Professionalism is ''being'?

Notes...

The idea that being a professional is a 'soft' concept, its more about ones state of mind than a check list of criteria. This is something that I have thought about before when looking at the PDP.

Being a professional is about 'being' and links in with the ideas around communities of practice, 'participation', an individual professional is nothing without a community.

Qualifications do not matter unless they are recognised as an essential for the community.

I then had a bash some criteria for being a professional:

• You need to practice your profession
• You need to actively participate and contribute to a community of practice.
• Be accepted by your profession as a professional.

Defining professional in this way makes it much easier for me to grasp as a concept. Its perhaps not a polished definition/criteria just yet, hoping to test and refine with my community (tutor group).