9 Professional Teaching Standards

Tracy Boger

Professional teaching standards provide guidelines or benchmarks that define the expected knowledge, skills, and behaviours of teachers. Teaching standards are important because they act as a framework for teacher preparation, professional growth, and evaluation. Teachers demonstrate competency of established teaching standards through the completion of teacher preparation programs. Additionally, most countries require that teachers in public schools hold a valid teaching license or teaching certificate. For example, to teach in Canada, a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) and certification from the relevant province or territory are required. In addition to demonstrating teaching competency by completing a teacher education program, certificated teachers in Canada are expected to demonstrate and maintain a core set of teaching competencies throughout their careers.

Teacher Quality Standard in Alberta

In Alberta, professional teaching standards are defined in a document called the Teacher Quality Standard (TQS) (Alberta Education, 2023). Alberta Education first introduced the Teaching Quality Standard in 1997, but the document has been revised since then  to reflect societal and educational changes since its inception. The TQS guides the professional practice of all certified Alberta teachers, and teachers are held accountable to these standards. The TQS recognizes ongoing professional development and continual reflection as important components of professional practice. The TQS states: “Quality teaching occurs when the teacher’s ongoing analysis of the context, and the teacher’s decisions about which pedagogical knowledge and abilities to apply, result in optimum learning for all students” (Alberta Education, 2023, p. 2).

The current version of the TQS outlines six competencies, each of which has corresponding indicators, that teachers must meet to hold and maintain an Alberta teaching certificate. The TQS competencies that teachers are expected to demonstrate throughout their careers include fostering effective relationships, engaging in career-long learning, demonstrating a professional body of knowledge, establishing inclusive learning environments, applying foundational knowledge about First Nations, Métis and Inuit, and adhering to legal frameworks and policies. These TQS competencies and indicators guide the professional practice of all certified  teachers in Alberta.

The Alberta Teaching Quality Standard mandates the integration and application of technology as a core professional responsibility, in Competency 3: Demonstrating a Professional Body of Knowledge and Competency 2: Engaging in Career-Long Learning. The TQS requires that teachers “incorporate a range of instructional strategies, including the appropriate use(s) of digital technology, according to the context, content, desired outcomes and the learning needs of students” (Alberta Education, 2023, p. 5). This means that the appropriate use and application of technology for teaching and learning is a critical component of a teacher’s overall professional body of knowledge. Not surprisingly, Competency 2: Engaging in Career-Long Learning, directs teachers to maintain an awareness of emerging technologies to enhance knowledge and inform practice (Alberta Education, 2023, p. 3). Indicator 2.d is more open ended but also relates to new developments in education technology by requiring teachers to seek and apply educational research to improve their practice (Alberta Education, 2023, p. 3).

The TQS standards are broad in that they establish expectations of teachers without prescribing exactly how to meet the standards. Assessing whether standards are met requires the use of reasoned professional judgement (Alberta Education, 2023, p. 2). This gives teachers a great deal of autonomy in how they meet their professional development goals. At the same time, it places the onus on teachers to stay current with new technological developments and use their professional judgement when integrating technology into practice.

Learning Check

It is important to note that technology standards for teachers encompass more than technology integration; they also require teachers to possess digital literacy and be judicious users of technology. Chapter 10 explores the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Technology Standards (2021), which define technology standards for teachers. Given the rise of online dangers such as disinformation, phishing scams, fake news, and deepfakes, both teachers and students must stay informed and be more vigilant than ever. Even more concerning are those who pose a specific risk to students, such as online predators and cyberbullies. Our ever-changing digital landscape requires teachers to engage in ongoing professional development to keep pace with the new demands that are placed on them and their students.

REFERENCES

Alberta Education. (2023). Teaching quality standard. https://open.alberta.ca/publications/teaching-quality-standard

International Society for Technology in Education. (2021). ISTE technology standards. https://cms-live-media.iste.org/ISTE-Standards-One-Sheet_Combined_11-22-2021_vF4-1-4.pdf