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Determinants of Teacher ProfessionalismKok‐Aun Toh a , Cheong‐Hoong Diong a , Hong‐Kwen Boo a & Soo‐Keng Chia b

a Nanyang Technological University , Singaporeb Upper Aljunied Technical School , SingaporePublished online: 12 Sep 2006.

To cite this article: Kok‐Aun Toh , Cheong‐Hoong Diong , Hong‐Kwen Boo & Soo‐Keng Chia (1996) Determinants of TeacherProfessionalism, British Journal of In-Service Education, 22:2, 231-244, DOI: 10.1080/0305763960220209

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British Journal of In-service Education, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1996

Determinants of TeacherProfessionalism

KOK-AUN TOH, CHEONG-HOONG DIONG,& HONG-KWEN BOONanyangTechnological University, SingaporeSOO-KENG CHIAUpper Aljunied Technical School, Singapore

ABSTRACT Teacher professionalism is an important determinant in thepursuit of educational excellence. This study examines how the fourfactors: academic qualifications, professional training, teachingexperience and professional development, affect teacher professionalism.A total of 338 high school teachers from 11 schools in Singaporeparticipated in the study. Interestingly, academic qualifications andteaching experience of the subjects were not interrelated with teacherprofessionalism, while the variable professional development was animportant contributory factor to teacher professionalism. Additionally,subjects with higher professional training had a significantly higherdegree of teacher professionalism. The implications of these researchfindings to the professional development of teachers and their careerpaths are discussed.

IntroductionHistorically, the concern with achieving educational excellence focusedon the curriculum and its delivery (Yip & Sim, 1990). The extensivecurriculum reform efforts in the 1960s and 1970s necessitated thedevelopment of new classroom materials for students and teachers. Withgreater maturity on the educational scene in recent years, there arose aneed to shift the focus to workplace conditions and the quality ofteachers' work life (Rosenholtz & Simpson, 1990; Seashore Louise, 1991)and their bearing on teacher commitment. With nations investingbetween 3 and 15% of their GDP in the education of their future citizens,the school system provides employment for a significant proportion ofthose actively employed. The large numbers would mean, therefore, thatthe teachers who make up the profession are not a homogeneous group.They are unlikely to display the same degree of teacher professionalism.From the elementary grades to high school, a wide variation can beexpected in terms of qualifications, commitment, experience andconfidence with the subject matter delivery. Lam (1983) identifies

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teaching experience, academic and professional qualifications, andprofessional development activities as possible determinants of teacherprofessionalism.

Prick (1989) studied the developmental changes of 2103 teachersduring various stages of their careers, and concluded that personal andorganisational factors are responsible for mid-career changes in teacherprofessionalism. The mid-career phase could be one of professionalgrowth, decline or stagnation. For those showing a mid-career decline,there is cause for serious concern. Teachers who are dissatisfied withtheir work invariably serve as poor role models to the junior colleaguesthey come into contact with in their work environment, and otheraspirants or young entrants considering teaching as a career. Withschools as the potential source for future talents, there is some urgencyto study the professional characteristics of teachers and the relevance ofthese characteristics and their influences to teacher professionalism.

This paper examines the determinants of teacher professionalism,in particular, the endogenous variable, viz. academic qualifications,inherent when teachers enter the profession, and the exogenous variablesacquired during practice - this is the period spanning from entry into theprofession to retirement. The exogenous variables studied areprofessional qualifications, teaching experience *and professionaldevelopment. An examination of how these variables are interrelated toteacher professionalism is paramount for excellent professional practicein three ways. First, the relationship between the endogenous variableand teacher professionalism has implications in the selection process fornew entrants to the profession. Secondly, the exogenous variables areimportant for the future planning of professional development activitiesand the encouragement, or otherwise, of teachers to further theirprofessional practice competency through attendance at courses.Thirdly, the recognition of seniority in the teaching service, measured interms of years of teaching experience becomes an importantconsideration. Understanding the degree of teacher professionalism isimportant to all concerned with the business of education. Where teacherprofessionalism deteriorates, it is difficult to see how the quality ofeducation demanded by the public can be ensured (Lam, 1983).

