This article examines factors which contribute to the development of professional thinking in the helping professions, including teaching. Additional topics include the dangers of overrating and misconceiving individual choice and of confusing professional autonomy with personal freedom. (IAH)

Teaching has endured largely as an assemblage of entrepreneurial individuals whose autonomy is grounded in norms of privacy and noninterference and is sustained by the very organization of teaching work. This article examines prominent forms of collegiality and discusses their prospects for altering the fundamental conditions of privacy in…

School-site management alone cannot guarantee administrative decentralization or nonbureaucratic management of teachers. A collegial, professional work environment can only be created by adhering to a participatory managerial philosophy that respects teachers as professionals and decision-makers and considers the specific relationships arising…

A model of professional nursing governance in an 800-bed long-term care facility is described, and the model's implications for nursing education are discussed. The governance model includes a registered nurse organization determining all standards for practice, policies governing practice, and nursing clinical programing. (Author/MSE)

Foremost policy watcher at the Center for the Study of Teaching, Linda Darling-Hammond analyzes the effects of state and district policies on teachers in classrooms, favors full partnership for teachers in decision-making, and points out the importance of the knowledge base for the professionalization of teaching. (TE)

Describes a teacher empowerment project implemented in one middle school from the perspectives of individuals who were expected to lead teachers into leadership: an administrator, a middle school specialist, and an evaluator. Their different perspectives emphasized the personal nature of the project and the importance of enhancing communication.…

This paper argues that in the debate over medical ethics and its role in medical education, the divergence of law and reality reflects the law's flawed medical model, which poorly matches the dynamic of the physician-patient relationship and attempts ineffectually to reshape it, and also medicine's autonomous professional culture, which…

Roles of women teachers and community control of teachers were studied in 1989-90 for 30 urban and 30 rural teachers in Lebowa, a unit of the Transvaal (South Africa). Under apartheid, female teachers were controlled by often-hostile committees and committee members who were frequently illiterate themselves. (SLD)

Presents results of a study of school administrators to determine support for the responsibility of social studies teachers to deal with controversial issues. Examines the influence of administrators on teacher decisions. Concludes that expressed support for dealing with controversial issues and critical thinking may appear more substantive than…

Academic standards are central to reinventing schools and transforming U.S. education. Higher standards are necessary to replace minimal standards implicit in most textbooks and tests. Standards communicate that all students can achieve at higher levels and that teachers are reclaiming the profession. Standards also inspire systemic reform, create…

Argues that Australian inservice education policies have unintentionally controlled and deskilled teachers. Focuses on Queensland, Australia, from 1973 to 1986. Claims teacher managerial skills are emphasized over curricular and instructional skills. Contends that teachers' professional development consequently suffers. Premises arguments on…

Private school teachers earn less than public school teachers but can cite autonomy, contact with a small and stable student body, participation in policymaking, opportunities for independent study, and attractive facilities as reasons for their preference. Notes that independent schools do not pursue novelty in educational methods or curricular…

Major influences on career choice among 153 allied health students were need to help others, prestige, autonomy, and advancement and income potential. Risk of malpractice suits and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome were negative influences for medical laboratory majors, but not for dietetics and physical therapy majors. (SK)

Problems generated by higher education institutional efforts to constrain faculty's instructional autonomy are evaluated. Given traditional administrative noninvolvement, such efforts can offend faculty expectations, leading to claims against the institution stemming from poor evaluations. Academic freedom values are examined as a heuristic for…

Analyzes the contemporary status and problems of the teaching profession in Japan, focusing on critical issues related to its roles and autonomy that have a significant bearing upon the teaching process. Discussions include the effects of governmental regulations and problems associated with class sizes and teaching conditions. (GLR)