Teaching associations and professionalism

Although teaching associations (TAs) have been aligned to professionalism, there is little evidence to support their actual role in developing EFL teachers’ sense of being a professional. This study explores this purported relationship through content analysis of interviews with ten members of TAs and nine non-members. Three themes emerged: status, how TAs contribute to teachers’ sense of self-worth; CPD, how TAs allow teachers to acquire competencies relevant to professionalism; Impact, the influence of TAs on the professionalism of EFL as a field. Regarding status, non-members rejected members’ commitment to TA membership as confirmation of professionalism. However, all teachers agreed TAs made a considerable contribution to professionalism through CPD. Concerning Impact, the only consensus was that too few teachers are aware of TAs for them to be significant. Our findings suggest that TAs can play a role in professionalism provided they remain relevant to teachers’ changing contexts and consider non-members’ interests.