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School and Society Book Cover
School and Society: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, 4/e
Stephen E. Tozer, The University of Illinois, Chicago
Paul C. Violas
Guy Senese, Northern Arizona University

Teaching in a Public Institution: The Professionalization Movement

Professional Vocabulary

career ladders
In the context of school reform and reform of the teaching profession, the effort since the 1980s to find ways for teachers to advance in status, rewards, and responsibility without leaving the classroom to go into administration.

democratic ethics
in the context of teaching as a profession, the commitment to democratic values, including the view that all people should be educated toward having an effective voice in the decisions that affect their lives.

due process protection in schools
Grounded in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution; equal protection under the law is granted to students and teachers just as it is to citizens in the larger society.

expert management
An element of modern liberal ideology that seeks to place institutional decision making as much as possible in the hands of a few people who have been trained to have specialized knowledge and skills.

Holmes Report
Named after the former dean of the Harvard School of Education and published by representatives of about a hundred leading research universities in the United States in 1985, the first Holmes Report presented a blueprint for the education of the nation's teachers; later reports focused on reform of schools of education of the teaching profession.

Lau v. Nichols
Supreme Court decision that Chinese-language students were not receiving sufficient support for learning in schools; led to legislation mandating bilingual instruction in public schools when non-native English speakers need bilingual instruction to be able to learn subject matter material.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)
Founded with philanthropic funds as a direct result of the school reform movement that began in the 1980s; began assessing teacher quality by using a portfolio assessment method in the mid-1990s; has assessed thousands of teachers who have applied voluntarily for certification.

profession
Typically, a "white-collar" occupation characterized by a specialized body of knowledge, requiring college education or beyond, and rewarded with special status and prestige.

professional autonomy
The expectation that the members of a profession, such as teaching, will be free to exercise independent judgment based on their experience.

professional ethics
Codes of conduct typically meant to ensure that professionals will exercise their expertise in the service of the interests of their clients.

professionalization versus professionalism
A distinction intended to emphasize the difference between an occupation taking on the external characteristics of a profession and a commitment among its members to professional conduct, expertise, and ethics.

Title IX
A federal act passed in 1972 that prohibits inequitable treatment of students in schools on the basis of sex, including in extracurricular and sports activities; has been credited for U.S. women's successes in world athletic competitions since the mid-1990s.