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2.2.1TeacherProfessionalism
Thenotionoflanguageteacheridentityalmostnaturallyevokesassociations
withthelanguageteacherprofession,orsocalledHteachership”,whichpro-
ducesfurtherconnotations,relations,viewpointsandparadigmsthrough
whichitcanbeconsidered.Someofthecurrentdebatesinthisfieldorigi-
natefromexternalpressures,suchastheneedforstandardsandaccount-
ability,whereasothersareinfluencedbyinternalimperativesofdetermin-
ingwhatconstitutesalanguageteacher’sprofessionalresponsibility(Sol-
brekke&Sugrue,2014).Theexternalpressures,thesocalledHsponsored
professionalism”(Leung,2009,p.49),areemployedbyregulatorybodies
whichexercisecontrol,conductauditsandusepredetermineddescriptorsin
compliancewithemployers’decisions(Leung,2009,p.13).Inthenameof
promotingstandards,theseexternalforcestendtoreduceprofessionalism
totechnicalsolutions,oftenbringingaboutthedemiseofsuccessfulteaching
(Hoveid&Hoveid,2008;Rodgers&Raider-Roth,2006),ratherthanenhanc-
ingit.Forthesereasons,Hsponsoredprofessionalism”willnotbediscussed.
Whatisofinteresthereisamoreindividuallyorientednotionofprofession-
alism,thesocalledHindependentprofessionalism”(Leung,2009,p.50),which
originatesfromteachers’discerningawarenessofprofessionalismand,since
itisdevelopedbylanguageteachersthemselves,reliesonnegotiatedstan-
dards,whichareproactive,ratherthanreactive.ThenotionofHprofessional-
ism”isusuallyusedHinaconstitutivesensetorefertopractitioners’knowl-
edge,skillsandconduct”(Leung,2009,p.49).Inaway,itrepresentsashared
professionalidentity,basedonHasenseofcommonexperiences,understand-
ingsandexpertise,sharedwaysofperceivingproblemsandtheirpossible
solutions”(Evetts,2014,p.32).Therefore,itstandsforwhatthosewhowould
liketobelongtotheteachingprofessionhopetorepresent.
YetthetermHprofessionalism”evokesanumberofmeaningsandseems
tobeculturespecific.IntheJapanesecontext,forexample,teacherinterper-
sonalskills(calledkizunaorkakawari)aretantamounttohisorherprofes-
sionalbehaviours,whereasinChineseculture,aprofessionalteachermust
becommittedtohisorherstudentsandshowagenuineaffectiveinterestin
thesubjectmatter(Tsui,2009,p.191).InthePolishcontext,inturn,apopu-
larunderstandingofthiswordisprofessionalwork,anoccupation,ajobor
employment;inotherwords,thatworkisperformedprofessionally,not
amateurishly,andisassociatedwithexpertise.InAnglo-Saxondiscourse,in
turn,Hprofessionalism”isHacallingrequiringspecializedknowledgeand
oftenalongandintensiveacademicpreparation”(Webster’s,1987,in
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