'Critical theory and professionalism Essay\r'

'In what ways brook minute surmisal shed sluttish on affairalism? This institution explores how critical theory bath extend a perspective for critiquing affairalism in pedagogics. In so doing the nature of the kin among the proisation and brotherly movement trends in education is addressed. An attempt at a definition of captain personism is going to be the revolve ab give away of the first part of the presentation. Several fancys articulate in ingresss critical theory be discussed for their relevance to the trouble of professionalism. The black market of the capital of Kentucky coach is underlined, drawing parallels to the operate of Gramsci and Freire. In the final analysis, specific issues and questions embossed by the perspective of lively theory argon reflected upon as they apply to the professionalisation of education.\r\nThe concept of professionalism\r\nLiterature on professionalism is in its abundance. in that location restrain been many attempts at providing a clear definition, including the government-led agendas calling for higher degrees on professionalism in education. It evoke be famed at the offset that attempts at approach up with a definition of professionalism in education have struggled to agree on a particular one. Freidson (1994) has concluded that the determination of the term professionalism is inconsistent. He argues that professionalism is ‘The Third system of logic’, dealing that professions are occupational groupings that process relatively high degrees of control over the conditions as advantageously as how they carry out their work. This kind of arrangement provides a machine for organising some aspects of social life in a way that properly deploys medical specialist noesis.\r\nProfessionalism is at that placefore viewed as a panache of social coordination and competes with, and provides some insulation from, two market and bureaucratic forms of organisation. It has also bee n viewed as â€Å"a state of opinion” or ideology that reflects a way of thought about the cognitive aspects of a profession and the characteristics that typify a professional (Van Ruler, 2005). In other words, in the case of commandment, professionalism is the heathen direction by which we give meaning, purpose, definition, and explosive charge to work as professionals and the place of practitioners in fiat. It rouse therefore be claimed that there is no universal agreement of the concept.\r\nIt has been implored by some authorities for precept to require evidence-based profession like medicine and law. Hargreaves, for pattern describes doctrine as the â€Å"paradoxical profession”. He asserts that of all the jobs that are, or aspires to be professions, exactly teaching is anticipate to crap the human skills and capacities that will enable individuals and organizations to put out and succeed. (Hargreaves, 2003). Carr (1992) has suggested that in this â⠂¬Ëœextended’ view of educational professionalism, education and teaching are to be understood by reference to the elaborative meshing of unexclusive duties, obligations and responsibilities in which teaching as a social role is implicated. It eject be asserted that if teaching is a profession, there has been an assumption that teachers should be fit out with capacities for autonomous judgement and the freedom to exemplar this judgement.\r\nIt could be considered inappropriate for politicians or employers to dictate to teachers what is or is not worthy of cellular inclusion in the school plan, or what kinds of knowledge and skill are crucial for the professional conduct of teaching. It is with this view in mind that Flinders (1980) has argued that teaching is an open-ended activity. Helsby (1995) claims that professionalism is subject to geographic and cultural differences and it outhouse be understood as relating to exceptional standards of behaviour, dedication as well as a soaked service ethic.\r\nThis view is supported by Bryan (2003) who argues that professional work can be seen to be increasingly influenced by politics. This can be justified by the claim that the policies of governments are ideologically driven, hence professionalism may be understood as constructs which organise in response to ideological influences. doubting Thomas (2012) uses professionalism as a descriptor of a combination of teachers’ specific capabilities and knowledge, the purpose and estimable underpinnings of their work, the extent to which they are able to exercise independent and critical judgement, their role in shaping and leading changes in their field, and their recountingship to other stakeholders.\r\nDespite the vicissitude of the plan of professionalism in education, standard analyses of how this concept can be applied in public services such as teaching and nursing have stressed the grandness of specialist knowledge and expertise, ethical codes as well as procedures concerned with training, creation and continuing professional development (Flexner, 1915; Larson, 1977; Langford, 1978; Eraut, 1994). given over to this view of professionalism is the assumption that in transfigure for a colossaler say in matters related to school and teaching, teachers are expected to submit to greater levels of scrutiny and work roles that go beyond classroom teaching (Stone-Johnson, 2013). In this exchange there is a shift of government agency whereby as the work of the teachers becomes increasingly professionalised, teachers appear to have surrendered degrees of professionalism.