This chapter focuses on teacher professionalism. In response to vigorous debates initiated in the disciplines of education and sociology, this issue has been discussed with varying degrees of intensity in the field of English language teaching over the past three decades. The concept of teacher professionalism, however, has an intricate nature. Its complexity partially results from the fact that it cannot be fully explained without linking it to teachers’ professional knowledge, practice, and engagement, teachers’ professional identity, and their ethical conduct, all of which are sophisticated constructs in their own right. The complexity of teacher professionalism is also attributed to its evolution within active and learning communities of English language teachers. With this in mind, this chapter begins with a presentation of important definitions of teacher professionalism. This is supported by a brief examination of the professional standards obligatory for the teaching occupation. These are discussed in relation to three dimensions: professional knowledge, professional practice, and professional engagement. The chapter then explicates the construct of teacher professional identity. This is followed by a concise deliberation on the relationship between professionalism and ethics. The chapter concludes with constructive suggestions for sustaining teacher professionalism.

This chapter explains what is – and isn’t – archaeology, its historical development, thematic and global spread, and the development of the discipline as a profession. The chapter also discusses archaeological ethics, professional standards, and codes of conduct.

In this chapter you will be introduced to some of the literature, research and practices that will help you learn about and reflect on teaching and the teaching profession in the twenty-first century. You will also be introduced to relevant information about Australia’s school communities and school structures so that you can best understand the complex and diverse nature of the work involved in teaching students across the full learning spectrum from early years to senior secondary.

One of our goals in this opening chapter, and throughout the entire book, is to challenge your thinking about the range of issues involved in learning to teach in the twenty-first century. Therefore, we invite you to engage with and question the concepts and ideas presented in the coming pages, rather than accept them at face value. In many cases, we will prompt you to do so, particularly by examining key issues through social and ideological lenses. Adopting a critical inquiry stance is crucial in learning to become a teacher – it will help you to discover what it is that really matters in teaching in the twenty-first century.

Schools are shaped by political and social contexts that enable and constrain teachers’ work. Consequently, teachers are under increasing scrutiny from the community and the profession. The scrutiny of the teaching profession is often justified because of the moral value of teachers’ work, especially with young people who are considered a ‘vulnerable’ part of the population. Teachers have responsibility for facilitating the cognitive, social, emotional and civic development of children and adolescents, which is often viewed as a moral practice. They are required to demonstrate professional competence and behaviour that sometimes exceeds standards expected of the rest of the community. The expected standards of behaviour and values are described in codes of conduct and codes of professional ethics, which are enforced through registration processes and legislative frameworks. As practitioners in this regulated environment, teachers need extensive knowledge of the codes, regulations and legislative frameworks that inform their work (ranging from copyright law through to common law interpretations of duty of care and negligence).

This chapter discusses the setting of standards for language learning in formal education and focuses in particular on the role that assessment plays in that context. Some challenging dilemmas that face educators in seeking to apply standards are discussed. In a globalized world, one such dilemma occurs when setting international standards while respecting diversity and the need for locally determined norms and context-specific policies and practices. Three specific meanings of standards and standardization are explored in relation to language education in formal schooling. These three key aspects of standardization are interrelated. Standard languages: what is to be taught and learned in school. Standards of proficiency: the levels of competence that is to be achieved as the outcome of language learning. Professional standards: how languages are taught and assessed and how the quality of the teaching and assessment is determined and monitored. These three meanings are explored by taking into account the context where the language learning takes place and in relation to the intended uses of the target language outside of the classroom; the challenge for policymakers and educators is ultimately a multilingual one that involves the languages used in the home, in civil society and in school as curriculum subjects.

Success stories in clean-up of toxic sites. Sydney, Singapore, US Superfund. Key global chemical treaties. New approaches to chemical clean-up. Shortcomings in scientific, medical and chemical training. Curbing the global toxic deluge. Citizen responsibility for a cleaner Planet.

Disciplinary proceedings may be brought against a teacher in many forms and for many reasons. If a teacher in Australia is perceived to be doing the wrong thing or involved in some form of misconduct, proceedings against that teacher may be brought both in civil and criminal jurisdictions. Just recently in a major metropolitan weekend newspaper (Dibben, ), it was highlighted that 50 teachers in one year in that particular state had external proceedings brought against them for a variety of sexual and misconduct matters. This resulted in them being prohibited from teaching for a period of time or ever joining the teaching profession again. In this chapter we explore what disciplinary proceedings mean and how they may come about. A number of common and lesser known actions by teachers that may lead to such proceedings are examined. The process for dealing with allegations followed by the external agencies that regulate the behaviour and actions of registered teachers is also discussed. The chapter concludes with some general comments about how teachers can protect themselves, in terms of understanding their obligations in the first place and ensuring that natural justice has been followed in reaching a fair outcome in any action that they are the subject of.

This introductory chapter draws on two major perspectives on globalization, glocalization, and grobalization, to make sense of the global challenges faced by English language teaching (ELT) and English language teacher education (ELTE) professions and local responses in ten countries/jurisdictions in the Asian region discussed in this volume. It highlights the common critical issues which have emerged from these responses and discusses their implications for ELT and ELTE. In the concluding reflections, it identifies three issues that are central and particularly challenging to the work of English language teachers and teacher educators.