ABSTRACT
At the end of his famous ‘survival guide’ for teachers, which focused on professional classroom method, Michael Marland captured what is perhaps a defining feature of teacher professionalism. Teaching is possibly unique, even amongst the caring professions, in being an activity that demands of its practitioners intellectual and practical engagement such that its aspirations pretty well guarantee that every day contains some measure of ‘failure’. The physical and emotional load carried by teachers tends therefore to be quite heavy. It is a complex role requiring the creation and nurturing of productive relationships with a large number of adults (such as senior managers, curriculum leaders, support staff, parents who often have competing agendas and different perceptions of successful performance) and very large numbers of young people, all of whom expect individual (‘personalised’) attention. But the real source of tension in teaching is in trying to chart a path between the formalised policy demands on schools and teachers on the one hand, perhaps wrapped up in terms like ‘performance management’, and the informal cultural aspects of professionalism connected to its own ‘moral purpose’. This chapter opens up a discussion of teaching as a professional activity, with particular reference to teaching geography in primary and secondary schools in England. Particular circumstances, and the precise ‘rules of engagement’, vary internationally and even within the UK, but there will be much in this discussion that will translate readily to other settings.
