, if at all, have teachers in various historical and societal contexts experienced professionalization and/or deprofessionalization or proletarianization?
-
How have teachers in various historical societal contexts conceived of professionalism in relation to teaching and how do these commonsense conceptions relate to broader ideological and structural dimensions of society?
While the first question is mainly addressed by scholars and practitioners subscribing to a functionalist perspective, the second and third questions, respectively, draw more on the writings of those adopting conflict and interpretivist perspectives.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abbott, A. (1988). The system of professions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Acker, S. (1983). Women and teaching: A semi-detached sociology of a semi-profession. In S. Walker & L. Barton (Eds.), Gender, class and education (pp. 123–140). London: Falmer Press.
Alba, V. (1969). Mexico. In A. Blum (Ed.), Teacher unions and associations (pp. 200–232). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Apple, M. (1983). Work, class and teaching. In S. Walker & L. Barton (Eds.), Gender, class and education (pp. 53–67). Lewes: Falmer Press.
Apple, M. (1986). Teachers and texts: A political economy of class and gender relations in education. New York: Routledge.
Apple, M. (1995). Education and power (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Apple, M., & Weis, L. (1983). Ideology and practice in schooling: A political and conceptual introduction. In M. Apple & L. Weis (Eds.), Ideology and practice in schooling (pp. 3–33). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Aronowitz, S. (1973). False promise: The shaping of American working class consciousness. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Avis, J. (1994). Teacher professionalism: One more time. Educational Review, 46(1), 63–71.
Bagunywa, A. (1975). The changing role of the teacher in African renewal. Prospects, 5, 220–226.
Baritz, L. (1960). The servants of power: A history of the use of social science in American history. New York: Wesleyan University Press.
Barrington, J. (1991). Educational reform in New Zealand. In M. Ginsburg (Ed.), Understanding educational reform in global context (pp. 285–316). New York: Garland.
Barton, L., Barrett, E., Whitty, G., & Furlong, J. (1994). Teacher education and teacher professionalism in England: Some emerging issues. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 15(4), 520–544.
Becker, H. (1962). The nature of a profession. In Education for the professions [61st Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part II] (pp. 27–46). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ben-David, J. (1962). Professions in the class system of present day societies. Current Sociology, 12, 247–280.
Blackmore, J. (1993). In the shadow of men: The historical construction of educational administration as a “masculinist” enterprise. In J. Blackmore & J. Kenway (Eds.), Gender matters in educational administration and policy (pp. 27–48). Geelong, VIC: Deakin Press.
Blackmore, J. (1995). Breaking out from a masculinist politics of education. In B. Limerick & B. Lingard (Eds.), Gender and changing educational management (pp. 44–56). Rydalmere, NSW: Hodder Education.
Bledstein, B. (1976). The culture of professionalism: The middle class and the development of higher education in America. New York: W. W. Norton.
Braverman, H. (1974). Labor and monopoly capitalism: The degradation of work in the twentieth century. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Busswell, C. (1980). Pedagogic change and social change. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 1(3), 293–306.
Carlson, D. (1987). Teachers as political actors: From reproductive theory to the crisis in schooling. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 283–307.
Carr-Saunders, A., & Wilson, P. (1933). The professions. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Collins, R. (1979). The politics of profession. In The credential society: A historical sociology of education and stratification (pp. 131–181). New York: Academic Press.
Connell, R. (1985). Teachers' work. Boston: Allen & Unwin.
Connell, R. (1995). Transformative labour: Theorizing the politics of teachers' work. In M. Ginsburg (Ed.), The politics of educators' work and lives (pp. 91–114). New York: Garland.
Darling-Hammond, L. (1990). Teacher professionalism: Why and how? In A. Lieberman (Ed.), Schools as collaborative cultures: Creating the future now (pp. 25–50). New York: Falmer Press.
Darvas, P. (1991). Perspectives of educational reform in Hungary. In M. Ginsburg (Ed.), Understanding educational reform in global context (pp. 229–246). New York: Garland.
