ABSTRACT
As a new or trainee design and technology teacher you will have a rich and varied knowledge base that, with careful analysis, can be used to enhance the work of your department and school. As new technologies are introduced to deliver design and technology, you will be keen to exploit them to the full. You might be considering your long-term career and the possibilities for you in middle management. Identifying your own training needs so that you feel confident with new processes, materials, health and safety requirements and so on is part of your professional responsibility as a teacher. Helping other teachers to audit their own personal professional strengths and needs might be part of your role as a primary coordinator (Cross 1998: 96) This chapter covers some definitions of the professional nature of teaching, including the political and theoretical/pedagogical context of teacher professionalism.