\r\nThe critical project in education supervenes from the prayer that pedagogical practices are connect to social practices, and that it is the task of the critical intellectual to differentiate and address injustices in these practices. The Frankfurt School’s perception of life-sustaining Theory was driven by an underlying shipment to the mod el that theory as well as practice must intercommunicate the work of those who seek to transform the dictatorial conditions that exist in the world. Their ideas influenced other great critical theorists such as Freire and Gramsci. If the notion of critical theory is to be linked to the debate on professionalism, it can be argued that the development of critical pedagogy out of critical theory has changed the way by which the role of the teacher is seen, particularly the professional position of the teacher in the society.\r\nIt has been argued that there has been a widespread erosion of professional autonomy in recent old age (Barton et al, 1994, Whitty et al 1998). This has been a result of the centralisation of control over all aspects of teacher’s work such as curriculum (National computer programme, literacy and numeracy hours), assessment, (SATs, QAA/ Ofsted Inspections) and conditions of service (imposed by the employers in a controlled quasi-market regulated by c entralist funding formulae, league tables and inspection regimes.) (Freidson, 2001). This can be corroborated by a discipline of teachers carried by Helsby and McCulloch (1997) as it showed that the government oncoming of edicts and initiatives demolished professionalism.\r\nIt has been argued the formulation of policy documents have positioned the teacher as fundamentally impuissant in terms of curriculum design. The teacher has been reduced to a mere curriculum deliverer. This is mainly to system of communication that is viewed as one-sided by educational critiques. stump spud and Fleming (2010) have attempted to deal with this issue by using the Habermas’ notion of communicative action. They argue that, for Habermas, the essential feature of communicative action is that it aims at stretch agreement.\r\n further more than in order for that agreement to be not only mutually bankable but satis itemory, its participants must be spontaneous to make and defend validity claims such as claims of truth, rightness and truthfulness. Habermas’ notion accedes to the fact that while validity claims are raised automatically in everyday communication, it is only when communication aims primarily at reaching consensus, and when participants provide reasons for their argument, that rationality actually manifests itself. It can be argued that in the case of professionalism, Critical Theory is meant to herald a liberatory education that empowers stakeholders, fosters curiosity and critical thinking, and provides a means for crucial successful bottom-up, top-down interest in the political arena.\r\nThe introduction of a prescriptive and centralised National Curriculum has greatly weakened the professional government agency of teachers, (Helsby and McCulloch, 1997). It has also left them uncertain of their powerfulness to cope and of their right to take study curriculum decisions. This has resulted in the government having more control over the teachi ng profession, (Meyer- Emerick, 2004). Critical theory prefers to call this process ‘linearity’ of life. Thus this extended the existing judgment of power and its impact on the expression of knowledge. Gramsci was deeply concerned with the manner in which domination was undergoing major shifts and changes within the industrial western societies.\r\nHe developed a theory of hegemony, whereby he sought to excuse the manner by which these changes were exercised more and more through the moral leaders of the society (including teachers) who participated in and reinforced universal ‘ familiar sense’ notions of what is considered to be truth in society. This is consonant with Foucault’s questioning of what he termed ‘regimes of truth’ that were upheld and perpetuated through the manner in which particular knowledge was legitimated within the scene of a variety of power relationships within the society. Foucault’s perceptions of power is not only when at play in the scope of use of domination, but also in the context of creative acts of resistance and these are produced as human beings are interact crosswise the dynamic of relationship and shaped by moments of dominance and autonomy. Such a viewpoint challenges the dichotomised standpoint of either domination or powerlessness of power as enticed by radical education theorists. Thus it can be argued that Foucault’s writing on knowledge and power shed light on a critical rationality of the teaching profession in relation to authority. More so it does open the door to a better understanding of power relations within the context of teaching practice.\r\n'