Professional Standards and Teachers

Bell rings and students start to leave….

It’s the end of another school day…..

While winding up the class and planning for next day, teacher reflects on the day and asks herself……

Did I help make a difference today for the students? Did I focus on what matters most for students learning and well being? Did I meet the learning objectives for today?

The Professional Standards for teachers are the guidelines for teaching profession that answer such critical questions in a resounding “Yes. Like any other professional, teacher earns his/her living from teaching students, and being a professional, it requires a certain level of education and knowledge, skill and competence, or training that must be demonstrated (often in the form of an exam or credential), as well as adhering to codes of conduct, ethical and practice standards.

Grounded in current research, the real-life experiences and understanding of teaching and learning process, these professional standards for teachers are created for and by the profession to guide professional practice of teachers and how practitioner teachers are prepared, hired, developed, supervised and evaluated. The Standards reflect interdependent domains, qualities and values of teachers’ work that are integral to student success. There can be different standards for different career stages in the profession and its various domains to define the characteristics of teachers at each career stage.

Professional Standards play an important role for the profession to ensure the quality of the professional practitioners and also ensure better accountability holding teachers and schools responsible for what goes on in the classrooms. These standards inform government policies and regulations that oversee the teaching profession. These professional standards are not static. They are regularly reviewed and adjusted to accurately reflect evolving understandings of, expectations for teaching profession, and contexts that shape the teacher’s work.