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In the middle of the last of my damn essays for the PGCE course I was compelled to do in order to teach A level Archaeology this year.
The essay is a 5000 worder on "Professionalism" and I'm struggling to find enough material to write about without getting into a long critique (for "Critique" read "rant") of education policy since the 1950s and the politicisation of education etc.
Can anyone offer me some references for definitions of "professioanlism" in archaeology, heritage or teaching. I'm already referencing the IFA code of conduct as well as all the eduspeak crap they taught us.
Like most professionals I know what professionalism is and have a strong idea of what professional practice and behaviour is but defining it in a short concise all encompasing way is harder than it seemed!
Many Thanks
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Don't know if you're including the IFA standards and guidance too, but that might help.
Also, there's the stuff about developing National Occupational Standards and NVQs, plus the CPD stuff too.
You probably have all that, but that's all I could think of!
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Professionalism = Earning a living by using knowledge eg being able to dig with a trowel. Can be easily confused with holding a trowel
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Professionalism is the mark or behaviour of a professional.
It is therefore worth looking at the definition of a professional here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional where you can find the following quote: "The above definitions were echoed by economist and sociologist Max Weber, who noted that professions are defined by the power to exclude and control admission to the profession, as well as by the development of a particular vocabulary specific to the occupation, and at least somewhat incomprehensible to outsiders."
So maybe there are no professional archaeologists (as just having aspirational standards, inaccessible writing and obscure jargon is apparently not enough)......discuss.
"don't panic!"
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Well said that man
- I have started calling us a sector
just saying - We are a profession... does not make us one.
i can think of several occasions when the words professional make me double up with barely concealed laughter/contempt.
on that note... I just acted as an archaeologist over the past week... but perhaps not a professional... discovered loads, but were certainly not bogged down in professionalism
"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu
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Its been a while since i read this but I used it for discussing volunteer use in professional archaeology in a paper last year. It compares the progress of archaeology to some model on the development of a profession - it might help! Good luck.
Darvill, T. (1999), The IFA: what it means to be a member of a professional body, in Beavis, J. & Hunt, A. (eds.), Communicating Archaeology: Papers presented to Bill Putnam at a conference held at Bournemouth University in September 1995, Oxbow Books; Oxford, p35-48.
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I would argue that professionalism is not about exclusion or jargon, but is about the manner in which the professional conducts him/herself. An example is placing the interest of the client or of the wider public before one's own monetary (or other) gain.
I once read somewhere that it is the provision of impartial advice.