Teacher Professionalism ResearchTeacher professionalism is a broad concept comprising severaldimensions (see the works of Becker, 1962; Hall, 1967; Pavalko, 1971;Cullen, 1978; Territo, 1988; Miros, 1990). However, despite variations inthe dimensions used to define teacher professionalism from oneresearcher to another, there are fundamental similarities by whichteacher professionalism can be operationalised. Based on thesefundamental similarities, Miros (1990) assembled a 13-item Likert-typequestionnaire to measure teacher professionalism. His TeacherProfessionalism Questionnaire had 13 statements on: independentpractice, code of ethics, licensing, single major professional association,

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exclusive practice rights, body of specialised knowledge, application ofknowledge in professional practice, collaboration among members,candidate selection, rigorous and protracted study/training period, highstatus, high compensation and life-long commitment.

In Hall's (1968) work on professionalism and bureaucratisation, heargued that professionalism be examined at two levels: the individuallevel and the organisational level. At the individual level, he identified fiveattributes as being important: use of the professional organisation as amajor referent, belief in service to the public, belief in self-regulation,sense of calling to the field and autonomy for decision making. At theorganisational level he recognised four distinct types of setting forprofessionalism to be demonstrated:(1) the autonomous individual in private practice/business where theprofessional is his own boss - the professional is the completedeterminer of the course of action for each event and also the personresponsible for all possible outcomes;(2) the autonomous professional organisation in which the work of theprofessional is subject to his own rather than to external oradministrative jurisdiction - the professional together with his partnersare the major determiners since they are the dominant source ofauthority;(3) the professional as an employee subordinated to an externallyderived system, with considerably lessened professional autonomy -examples here are professionals employed in public schools, librariesand social work agencies, all of which are affected by externally, oftenlegislatively-based structuring;(4) the professional working in a department which is part of a largeorganisation - examples of this are the legal, training or researchdepartments of many organisations.Teachers conform to the third organisational setting, which is theheteronomous organisation. In this sense, the individual, rather than theorganisational aspects of professionalism are likely to become morerelevant in defining teacher professionalism. According to Hoyle (1980),professionalism describes the quality of practice; it describes the mannerof conduct within an occupation, how members integrate theirobligations with their knowledge and skill in a context of collegiality, andtheir contractual and ethical relations with clients. Morrow (1988) alsoplaced more emphasis on the individual aspects, preferring to defineprofessionalism as the extent to which one is committed to one'sprofession, and noting that individual members can vary in the degree towhich they identify with their profession and endorse its values.

Research QuestionsThe following research questions were examined:(1) Do teachers with high academic qualifications demonstrate a higherdegree of teacher professionalism?

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(2) Do teachers with high professionalism qualifications demonstrate ahigher degree of teacher professionalism?(3) Do teachers with a greater length of teaching experience demonstratea higher degree of teacher professionalism?(4) Do teachers with a higher degree of professional developmentdemonstrate a higher degree of teacher professionalism?(5) How does professional development correlate with teacherprofessionalism?

The InstrumentsTwo questionnaires were developed: one a Professional DevelopmentInstrument (PDI), and the other a Teacher Professionalism Instrument(TPI). To ensure content validity and reliability, the two instruments weresubjected to rigorous validation process by a 12-member panel of expertsbefore being pilot tested.

The TPI is a 31-item questionnaire developed to measure teacherprofessionalism - of these, 16 items measure teaching competence, whilethe remaining 15 items measure commitment to teaching. The Cronbachalpha for the two variables conceptualised are 0.95 for teachingcompetence and 0.90 for commitment to teaching. Factor analysis, usingthe Varimax rotation, for the 16-item variable on teaching competencesuggests two factors with factor loadings of 5.58 and 5.51. The two factorswere named command of subject pedagogy and management of learning,respectively. For the variable, commitment to teaching, three factorswere detected with factor loadings of 4.27, 2.58 and 2.07. These threefactors were designated as personal commitment, collegiality andstudent-directed commitment.

The PDI has two parts - Part I captures the background informationof respondents, while Part II, a 14-item Likert-type questionnaire,measures professional development. Reliability estimates of Part II of theinstrument on professional development had an alpha coefficient of 0.83,while factor analysis of the items generated three factors: independentlearning, cooperative learning, and in-service learning, with factorloadings of 2.74,2.48 and 2.38, respectively.

Part I of the PDI captures the background information, such as yearsof teaching experience, and academic and professional qualifications.From the available data, teaching experience was then conceptualised asa continuous consisting of the number of years of teaching experience.For the purpose of analyses, the respondents were also classified intoseven groups based on their years of teaching experience.