Densmore, K. (1987). Professionalism, proletarianization and teachers' work. In T. Popkewitz (Ed.), Critical studies in teacher education (pp. 130–160). Philadelphia: Falmer Press.
Derber, C. (1982). Professionals as workers: Mental labor in advanced capitalism. Boston: G. K. Hall.
Dibona, J. (1986). Profession at risk: Teaching and the labor process. Education Foundations, 1, 91–105.
Dingwall, R. (1974). Accomplishing profession. Sociological Review, 24, 331–349.
Dove, L. (1986). Teachers and teacher education in developing countries. London: Croom Helm.
Dreeben, R. (1970). The nature of teaching: Schools and the work of teachers. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman.
Eagleton, T. (1991). Ideology: An introduction. London: Verso Press.
Edwards, R. (1979). Three faces from the hidden abode. In R. Edwards (Ed.), Contested terrain: The transformation of the workplace in the twentieth century (pp. 3–22). New York: Basic Books.
Eggleston, J. (1986). Teacher professionalism and professinalization. In S. Ranson & J. Tomlison (Eds.), The changing government of education (pp. 113–123). London: Allen & Unwin.
Engvall, R]1997). The professionalization of teaching: Is it really much ado about nothing. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Esland, G. (1980). Professions and professionalism. In G. Esland & G. Salaman (Eds.), The politics of work and occupations (pp. 213–250). Milton Keynes, UK: Open University Press.
Esteve, J. M. (2000). The transformation of the teachers' role at the end of the twentieth century: New challenges for the future. Educational Review, 52(2), 197–217.
Etzioni, A. (Ed.). (1969). The semi-professions and their organization: Teachers, nurses, social workers. New York: Free Press.
Fielding, A., & Portwood, D. (1980). Professions and the state — Towards a typology of bureaucratic professions. Sociological Review, 28(1), 23–53.
Filson, G. (1988). Ontario teachers' deprofessionalization and proletarianization. Comparative Education Review, 32, 298–317.
Fores, M., & Glover, I. (1978, February 24). The British disease: Professionalism. Times Higher Education Supplement, 15.
Freidson, E. (1973). Professionalization and the organization of middle class labor in post-industrial society. In E. Halmos (Ed.), Professionalization and social change (pp. 47–59). Keele, England: University of Keele.
Friedson, E. (1983). The theory of the professions: The state of the art. In R. Dingwall & P. Lewis (Eds.), The sociology of the professions (pp. 47–59). Keele, England: University of Keele.
Freidson, E. (1994). Professionalism reborn. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Freidson, E. (2001). Professionalism, the third logic: On the practice of knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Furlong, J. (1992). Reconstructing professionalism: Ideological struggle in initial teacher education. In M. Arnot & L. Barton (Eds.), Voicing concerns: Sociological perspectives on contemporary education reforms (pp. 209–231). Oxford: Triangle Books.
Ginsburg, M. (1987a). Reproduction, contradictions and conceptions of professionalism: The case of preservice teachers. In T. Popkewitz (Ed.), Critical studies in teacher education: Its folklore, theory and practice (pp. 86–129). New York: Falmer Press.
Ginsburg, M. (1987b). Teacher education and class and gender relations: A critical analysis of historical studies of teacher education. Educational Foundations, 1(2), 4–36.
Ginsburg, M. (1988). Contradictions in teacher education and society: A critical analysis. New York: Falmer Press.
Ginsburg, M. (1997). Professionalism or politics as a model for educators' work and lives. Educational Research Journal, 11(2), 133–146.
Ginsburg, M., Chaturvedi, V., Agrawal, M., & Nora, A. (1988). Teachers and the ideology of professionalism in India and England: A comparison of case studies in colonial/peripheral and metropolitan/central societies. Comparative Education Review, 32(4), 465–477.
Ginsburg, M., Khanna, I., Meyenn, R., Miller, H., & Spatig, L. (1988). El concepto de professionalismo en el profesorado: Comparacion de contextos entre Inglaterra y Estados Unidos. (Teachers' conceptions of professionalism: A comparison of contexts between England and the United States.). Revista de Educacion, 285, 5–31.
