Why does the meaning of professionalism matter for teachers?

KATHRYN TAYLOR, EdD CANDIDATE, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON, UK The term ‘professionalism’ is laden with political values and assumptions (Sachs, 2001). Conceived of and described in complex, conflated and contradictory ways (Law, 2004), teacher ‘professionalism’ has myriad influences, promoting agendas including standardisation (e.g. DfE, 2013), aspirational developmental frameworks (Forde et al., 2016), vocational flourishing (Evans, 2011), practical wisdom (Green, 2009), activism (Buchanan, 2015; Mockler, 2011) and specialist skills and knowledge (Freidson, 2004). Without considering the nature of teacher professionalism and how we identify with it, it is difficult to understand our place in the ‘system’. Recent thinking about psychological safety (Edmondson, 2019) and organisational match quality (the extent to which individuals feel that their values align with those of their organisation) indicates the importance of working environments on teachers’ sense of self-