The SampleA total of 338 teachers, comprising 123 male and 215 female teachersfrom a stratified random sample of 11 high schools, participated in thestudy. The ratio of male to female respondents (1:1.7) reflects closely thenational sex ratio (1:1.6) in Singapore (Ministry of Education, 1990) where

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the study was conducted. The 11 schools represent approximately 8% ofthe total number (n = 142) of secondary schools. Table I shows the fivegroupings of respondents using the criterion of academic qualifications.

Academic qualification Remarks

(i) Those with General Certificate of Comprising a small remnant of teachersEducation 'O' level qualification, viz. (<33Q who joined the teachingwith 10 years of schooling profession duing the 1960s and 1970s,

and are still in service(ii) Those with General Certificate ofEducation 'A' level qualification, viz.with 12 years of schooling

(iii) Those with a university degree Forms the bulk of the teaching force(90%)

(iv) Those with a university (cum laude) Makes up between 5 and 10% of thedegree teaching force

(v) Those with a postgraduate Makes up between 3 and 5% of thequalification teaching force '

Table I. Academic qualifications of respondents.

Using professional qualifications alone, the respondents were alsogrouped into three categories as in Table II.

Group Preservice teacher certification Additional mid-careerprofessional qualifications

1 2-year teacher certification programme Nil2 1-year teacher certification programme Nil3 1-or 2-year teacher certification Yes*

programme

*One year release for full-time studies leading to a further professional diploma inteaching, with emphasis on human resource management and management ofschool resources.Table II. Professional qualifications of respondents.

Findings and DiscussionThe statistical findings and the discussion on them are reportedaccording to each of the five research questions (RQ).RQ1: Do teachers with high academic qualifications demonstrate a higherdegree of teacher professionalism? The sample of 338 respondents iscategorised into five groups as in Table I, and the mean teacherprofessionalism for each group are compared. The outcomes (see TableIII) showed no significant difference (F< 1.0) at the 0.01 level in the mean

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teacher professionalism scores among the five different groups ofteachers.

Source

Academicqualification

Error

Total

df

4

333

337

SS

158.9

84,408.8

84,567.7

MS

39.7

253.5

F

0.16

P

0.96

Table III. Difference in mean teacher professionalism scoresfor groups with different academic qualifications.

This suggests that teacher professionalism is not dependent on academicqualification alone. In other words, teachers with a postgraduatequalification do not necessarily have greater professional competence ordisplay more commitment to the profession than a college graduate. Mosteducational systems, however, give credence to teachers ' academicqualifications, both at the entry level and during mid-career, whenassessing them for the purposes of remuneration, promotions or careerdevelopment opportunities. Consequently, academically more qualifiedpersons have a better chance to succeed in the selection process at theentry point, or nominated for positions of academic or administrativeresponsibility during their mid-career phase. Educational administratorsmay wish to re-assess the validity of such practices, especially when twoteachers of different academic qualifications could be assigned similarteaching responsibilities in school.

Group Preservice teacher Additional mid<areer Mean teachercertification professional qualifications professionalism

score

1 2-year teacher Nil 112.8certificationprogramme

2 1-year teacher Nil 111.6certificationprogramme

3 1-or 2-year teacher Yes 128.4*certificationprogramme

*The mean teacher professionalism score for this group of teachers is significantlydifferent at the 0.01 level from the other two groups, using Duncan's multiple-rangetest.Table IV. Professional qualifications vis-a-vis mean teacher professionalism score.

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RQ2: Do teachers with high professional qualifications demonstrate a higherdegree of teacher professionalism? Using the groupings identified in TableII, the mean teacher professionalism scores of each group was computed(see Table IV). Duncan's multiple-range test reveal a mean teacherprofessionalism score for respondents with additional mid-careerprofessional qualifications to be significantly different, at the 0.01 level,from the other two groups with only preservice teacher certification asprofessional qualification.

The findings reinforces the argument for up-grading, re-certification,up-dating opportunities in the form of professional courses for teachersin their mid-career phase of practice. In this study, the 1-year releasal forfull time studies in a further professional diploma in teaching course (seeTable II) is awarded to teachers who have been selected to be the head ofan academic subject department. Being 'chosen' for this programmeprovides self-fulfilling motivation by itself. The feeling of being selectedas a model teacher is compelling enough to spur a teacher on to higherechelons of teacher professionalism. These teachers are likely to have agreater feeling of professional self-worth. A case can also be made forsome consideration of the needs of the majority who are not 'chosen'and, therefore, remain as practising teachers. This is to recognise the factthat the vast majority will not be selected, since not everybody can beselected to be a head of department. It is therefore important thatreleasal from school be provided, very much like the sabbatical leave ofuniversity faculty members, to enable the vast majority of mid-careerteachers who wish to seek additional professional qualifications topursue further studies leading to award of postgraduate degrees.

