Professionalism: School Commitment
This is school commitment. Teaching the students why we act professional and how this will get them the job.
Yes, teaching and maintaining professionalism in the classroom is just as important as teaching the material necessary for a student's future career.
Based on my conversations with perspective employers, they understand our students are beginners and expect them to make mistakes. Employers also expect students to be able to maintain professionalism through that mistake and turn it into a learning experience.
Teaching is a profession and professionalism should be an intrinsic part of the occupation. What sort of positive and negative reinforcement do you see among your colleagues?
Professionalism is contagious at my College.
Instructors model, support and reinforce this every day on a group and individual basis.
Positive and negative reinforcement are both needed
I have found that at our school the students are overwhelmingly looking for professionalism from the staff and have expectations of professionalism from the students as well. The unprofessional behavior of a few can degrade the whole. Since this is the biggest investment, they have ever made both in time and in money, they do not want another taking away from that. I feel the biggest part of our retention issues spur from the fact that those on top do not see that allowing poor behavior in order to keep a student in school has a price. That price comes in the numbers of students who leave our school and are never heard from again.
No - not the extent, but if we can get our students to believe that there is a right and a wrong way to approach things, it helps to get them to buy into the whole package. Where I work, we are preparing students to become ENTRY LEVEL automotive technicians - not seasoned veterans. We are charged with teaching them the ropes as well as giving them the education that they paid for. For the ones who truly want to be here, it is a pleasure to work with. For those that don't, we still owe it to them to attempt to get them to see the light. Oftentimes, mistakes are made when instructors just spew rules and regulations rather than explain features and benefits of what we are trying to do. No one enjoys being told what to do, but MOST people realize that they need someone to show them the correct path when starting out.
While it's true that instructors can't repair 18 - 20 years of damage, instructors can help them understand that there are alternatives and that the workplace will often impose standards on them that must be met.
Awesome, practice what you preach in other words. How can we expect students to follow the code of haircut,shirt tuck,language,etc if we can't follow ourselves.The real problem is the apple not falling too far from the tree.I have spoken to parents on occasion. How can we as instructors repair 18to 20 plus years of damage?We can only do the best we can do.
I agree with you Beckham, setting a good example of leadership does reflect on how our students will perform in the workforce. Demostrating on puncuality and drss codes show our students the ideal professionalism that our consumers are looking for. By giving them this tool to use wii help them for their future.
Yes, I agree that we as professionals must set a good example for our students. Particularily by modeling a good work ethic and our how we interact with our peers. We have to work constantly on setting a good example for the student by illustrating that we practice what we preach.
Kind of yes and kind of no. Meaning teaching the students on how to be professional is one thing but being able to deliver a quality and good subject matter is very critical as well.
How do you assure that these levels of professionalism are being met, Danny?
Certainly professionalism is key but that is not where commitment ends. We must be commited to quality of curriculum, quality of delivery, overall preparation of our student (customer), and to our company's reputation.
I believe we must lead by example. We work each day with student body and need to set a constant example for the student. Showing up to work on time some times even early. opening classrooms on time and always using the right lanugage for the situation. The student will follow most rules as long as the staff follow the rules given to them. Consistance and presistance will lead to a more professionial student.
Is teaching students how to act professionally really the extent of a school's commitment to their students?
