Moving from Professional to Professionalism: A View through the Lens of Organisational Structure

Abstract

Using a New York City context, this essay explores the teacher role within the framework of organisational structure. In particular, it looks at the teacher role, its relationship with other organisational roles and how these relationships translate into various forms of teacher professionalism. Concurrently, the function of the organisational structure in promoting or blocking forms of professionalism is also explored. In this way, professionalism models are treated as by-products of the institutional structures which support them. Finally, current and alternative organisational structures are compared, with a special focus on structures which offer increased reciprocity and a more equitable distribution of accountability among organisational layers.

The juxtaposition of professionalism and organisational structure offers a new perspective which can help identify gaps in rhetoric, design and how this might affect actual practice. It allows us to connect new threads of information in human behaviour among multiple layers and roles of an organisational structure. In this way, we are better able to understand why things happen the way they do (or don’t). Although the plight of the New York City model of education is used as the platform for this reflection, the arguments, thoughts and ideas presented can certainly be applied to any educational model.