With professional qualifications contributing positively to teacherprofessionalism, one can intuitively conclude that a significantrelationship between professional development activities and teacherprofessionalism is to be expected. This is shown to be the case in RQ5.Further discussion on this follows with RQ5.RQ3: Do teacher with a greater length of teaching experience demonstrate ahigher degree of teacher professionalism? There is a very large variation inthe teaching experience among respondents, ranging from the first yearof teaching among the' new entrants, to 30 years of experience behindthem. Seven different groupings emerged when respondents weregrouped according to teaching experience (see Table V). When the meanteacher professionalism scores were compared, there is no significantdifference in the mean teacher professionalism scores amongst the sevengroups of teachers at the 0.01 level.

This finding is further reinforced when teaching experience iscorrelated with teacher professionalism. The results shown in Table VIindicate that there is no significant correlation between teachingexperience and teacher professionalism, or the two sub-scales of teacherprofessionalism, viz. teaching competence and commitment to teaching.

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Source df SS MS F PTeaching 6 Hiii 33O3 U2 0.25experienceError 331 82,585.7 249.5Total 337 84,567.7Table V. Difference in mean teacher professionalism scoresfor groups with different years of teaching experience.

The findings suggest that teaching experience per se is neither adeterminant nor does it contribute to the professionalism of teachers -an observation which refutes the many earlier qualitative studies onteachers' professional lives (Burden, 1982; Christensen et al, 1983; Sikeset al, 1985; Goodson, 1992) which held the view that experiencedteachers displayed greater teacher professionalism than those with feweryears of teaching practice. It would seem that the 'content' during theirpreservice experience forms the substance of teacher professionalismand not the mere quantum of the accumulated years of experience thatmatters. Surely practice, if it is professional, must accumulate practicalknowledge of a professional nature and also the years of this practicalknowledge translate to practical wisdom, which invariably counts for andmatters in what makes a teacher's practice professional.

Teaching experience (in years)

Teaching competence 0.08 (p = 0.14)

Commitment to teaching 0.02 (p = 0.68)

Teacher professionalism 0.06 (p = 0.27)

Table VI. Correlation between teaching experience and (1) teachingcompetence, (2) commitment to teaching and (3) teacher professionalism.

The findings in this study supports the belief that a high level of teacherprofessionalism can be found across the spectrum of teachers from newentrants to the profession to those with many years of teachingexperience. In other words, a new teacher may have a level of teacherprofessionalism equal to or even exceeding that of a more experiencedteacher, who is many years his/her senior. This is suggested by a similarfinding in the report by the United Federation of Teachers (Harrington,1987). The findings can also be interpreted to suggest that beginningteachers may, in fact, demonstrate a higher level of teacherprofessionalism than more experienced teachers. According to Ryan &Kokol (1990) the older group of teachers in such a situation can be aliability to schools, and they have, therefore, suggested that it may beuseful to recognise the more experienced teachers' views and needs in adevelopmental perspective. A better understanding of the developmental

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stages of the professional lives of teachers could strengthen teachers'performance in the classroom (Feiman &Floden, 1981).

There is, therefore, the need to examine closely the entire processof teacher professionalisation. In the context of this study, a number offactors may explain this lack of differentiation in the level of teacherprofessionalism among groups of teachers with varying years of teachingexperience. One factor is the rigid vertical hierarchy prevalent in schoolswhere administrative guidelines originate from the school principal orvice principal. These guidelines filter down through the subject heads tothe teachers who are expected to adhere to them. In an environmentwhich does not recognise or support the views of teachers, or considertheir views, it is likely that teachers degenerate to passive practitionerswho are neither encouraged to think nor empowered to make decisionsfor themselves (Levin, 1993). Hall (1968) identified "autonomy fordecision making" as one of the five dimensions of professionalism. Toencourage teacher professionalism, teachers need to be actively involvedin making decisions, especially those which affect them.

