Teacher professionalism : behaviour and practices of teachers in a neighbourhood secondary school

• Main Author: Sujeetha Margarita Brampy, W. K.
• Other Authors: Moo, Swee Ngoh
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Education::Teachers and teaching
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/13947
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The teachers' sense of professionalism cannot be mandated but it can be nurtured by establishing the necessary support, processes, systems and structures within the work environment which is the responsibility of every individual, more so the school leader. Defined as the commitment to professional behaviours and engagement in professional development, it is an important aspect to nurture in teachers. The research focused on a government neighborhood secondary school. Commitment to professional behaviours examined behaviours demonstrating personal commitment, student-directed commitment and commitment to quality teaching and learning demonstrated through competence in (a) subject pedagogy and (b) managing learning. The dimension on professional development studied were teachers' engagement in reflective practices, independent learning, in-service learning and cooperative learning. The Teacher Professionalism Instrument gathered responses that indicated that there is no significant correlation between years of teaching experience and teacher professionalism, as well as its two dimensions of commitment to professional behaviour and engagement in professional development.