Teacher unions, quality, and professionalism, as seen in Kappan 

Questions about professionalism in teaching inevitably begin with the question of what we mean by “profession,” exactly, and this question has been asked in the pages of Kappan since the 1930s, when Don Rogers (“Growing professionalism in education,” June 1930) observed how the work of teachers was changing. Contrasting a one-room schoolhouse in Cook County, Illinois, with a modern elementary school in Chicago, he noted that the Chicago school had higher professional standards and teachers were expected to use new research-based teaching methods. And, because of this, teachers were gaining skills and status: 

For some Kappan authors, increased professionalism involved coming together to improve the profession by setting minimum standards in such areas as salary, benefits, class sizes, and available teaching resources. In April 1952, Willard Spalding (“Set minimum standards for teaching!”) encouraged teachers to unite within their unions: