Looking at the teaching through "Its own mirroe:" the concept of professionality and the possibilities of rethinking the meaning of teaching profession
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21814/rpe.10724Abstract
In his book Ofício de Mestre – Imagens e auto-imagens, Professor Emeritus at Federal University of Minas Gerais, in Brazil, Miguel Arroyo, raises the following questions about teaching: "How does the teaching profession think about itself? Through the mirror of others or through its own mirror?". By letting oneself be led by the "illusion of professionalization" – and the very strong influence that the functionalist view exerts on this concept –, the teaching profession seems to insist on looking at itself "through the mirror of others." In this article, by discussing the concepts of professionalization, professionalism and professionality, as well as a review of the sociology of professions, we discuss the following questions on this topic: what does it mean to consider that teaching is, in fact, a profession? What are the implications of referring to the concepts of professionalization, professionalism and professionality in the description of the performance and of the expectations placed for the teacher as a professional? What are the possibilities of rethinking the meaning of the teaching profession through the concept of professionalism? In the end, we defend the use of the concept of professionalism to discuss the specificity of the teaching profession – that is, "to make it look at its own mirror" – and that the concept opens new possibilities for rethinking the meaning of the teaching profession.
Keywords: Teaching profession; Professionality; Sociology of professions; Brazil
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