A New Professional: The Aims of Education Revisited

This is an article by Parker J. Palmer from the November-December 2007 issue of Change magazine.

The Last Word

The word "professional" originally meant someone who makes a "profession of faith" in the midst of a disheartening world. That root meaning became diminished as the centuries rolled by, and today it has all but disappeared. "Professional" now means someone who possesses knowledge and techniques too esoteric for the laity to understand, whose education is proudly proclaimed to be "value free."

The notion of a "new professional" revives the root meaning of the word. This person can say, "In the midst of the powerful forcefield of institutional life, where so much conspires to compromise the core values of my work, I have found firm ground on which to stand—the ground of personal and professional identity and integrity—and from which I can call myself, my colleagues, and my profession back to our true mission."

Higher education needs to educate people in every field who have ethical autonomy and the courage to act upon it—who possess knowledge, skill, and the highest values of their vocations. Can such an education become a reality? Yes, if we who educate can think and act like the new professionals we need to raise up.