To be a professional means to understand where your place is in a certain situation or context, and know what is appropriate or not of both yourself and others in the way you act, speak and present yourself. Professionalism requires responsibility and politeness. It means that you should be reliable for your own actions and display a level of understanding and competence in your field. You should be able to communicate well with others and maintain healthy relationships with those you work with or around. When talking about professional relationships, the STF pdf on teacher professionalism states, “Effective professional relationships are essential to the teaching practice and teachers share the responsibility for the quality of these relationships.” This is extremely important because if you cannot hold professional relationships with colleagues or students you will not be able to understand what is required of you in your career and how you can help those who need teaching. 

I am absolutely a teacher 24 hours a day, not only in the classroom and in school, but at home as well. Students and colleagues will rely on me outside of school hours for help and support and as I teacher I must be able and ready to provide that assistance. I must uphold my professionalism outside of school. Even when I am not teaching or in class, I am still a teacher, people still look at me and know I am a teacher and so the things I do outside of school will have an effect on how people such as students and other teachers and professionals view me during school. The STF says, “In turn, teachers have a responsibility to act at all times in a manner that is worthy of this public trust and consistent with the teaching profession’s expectations.” This states that even outside of the classroom, teachers must maintain their professionalism and appear trustworthy and competent for the public and the parents of the students we teach, no matter what time or where we are. 

As a student in the Faculty of Education, it is important that I begin to evaluate how I will display the proper respect and professionalism to be a teacher even before I have started a career. Being in the Faculty of Education, even only as a student, is the start of my teaching career and because of this, I must start to show my professionalism already and all the time in preparation. I need to take responsibility for my actions and the way I present myself at all times. People now have high expectations of me as a student and member of the STF and I will make sure to meet their expectations.