Another factor that could possibly explain the lack of differentiationin the level of teacher professionalism is that all teachers, whether newor experienced, are not given differentiated treatment in many schoolswhere the principal and administration run the show exclusively.Experienced teachers, despite their experience, are not givenopportunities to act as 'mentors' to new teachers (Harrington, 1987) orinvited to share their practical knowledge with newer teachers. Beingcalled upon to act as mentors or to share their expertise would challengethem to develop professionally on the job, so that they become moreprofessional in terms' of professional competence and commitment to theprofession. When the practical knowledge of experienced teachers is notrecognised and brought to bear on practice in their work environment, itis likely that teachers may not be motivated to move on to further heightsof teacher professionalism.

RQ4: Do teachers with a higher degree of professional developmentdemonstrate a higher degree of teacher professionalism? For this researchquestion two groups of teachers were arbitrarily identified - the highprofessional development group and the low professional developmentgroup. Teachers in the high professional development group had PDI (theProfessional Development Instrument) scores of 43 and above (maximumpossible score: 70), while those in the low professional developmentgroups had scores of 35 and below. 107 respondents were identified foreach of the two professional development groups so defined. Thedifference of means of the teacher professionalism scores of each of thetwo professional development groups is significant at the 0.01 level (seeTable VII). This outcome underscores the importance of professionaldevelopment in teachers' lives. The high professional development groupperceived themselves as having a higher level of teacher professionalism.

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Professionaldevelopment

High

Low

N

107

107

Mean

121.2

105.3

SD

14

17.3

t

7.38

df

213

P

0.0001

Table VII. Difference in teacher professionalism for highand low professional development groups.

The results in this study have highlighted the importance of professionaldevelopment as a determinant, in defining understanding and achievingteacher professionalism. Teachers actively involved in professionaldevelopment programmes perceived themselves to have a higher level ofteacher professionalism compared to their counterparts not engaged inprofessional development activities. This finding suggests that a highdegree of teacher professionalism among teachers is usually not a resultof more years of teaching experience per se. It is more likely to be due toteachers' cognitive development (Oja, 1989), which is professionalgrowth on the job in terms of vigorous involvement in professionaldevelopment activities, and optimising the opportunities given to carryout these activities.

In gearing towards excellence in schools there should, therefore, begreater emphasis on teachers' professional development, andprofessional development programmes. In particular the professionaldevelopment programmes should recognise that different teachers havedifferent professionals needs, and differentiated programmes should bedesigned to meet a teacher's real professional needs rather thanperceived needs to ensure his/her continual professional growth onthe job.

It is important, though, that professional development is not merelyseen in terms of opportunities for teachers to attend in-serviceprogrammes. There is a need to make use of the new perspective aboutteacher development that have contributed to a higher level ofprofessionalism among teachers. For example, Christensen et al (1983)explained the need for school administrators to be able to identifyteachers in different stages of their career and to provide these teacherswith appropriate challenges so that they continue to developprofessionally. Based on evidence collected from qualitative studies ofteachers, Christensen et al (1983) showed that these interventionmeasures contributed to greater teacher professionalism.

While promotional prospects provide an avenue for generatingteachers' enthusiasm in the teacher professionalisation process, there isstill a need to examine other avenues. Harrington (1987) suggested thatteachers should be empowered to come up with new challenges and begiven the administrative support to implement them. This would makethem feel they are part of the team contributing to the overall set-up.

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RQ5: How does professional development correlate with teacherprofessionalism? Teacher professionalism was correlated with each of thethree factors of professional development (independent learning,cooperative learning and in-service learning) identified through factoranalysis and the results are shown in Table VIII. The correlation issignificant between teacher professionalism and each of the threeidentified variables of professional development. This finding emphasisesthe importance of providing some form of platform for independentlearning, cooperative learning and in-service learning.

Besides the traditional mode of merely providing in-serviceprogrammes as a means of encouraging teachers to higher levels ofprofessionalism, it may be pertinent to draw upon other means that willencourage independent learning and cooperative learning. One way tobring this about is through some form of teacher organisation with whichthey can identify strongly (Harrington, 1987). An effective professionalorganisation can contribute to greater teacher professionalism byproviding organisational support, as well as to encourage teachers tolearn from each other.

Professional development variables Teacher (1) (2)professionalism'

(1) Independent learning 0.39*

(2) Cooperative learning 0.27* 0.33*

(3) In-service learning 0.39* 0.48* 0.43**p<0.01.Table VIII. Inter-correlations between professional development variablesand teacher professionalism.

