NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
PDF on ERIC Download full text
ERIC Number: EJ1006220
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Mar
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1097-9638
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Teaching: Profession or Vocation?
Buijs, Joseph A.
Catholic Education: A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, v8 n3 p326-345 Mar 2005
Underneath teaching there lies a conceptual framework through which we view its role and purpose. Different frameworks vary in outlook and imply contrasting attitudes and values. Which one we adopt impacts on what and how we teach. This study explores what it means to think of teaching as a profession versus a vocation. Its focus is restricted to teaching at the university level, but the analysis can be applied to other aspects of an academic career. The issue is of particular interest in relation to the Christian or Catholic identity of denominational colleges and universities. The intent is to show how the conceptual framework of a profession versus a vocation implies a number of contrasting attitudes and values towards teaching. Although these contrasts need not be incompatible, they are in dialectical tension within academic institutions: excess of one highlights absence of the other. Finally, the study suggests that teaching as a vocation more directly promotes a distinctively Christian or Catholic identity in denominational institutions of higher education.
Boston College. Roche Center for Catholic Education, 25 Lawrence Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467. Tel: 617-552-0701; Fax: 617-552-0579; e-mail: journal@bc.edu; Web site: http://www.bc.edu/catholicedjournal
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A