| This case study investigated the perspectives of members of a Local Learning Culture regarding teaching as a profession and teachers as professionals. Investigators such as Kimball (1995) and Freidson (1988, 1994, 2001) examined the nature of professions and the evolution of the classical professions of theology, medicine, law and education. The status of an occupation as a profession may be culturally determined as occupations move to “professionalize” (Freidson, 1988, 1994, 2001; Kimball, 1995) and society “deprofessionalizes” occupations as the society becomes more educated in the sphere of influence of the profession (Bottles, 1999).; This study was conducted in three phases and guided by four research questions: (1) How does the local learning culture view teaching/education as a profession? (2) What are the attributes that the local learning culture ascribes to professions and professionals? (3) To what extent do the behaviors of the “Teacher Professionals” in the local learning culture reflect the expectations of the local learning culture? (4) What behaviors of the “Teacher Professionals” in the local learning culture diminish the status of the teacher as professional in the local learning culture?; The participants were organized into a lay cohort and an educator cohort. In phase one, volunteer participants from each cohort completed a questionnaire. In phase two, volunteer members from phase one participated in one of four focus groups. Phase three consisted of the analysis of archival data from the Local Learning Culture; these data were used to triangulate with the results of the questionnaire and focus groups.; The data obtained from all research phases were tabulated and analyzed. Characteristics of professions and professionals were determined. Characteristics that the participants expected of teachers were described, and traits that would diminish teachers as professionals were determined. The consensus of the lay and educator participants in this study was that in this local learning community teaching was considered a profession and teachers were considered professionals. There was no consensus as to whether the community's opinion of teachers had changed over the past five years. The lay participants reported very positive perceptions of teachers, while the educator participants felt that the community perceptions of teachers were more negative.; This study represents one piece of a larger plan of continuous improvement of the educational services of the Local Learning Culture. The results of this case study may provide a perspective for educational leaders, teachers and lay persons in school districts as they look to restructure and revitalize their own learning cultures. |