Ginsburg, M., Meyenn, R., & Miller, H. (1979). Teachers, the Great Debate, and education cuts. Westminster Studies in Education, 2, 5–33.
Ginsburg, M., Meyenn, R., & Miller, H. (1980). Teachers' conceptions of professionalism and trades unionism: An ideological analysis. In P. Woods (Ed.), Teacher strategies (pp. 178–212). London: Croom Helm.
Ginsburg, M., & Spatig, L. (1988). On producing a competency-based teacher education program: The proletarianization of the professoriate. In M. Ginsburg (Ed.), Contradictions in teacher education and society (pp. 59–97). New York: Falmer Press.
Ginsburg, M., Wallace, G., & Miller, H. (1988). Teachers, economy, and the state: An English example. Teaching & Teacher Education, 4(4), 317–337.
Gordon, L. (1992). Educational reform in New Zealand: Contesting the role of the teacher. International Studies in the Sociology of Education, 2(1), 23–42.
Gore, J., & Morrison, K. (2001). The perpetuation of a (semi-)profession: Challenges in the governance of teacher education. Teaching & Teacher Education, 17, 567–582.
Gottlieb, E., & Cornbleth, C. (1989). The professionalization of tomorrow's teachers: An analysis of US teacher education reform rhetoric. Journal of Education for Teaching, 15(1), 3–12.
Grace, G. (1987). Teachers and the state in Britain. In M. Lawn & G. Grace (Eds.), Teachers: The culture and politics of work (pp. 193–228). Lewes, England: Falmer Press.
Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks. In Q. Hoare & G. Nowell-Smith (Eds. & Trans.) London: Lawrence & Wishart.
Gyarmati, G. (1975). The doctrine of professions: Basis of a power structure. International Social Science Journal, 27(4), 38–52.
Hall, C., & Schultz, R. (2003). Tensions in teaching and teacher education: Professionalism and professionalisation in England and Canada. Compare, 33(3), 369–383.
Halmos, P. (Ed.). (1973). Professionalization and social change. Keele, England: University of Keele.
Hargreaves, A. (2000). Four ages of professionalism and professional learning. Teachers and Teaching, 6(2), 151–182.
Hargreaves, D. (1980). The occupational culture of teachers. In P. Woods (Ed.), Teacher strategies: Explorations in the sociology of the school (pp. 125–148). London: Croom Helm.
Harris, K. (1982). Teachers and classes: A marxist analysis. Boston: Routledge, Kegan Paul.
Haug, M. (1975). The deprofessionalization of everyone? Sociological Focus, 8(3), 197–213.
Helsby, G. (1995). Teachers' construction of professionalism in England in the 1990s. Journal of Education for Teaching, 21(3), 317–332.
Herbst, J. (1989). And sadly teach: Teacher education and professionalization in American culture. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Howsam, R. B. (1980). The workplace: Does it hamper professionalization of pedagogy? Phi Delta Kappan, 62, 93–96.
Hoyle, E. (1974). Professionality, professionalism and control in teaching. London Educational Review, 3, 13–19.
Hoyle, E. (1982). The professionalization of teachers: A paradox. British Journal of Educational Studies, 30(2), 161–171.
Hughes, E. (1958). Men and their work. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Hughes, E. (1966). The social significance of professionalization. In H. Vollmer & D. Mills (Eds.), Professionalization (pp. 62–70). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Illich, I. (1973, September 13). The professions as a form of imperialism. New Society, 25, 633–635.
Imaz Gispert, C., & Salinas Alvarez, S. (1984). Maestros y Estado, Volumes I and II. Mexico City: Editorial Linea.
Jackson, J. (Ed.). (1970). Professions and professionalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jarausch, K. (1990). The unfree professions: German lawyers, teachers and engineers. New York: Oxford University Press.
Johnson, T. (1972). Professions and power. London: Macmillan.
Johnson, T. (1973). Imperialism and the professions: Notes on the development of professional occupations in Britain's colonies and new states. Sociological Review, 20, 281–309.
