Is a classroom assistant classes as a professional job!

[tulpops]

If you were talking about a C/A or filling out a form, would you describe as being a professional job?

Absolutely not, no.

Whether a TA has a degree or not, it still isn’t a profession.

They may behave in a very professional way at work (or not!) but that would not make someone ‘a professional’.

There's a chartered institute for marketing. Presumably you need to meet a certain standard of knowledge, qualifications etc. to be a member. So I'd argue you could call marketing a profession.

Then those people are professionally qualified but working in a non-professional role.

You could have a PhD and work as a domestic cleaner. It doesn't follow that domestic cleaning is a PhD-level job.

How about a director of a charity if you have to be registered on companies house?

Wow no wonder I left schools. Totally flabbergasted how quick everyone was to say no.

I have qualifications, years of experience. I’m now in an office so classes as ‘professional position only dealing with money not lives - looking at all the diabetics I took charge of -

Show the true value of society.

You can also be jailed for pretending to be an independent financial adviser if you're not qualified.

That's irrelevant. It's not necessary to have those qualifications. It's not necessary to have any really, that's why it's not a profession.

@Valerianandfoxglovesoup yes, you should know that I'm going to self-flagellate for that rogue apostrophe and missing comma.

I'm a TA and I also said no. Because it's not. It's that simple. You can have a TA that can barely write a coherent sentence or cope with y2 Maths(whether they last long in the job is another issue) just as you can have one that is an ex teacher, or uni graduate with a bunch of courses and training under their belts.

Probably going to embarrass myself, but is what you have described the same as a
T/A?

I have no idea what people are on about.

Professional means a paid job, if you are paid (and can make a living wage not just a few quid off a hobby) to do work you are a professional. It has nothing to do with qualifications, no where in the dictionary definition has it ever stated its licensed or academic.

No, it wouldn't. Having a DBS check does not mean you are a professional.

Did you read it? I said that my tutor said. I was clearly providing his opinion, not mine.

Tell that to my tutor.

You tutor was wrong (hope he/she was better at teaching law!). Financial advisers, radiographers, accountants and insurance brokers are just four that have to be qualified and are breaking the law if they are offering 'professional' services to the public under the guise of being qualified to do so..

What profession do you have now?

Curious - would you class an economist as a professional?

I was an HLTA with a degree and the required qualifications which are similar to those for QTS. This qualified me to plan and teach 1:1, groups and whole classes under the guidance of a teacher, ie using their plans. I was the school literacy interventions coordinator and also cover supervisor. I would have classed myself as a professional and still am as a self-employed private tutor. Even as a TA I had a relevant CACHE qualification.

There is a great deal of difference between a TA, who helps teach, and a classroom assistant, who hands out pencils and cleans paint pots. LSAs can either be unqualified, helping to keep a child on task, or highly qualified in SEND and responsible for a child's learning.

But it isn't a professional job. There are no compulsory qualifications or experience required for becoming a teaching assistant.

It's low skilled with pay to match.

Professional jobs I'd class as doctor, solicitor, barrister, engineer, accountant, nurse, etc etc

Jobs where you require specific qualifications, certifications and revalidation.

This is true. I had to assess a TA at school on the basis of her working as a Nursery Nurse in the school Nursery. She was competent in all the areas I had to question her on and as a result of this she was deemed capable of covering maths lessons in year 6. This was around 20 years ago so, of course, it might be more rigorous now.

There is a great deal of difference between a TA, who helps teach, and a classroom assistant, who hands out pencils and cleans paint pots. LSAs can either be unqualified, helping to keep a child on task, or highly qualified in SEND and responsible for a child's learning.

There may be a difference, but neither are a profession. Being an HLTA or a tutor is not a profession either. You may be professional in your work, but that doesn’t make the work a profession. Anyone can set up as a tutor and heads can now employ anyone as a HLTA, as long as they’re satisfied the person is competent.

No

No it doesn’t just mean a paid job.

It’s a classification of a type of job, in the same way that manual, skilled, semi skilled etc are classifications of types of jobs. What would be the point of these classifications if they all meant the same thing?

There isn’t a strict definition, but below is how the UK passport office defines it - it does not include people in unskilled or semi skilled work. Generally speaking it means most people in your occupation will have some higher level qualifications, or having a management position in a military or (recognised) religious organisation, or having responsibility for the running of a company.

Recognised professions
Examples of recognised professions include:

• accountant
• airline pilot
• articled clerk of a limited company
• assurance agent of recognised company
• bank or building society official
• barrister
• chairman or director of a limited company
• chiropodist
• commissioner for oaths
• councillor, for example local or county
• civil servant (permanent)
• dentist
• director, manager or personnel officer of a VAT-registered company
• engineer with professional qualifications
• financial services intermediary, for example a stockbroker or insurance broker
• fire service official
• funeral director
• insurance agent (full time) of a recognised company
• journalist
• Justice of the Peace
• legal secretary (fellow or associate member of the Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs)
• licensee of a public house
• local government officer
• manager or personnel officer of a limited company
• member, associate or fellow of a professional body
• Member of Parliament
• Merchant Navy officer
• minister of a recognised religion (including Christian Science)
• nurse (RGN or RMN)
• officer of the armed services
• optician
• paralegal (certified paralegal, qualified paralegal or associate member of the Institute of Paralegals)
• person with honours, for example an OBE or MBE
• pharmacist
• photographer (professional)
• police officer
• Post Office official
• president or secretary of a recognised organisation
• Salvation Army officer
• social worker
• solicitor
• surveyor
• teacher or lecturer
• trade union officer
• travel agent (qualified)
• valuer or auctioneer (fellow or associate members of the incorporated society)
• Warrant Officers and Chief Petty Officers

profession
/prəˈfɛʃn/

noun

1. 1.
2. a paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and a formal qualification.
3. "his chosen profession of teaching"

what defines a professional job
A professional job is a role that requires a certain level of learning, specialised knowledge and advanced skills.

FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROFESSION

• Great responsibility. ...
• Accountability. ...
• Based on specialized, theoretical knowledge. ...
• Institutional preparation. ...
• Autonomy. ...
• Clients rather than customers. ...
• Direct working relationships. ...
• Ethical constraints.

I would argue that a modern TA ticks all these boxes so therefore is a professional job.