Towards Professional Wisdom 26-28 March 2008, Edinburgh

Nothing less than excellence; Ideals of professional identity Jos Kole & Doret de Ruyter, VU University Amsterdam

Introduction • Teacher professionalism • Ideals in professional morality The problem – inherent tension of professional ideals • Question How we can make sense of professionals’ ideals? How to combine their collective and individual facets? How can their external normative thrust be united with non-enforceable personal commitment? • Relevance: Project of sustaining teachers’ professionalism through emphasis on role of professional ideals Professional ideals and personal identity • Scheme of argument: claim 1: Ideals are necessary constituents of personal identity claim 2: Collective professional ideals are necessary constituents for professional identity claim 3: Professional identity is part of personal identity Conclusion: Collective professional ideals are necessary constituents for professionals personally • Claim 3: Professional identity is part of personal identity Personal identity – unique personhood through time 1. personhood: self-consciousness, intentionality – will & agency, body 2. uniqueness: distinctive combination of ‘ingredients’ of personhood 3. continuity: narrative – biography Professional identity in three steps 1. cf. personhood: characteristics of professionalism – group identity 2. cf. uniqueness: internalising characteristics 3. cf. continuity: professional career is part of personal biography • Claim 1: Ideals are necessary constituents of personal identity - personal identity – will / agency - ideals as standards enable strong evaluations of first order desires > will / agency - ideals constitutive for personal identity may be shared and collective - if authenticated through reflective endorsement collective ideals become personal • Claim 2: Collective professional ideals are necessary constituents for professional identity - collective professional ideals > professional group identity - through reflective endorsement > personal professional identity • Conclusion: combination of collective and personal aspects of professional ideals explained Some implications and consequences • Necessity of collective reflection and personal contemplation • Novel teachers need to be initiated into the profession’s ideals, because they cannot be enforced upon them

This paper is based on results of The Good Professional, a research project financed by see http://the-good-professional.psy.vu.nl