Johnson, T. (1980). Work and power. In G. Salaman (Ed.), The politics of work and occupations (pp. 79–104). Milton Keynes, UK: The Open University Press.
Kale, P. (1970). The guru and the professional: The dilemma of the secondary school teacher in Poona, India. Comparative Education Review, 14(3), 371–376.
Kelly, G. (1982). Teachers and the transmission of state knowledge: A case study of colonial Vietnam. In P. Altbach, R. Arnove, & G. Kelly (Eds.), Comparative education (pp. 176–194). New York: Macmillan.
Klegon, D. (1978). The sociology of professions: An emerging perspective. Sociology of Work and Occupations, 5(3), 259–280.
Koo, J. (2002). Hankukkyowon kwa kyowonchongchaek [Educators in Korea and teacher policy]. Seoul, Korea: Hawooo.
Labaree, D. (1992). Power, knowledge, and the rationalization of teaching: A genealogy of the movement to professionalize teaching. Harvard Educational Review, 62(2), 123–154.
Larson, M. (1977). The rise of professionalism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Larson, M. (1980). Proletarianization of educated labor. Theory and Society, 9(1), 134–175.
Laudner, H., & Yee, B. (1987). Are teachers being proletarianized? In S. Walker & L. Barton (Eds.), Gender, class and education (pp. 58–71). Sussex, England: Falmer Press.
Lawn, M. (1988). Servants of the state: The contested control of teaching, 1900–1930. Basingstoke: Falmer Press.
Lawn, M., & Ozga, J. (1981). The educational worker. In L. Barton & S. Walker (Eds.), Schools, teachers and teaching (pp. 45–64). Lewes, England: Falmer Press.
Legatt, T. (1970). Teaching as a profession. In J. Jackson (Ed.), Profession and professionalization (pp. 53–77). London: Cambridge University Press.
Levine, S. (1969). Japan. In A. Blum (Ed.), Teacher unions and associations: A comparative study (pp. 141–199). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Lieberman, M. (1956). Education as a profession. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Littler, C. (1982). The development of the labour process in capitalist societies: A comparative study of work organization. London: Heineman Educational Books.
Lortie, D. (1975). School teacher: A sociology study. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
MacDonald, K., & Ritzer, G. (1988). The sociology of professions: Dead or alive? Sociology of Work and Occupations, 15(3), 259–280.
Mazawi, A. (1994). Teachers' role patterns and the mediation of sociopolitical change: The case of Palestinian Arab teachers. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 15(4), 497–514.
McDaniel, T. R. (1979, January). The de-professionalization of teachers. The Educational Forum: 229–237.
McKinlay, J. B. (1973). On the professional regulation of change. In P. Halmos (Ed.), Professionalization and social change (pp. 61–84). Keele, England: University of Keele.
McLaughlin, M. (1997). Rebuilding teacher professionalism in the United States. In A. Hargreaves & R. Evans (Eds.), Buying teachers back. Buckingham, England: Open University Press.
Megahed, N. (2004). Stratified students, stratified teachers: Ideologies of social mobility/reproduction, ideologies of professionalism, and teachers' perceptions of secondary education reform in Egypt. PhD dissertation. University of Pittsburgh.
Megahed, N., & Ginsburg, M. (2003). Stratified students, stratified teachers: Ideologically informed perceptions of educational reform in Egypt. Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies, 8(2), 7–33.
Megahed, N., & Ginsburg, M. (2006). Teacher education and the construction of worker-citizens in Egypt: Historical analysis of curricular goals in national/international political economic context. In N. Popov, C. Wol-huter, C. Heller, & M. Kysilka (Eds.), Comparative education and teacher training (Vol. 4, pp. 161–171). Sofia, Bulgaria: Bureau for Educational Services and the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society.
Metzger, W. (1987). A spectre is haunting American scholars: The spectre of “professionalism.” Educational Researcher, 16(6), 10–19.
