Professionalism Begins Within: The Heart Behind Our Influence in Education
How Educators Shape the Future Through Integrity, Care, and Continuous Growth
The Professional Barometer: Why Educator Professionalism Matters
Educators are among the most “professionally developed” of all professions. We are the engineers and creators of all other professions. Our classrooms are the “engine rooms,” the sustainable development hubs of global communities and economies. To be professionally developed, however, one must maintain professional quality.
Professional qualities can range from what some may consider superficial aspects, such as wardrobe or attire, to more complex technicalities, including but not limited to communication with and about stakeholders, accountability, responsibility, planning, skill acquisition, and self-care. At the core of an educator’s professionalism, however, must be non-negotiable care for our scholars: our future leaders, thinkers, and decision-makers. It must include respect for families and their situations and a heart that sees beyond the exterior and focuses on potential.
Educators are bombarded with professional development for many reasons, the main one being that education is dynamic, influenced not only by technology but also by social norms, community needs, and good old common sense. Just as we expect to use qualitative and quantitative data to inform best practices in our classrooms and increase the chances of our scholars succeeding in life, we must also be willing to examine the motivations, beliefs, and attitudes that influence how we serve our scholars.
Why are we doing this? Are we willing and capable of doing our best to ensure that the scholars entrusted to us for nine months are more prepared for life and leadership than they were when they first met us?
Our professionalism begins with being brutally honest with ourselves and then making the best possible decisions for our scholars, their families, and ourselves.
When we assess our professional standards, we must also determine whether our purpose still lies in serving scholars and their families. It is okay to say, “This no longer serves me,” and leave rather than remain and ultimately transfer negative energy into such a crucial space. There is no shame in recognizing when it is time to move on.
For me, this is my calling. I will adjust my sails as needed, seek help, set boundaries, and continue helping to prepare the next generation of thinkers, leaders, decision-makers, and change agents.
Another advantage of assessing our professional standards is that consistent professionalism establishes credibility. People may not always agree with experts, but preparation, knowledge, integrity, accountability, and results make expertise much harder to dismiss. Our stakeholder base is broad, with varying levels of knowledge, wisdom, language, and conceptual understanding. However, when we consistently strive to operate at our highest level of professionalism, we strengthen respect for and attention to our professional judgment.
At the administrative level, districts and unions may be more aligned in purpose at some times than at others, but our professional behavior should continually demonstrate and demand respect and excellence. Professionalism also strengthens the case for greater professional autonomy by demonstrating integrity, accountability, competence, and responsibility.
Parents and other stakeholders may not always understand the complexity of our daily tasks, but they will see the results reflected in their children’s growth and success.
And our scholars—our future—will benefit most.
They watch us.
They watch how we communicate, how we respond under pressure, how we solve problems, how we treat people, how we handle disagreements, how we recover from difficult days, and how we continue when circumstances are less than ideal.
As they strive to become the professionals we demonstrate to them daily, perhaps the result can be a world better than the one we currently inhabit. True professional educators are among the catalysts for the change our world so desperately needs.
When educators demonstrate professionalism from within, their positive influence and impact are like throwing a pebble into a still pond. The ripple effects go far and wide. We may never fully know the impact, but every scholar touched by positive, heart-driven professionalism eventually becomes an adult who may lead families, churches, communities, schools, organizations, nations, and, by extension, the world.
As an educator, I will continue to check my professional barometer often.
Am I still operating with purpose?
Am I maintaining my professional standards?
Am I caring for myself enough to serve others well?
Am I seeing beyond a scholar’s present behavior to their future potential?
And, perhaps most importantly:
Is my presence helping prepare the scholars entrusted to me for life and leadership?
Those are questions worth asking ourselves again and again.
The magnificence of our scholars deserves nothing less.
