ABSTRACT

A real question seems to be whether professionalism is a necessary attribute. It may be nothing but an illusion manufactured by those wishing to distinguish themselves from the general mass, or it may indeed be a quality worth striving for by the teaching force. (NUT Member 7) 2

If we can't turn to a union which has credibility, and the professionalism in the Union I see really as a professionalism in terms of the credibility of the teaching profession … We ought to be in a positive situation. We ought to be in a situation where we are not having to justify everything we have done and everything we plan to do and everything we propose to do in a defensive situation. And the only way I can see of us ever getting away from this degrading, if you like, situation is by having a really credible union as a fully professional body, which almost by definition never does or advocates anything unprofessional, but conducts itself according to all the laws of professional conduct. There is no other way for me to describe it. Does that come across clearly? (NUT Official)