Meyers, P. (1976). Professionalization and social change: Rural teachers in nineteenth century France. Journal of Social History, 9, 524–558.
Mills, C. W. (1951). White collar. New York: Oxford University Press.
Nagwu, N. (1977). Problems of professional identity among African school teachers. Journal of Administration and History, 9(2), 49–54.
Oppenheimer, M. (1973). Proletarianization of the professional. In P. Halmos (Ed.), Professionalization and social change (pp. 213–227). Keele, England: University of Keele.
Otero, M. (1981). Oppression in Uruguay. Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 37(2), 29–31.
Ozga, J., & Lawn, M. (1981). Teachers, professionalism and class. London: Falmer Press.
Parsons, T. (1954). The professions and social structure. In Essays in sociological theory (pp. 34–49). New York: Free Press.
Pickle, J. (1990). Toward a reconstruction of teacher professionalism. Educational Foundations, 4(2), 73–87.
Popa, S. (2007). Defensible spaces: Ideologies of professionalism and teachers' work in the Romanian private tutoring system. PhD dissertation. University of Pittsburgh.
Popkewitz, T. (1991). A political sociology of educational reform: Power/knowledge in teaching, teacher education, and research. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.
Pritchard, R. (1983). The status of teachers in Germany and Ireland. Comparative Education Review, 27(3), 341–350.
Race, R. (2002). Teacher professionalism or deprofessionalisation? The consequences of school-based management on domestic and international context. British Educational Research Journal, 28(3), 459–463.
Reid, D. (1974). The rise of professions and professional organizations in modern Egypt. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 16(1), 24–57.
Robertson, S., & Woock, R. (1991). The political economy of educational “reform” in Australia. In M. Ginsburg (Ed.), Understanding educational reform in global context (pp. 85–114). New York: Garland.
Roth, J. (1974). Professionalism: The sociologist's decoy. Sociology of Work and Occupations, 1(1), 6–23.
Schmuck, P. (Ed.) (1987). Women educators: Employees of schools in Western countries. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Seth, M. J. (2002). Education fever: Society, politics, and the pursuit of schooling in South Korea. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.
Simon, R. (1991). Gramsci's concept of hegemony. In R. Simon (Ed.), Gramsci's political thought: An introduction (pp. 22–29). London: Lawrence & Wishart.
Smyth, J. (2000). Teachers' work in a globalizing economy. New York: Falmer Press.
Street, S. (1992). Maestros en movimiento. Transformaciones en la burocracia estatal (1978–1982). Mexico, DF: CIESAS-SEP.
Strober, M., & Tyack, D. (1980). Why do women teach and men manage? Signs, 3, 494–503.
Torren, N. (1973). Deprofessionalization and its sources. Sociology of Work and Occupations, 2(4), 323–337.
Tucker, J. (1981). Teacher education policy in contemporary China. Theory and Research in Social Education, 8, 1–13.
Vollmer, H., & Mills, D. (1966). Professionalization. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Webb, R., Vulliamy, G., Hämäläinen, S., Sarja, A., Eija Kimonen, E., & Nevalainen, R. (2004). A comparative analysis of primary teacher professionalism in England and Finland. Comparative Education, 40(1), 84–107.
White, G. (1981). Party and professionals: The political role of teachers in contemporary China. New York: M. E. Sharpe.
Wilenski, H. (1964). The professionalizaton of everyone? American Sociological Review, 52(2), 137–158.
Wright, N., & Bottery, M. (1997). Perceptions of professionalism by the mentors of student teachers. Journal of Education for Teaching, 23(3), 235–253.
Yeom, M. (2005). Professionalization and the reform of teaching, teachers, and teacher education in the United States and the Republic of Korea: A critical discourse analysis. PhD dissertation. University of Pittsburgh.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ginsburg, M.B., Megahed, N.M. (2009). Comparative Perspectives On Teachers, Teaching And Professionalism. In: Saha, L.J., Dworkin, A.G. (eds) International Handbook of Research on Teachers and Teaching. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 21. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73317-3_35
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73317-3_35
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-73316-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-73317-3
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)