Harrington (1987) described how teacher centres helped practisingteachers to develop professionally. She pointed out how these centresserve as venues for teachers from various school districts to meet todiscuss and share matters of common interest, such as subject pedagogyand content. Through their interaction with one another, bothcooperative learning and independent learning are promoted in a naturalsetting rather than a 'forced upon' setting. In these centres, experiencedteachers can be 'planted' as seeds, thus providing them withopportunities to serve as 'mentors' to new teachers and 'catalysts' toencourage other teachers in a congenial environment.

ConclusionThis paper highlights one area of concern in the search for educationalexcellence, that of teacher professionalism and the factors affecting it.The endogenous variables, academic qualification, does not seem to beimportant by itself. However, a clarification may be necessary. Eventhough academic qualification may not be important in the equation for

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teacher professionalism, it is still deemed an important criterion in therecruitment of potential teachers since sound academic qualificationinvariably equates with subject content matter mastery. This is animportant teacher selection criterion and should rightly continue to be soto ensure confidence with subject matter delivery.

Of the three exogenous variables considered, teaching experiencesdoes not seem to matter. The concern here perhaps should be the lack ofhigh teacher professionalism in senior teachers with many years ofteaching experience. Of particular concern is senior teachers who show alower degree of teacher professionalism compared to new teachers. Toensure that teachers continue to grow on the job, the literature supportsthe notion that timing and content of professional developmentprogrammes should be planned with sensitivity to teachers' needs andconcerns (Christensen et al, 1983). What has to be done, therefore, is forthe educational system to recognise the different career stages of theprofessional lives of teachers and to ensure that the different needs atthese stages are met. If teachers are to grow professionally, then suitableopportunities during the different stages of their career must be providedfor, so that they do not stagnate (or worse still, decline) on the job.

The two exogenous variables that are significant factors contributingto teacher professionalism are professional qualifications andprofessional development. This may be a 'cart and horse' scenario.Evidence for this is best exemplified by teachers in this study who haveacquired additional professional qualification - a mid-career furtherprofessional diploma. Having undergone a professional developmentprogramme specially tailored for them, this group of teachers perceivethemselves as possessing a higher degree of teacher professionalismthan other groups of teachers in this study. In other words, one variablereinforces the other. The finding thus highlights the need for a freshapproach to differentiated professional development programmes forteachers, especially those belonging to the other groups not 'chosen' forthe professional development programme.

There is also the near absence of cooperative learning as aprofessional development activity amongst teachers at the high schoollevel. Since the finding indicates that all the three variables ofprofessional development - independent learning, cooperative learningand in-service learning - continue to teacher professionalism, there is aneed to explore how cooperative learning can be facilitated. At present,teachers see little relevance in, have no opportunities to be involved in,or are unaware of, cooperative learning as a meaningful professionaldevelopment activity. However, participation in cooperative, collegialgroups can expand the teachers' level of expertise by supplying a sourceof intellectual provocation and new ideas (Shulman & Carey, 1984). It alsoallows teachers to break the grip of psychological isolation from otheradults that characterises the teacher's classroom environment (Sarason,1971).

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There is a vast potential of know-how available within the teachingprofession which is not tapped at present. Structures are needed thatprovide non-threatening opportunities to bring teachers who can offerexperience together with teachers who would like to use this experiencefor the development of their practice. Examples of such a structure areschemes that make it possible for individual teachers to visit each otherin whose work they are interested to study; or to invite such teachers totheir classrooms (or schools) in order to use their competencies forplanning and implementing innovation. Such a development will take timeas teachers are not used to actively learning and sharing with each other.

Teacher professionalism, vis-a-vis teaching competence andcommitment to teaching, has been left to develop very much on its ownfor far too long. This study shows that it is not an unalterable variable; infact, professional development is an important determinant of teacherprofessionalism. There is, therefore, a need for all agencies with aninterest in the welfare of teachers and consequently their commitmentand competence, to focus on suitable professional development activitiesas a means of boosting teacher professionalism of the teachers. It isnecessary to provide teachers with resources, including those whichpromote self-learning and cooperative learning, bearing in mind that,ultimately, we must entrust to them our educationabenterprise.

Correspondence

Professor Kok-Aun Toh, National Institute of Education, NanyangTechnological University, 469 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259756.

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