Professionalism

I can't help but relate this idea of being a professional to sports. I grew up in home where golf was often played and watched on the television. When I hear that someone is a professional I automatically assume that they are someone famous because of how much attention they have recieved through the media for their talents. I often question how someone becomes a professional chef, a professional golfer, a professional hair stylist, or even a professional model because many professional labels I have seen highlighted on television do not require a college degree but for some reason recieve a lot of praiseworthy attention.

So I am still sruggling to answer the question, What makes a professional different from the rest? I believe that becomming a professional requires different steps for every individual because each journey is different. Teaching in my book has very seldomly been associated with professionalism because the skill and knowledge that is required varies for everyone. Society and the media rarely highlights teaching successes as compared to shows that often highlight average people competeing for such titles as America's Next Top Model, Shear Genius, and Top Chef. Interesting to note I don't ever think I've seen or heard of a show where average people are competeing to become the best teacher out there.

I believe teachers are wonderful because they want to be the best for their students and it's rarely about the fame. Is it fair to say that teaching is never about status? Buchman's reading titled Role Over Person, discusses how "Tenure and salary are based on years of service rather than competence or commitment" (p. 533). I like to think that teaching is one of the few careers where people can age gracefully because knowledge and experience are highly valued. Teachers who are dedicated, passionate, and hard-working are often most likely to make teaching their life-long career. I have always wanted to make teaching my career and while I see it as a profession, I am still unsure about how I become the professional within it. I have no idea how I go about proving to the world that this label is apropriate and I also believe that because teaching can always be improved so the line of professional is somewhat blurry. I see myself becoming certified and trained in order to successfully complete my role as a teacher but how do I become a professional?