IndexIntroductionCharacteristics of Teacher ProfessionalismTeacher Professional Reforms in ZambiaLicensing of the Teaching ProfessionChallengesLicensing of the Teaching ProfessionLack of Licensing Knowledge by TeachersHarmonization of AccreditationTeaching Profession in ZambiaTeacher Continuing Professional Development (CPD)Challenges of Teacher Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Conclusion References Introduction Throughout the world, many countries have realized that education is critical to the development of the country, as is a teacher, even in the midst of increasing technology. According to UNESCO, societies are now accepting teachers as important drivers of change in reforms rather than being seen only as "variables" that should be changed to improve the education system. It is clear from the UNESCO report that the role of the teacher is fundamental to improving the quality of education. After the introduction of teacher professionalism, the rest of this essay on the teaching profession discusses in depth the characteristics of the teaching profession, then explains the different professional reforms that have been implemented in Zambia and their challenges. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay As a result of the rapid opportunities in the environment, mainly brought about by technological changes, many demands for quality education have been placed on the teaching profession by stakeholders. According to Nawa, Zambia's teaching profession, just like many other countries, is under constant pressure to be more effective and responsive to the needs of the nation. In recognizing the importance of the teaching profession, many reforms have been implemented in various countries. To address the challenges facing the teaching profession, the Government adopted the Zambia Teaching Professional Act, 2013 in parliament on 21 March 2013. The Act enabled the establishment of the Teachers Council of Zambia and the definition of its functions and powers. ; provide for the regulation of teachers, their practice and professional conduct; provide for the accreditation, regulation and regulation of educational institutions; and provide for matters connected or incidental to the foregoing. The Teachers Council of Zambia sought to address challenges that Zambia's education system was facing, such as the use of unqualified teachers and the inability of teachers to maintain their professionalism. Characteristics Teacher Professionalism The Teachers Council of Zambia has defined the teaching profession as “a job requiring specialized training in teaching and instruction”. According to Yang and Xu, a profession can be considered as what an individual specializes in a particular area or skill that an individual places. In this regard, they considered teaching to be a specialized profession. From the definitions given, it can be said that for someone to qualify as a teacher, they must undergo training in a specific field in which has an interest in teaching. Training is vital in any profession because it is one of the many ways in which one can acquire skills. According to Word Bank a teacher must be trained in both traditional and non-traditional skills that have to do with content knowledge and non-traditional ones that have to do with social-emotional skills. The professionof the teacher has many characteristics of which one, according to Simuyaba and Chibwe, is that it is based on specialized knowledge and skills. They also stated that teachers require a high level of knowledge and skills that are acquired before entering the profession. The acquisition of knowledge is very important as it serves as the foundation upon which new knowledge will be placed. In Zambia many students acquire different professional teaching skills in different programs at different levels such as diploma, bachelor, master and postgraduate. However, teachers are mostly enrolled in diploma and degree courses. Another characteristic of a profession according to Banja is that there is control over entry into the profession through licensing and accreditation. To be part of the teaching profession you need to be registered and obtain a license. The other characteristic according to Simuyaba and Chibwe is that a profession requires competence from its members and that this can be determined by the type of qualifications and training and experience needed. Competence usually comes when you have the right skill for the job and have experience. Zambia's education system is such that graduates with certificates and diplomas are expected to teach only at the junior level and those with bachelor's and master's degrees are expected to teach at the senior level. Simuyaba and Chibwe, highlighted another characteristic of a profession as having codes of conduct for each member. Similarly, UNESCO has stated that in many professions there is a code of ethics that guides the practices of professionals. Just as the healthcare profession has codes of conduct, in Zambia we have the Teaching Profession Regulations (Code of Ethics) which was gazetted in January 2018 under Statutory Instrument No. 1 of 2018. Codes of ethics have helped ensure that teacher behavior in Zambia is professionalTeacher professionalism reforms in ZambiaThere are many teacher professionalism reforms that have been implemented in Zambia, but in this article we will only focus on the reforms that they have to do with the accreditation of teachers by the Teaching Council of Zambia (TCZ), the ongoing professional development policy and teacher recruitment. Licensing for the teaching profession As stated earlier in the introduction, TCZ is a statutory body dealing with professional standards in the teaching profession. part of its function under the Professional Education Act is to provide for the regulation of teachers, their professional practice and conduct and to provide for the accreditation and regulation of educational institutions. After the establishment of TCZ, a directive was issued by the Ministry of Education in 2016 that every teacher had to register with TCZ. After successful registration, teachers were issued Teacher Licenses. This gave them the mandate to qualify to teach as teachers. The Teaching Profession Act, 5 of 2013 went further and defined who a teacher is, a qualified, registered person who teaches or instructs, a school head, a principal or a lecturer of an educational institution, an instructor of technical education, a head of an education department or an educational unit at any educational institution other than a university'. Pursuant to the law on the teaching profession n. 5 of 2013, anyone found teaching without a license can be prosecuted. The implication of this reform was that because only qualified teachers were allowed to teach, the quality of education improved. However, having a license to teach does not necessarily mean that you dobe a good teacher. With the many technological changes taking place it is necessary to continuously update. Challenges Licensing for the teaching profession While licensing for teachers and principals has solved the problem of unqualified removal from the system, it has not completely solved the problem of quality education. One of the challenges related to teacher licensing according to Ellili-Chief et al. it is an undisputed belief that certification is a final product and will therefore generally improve the educational process and therefore student performance. According to Moono, quoted in the Zambia UNESCO Zambia Policy Review 2016, unqualified teachers were found in Zambian classrooms and existing teachers had little or no space for professional development. From Mono's article it can be seen that the problem of the quality of education is also linked to the lack of commitment to continuous professional development. It is therefore important not to completely conclude that the issue of quality has been completely resolved in Zambia because all teachers are licensed. The issue of quality is sometimes complex because it touches on many issues. However, the nation is moving in the right direction. Lack of knowledge about licensing among teachers Most teachers have little knowledge of the function of the Teaching Council of Zambia (TCZ). As a result, they failed to fully understand the benefits of obtaining their teaching license. If teachers were made to understand some of the benefits, such as protecting the teaching profession they belong to, it would force most teachers to research what TCZ is. There is still a challenge with teachers who have first obtained a professional qualification at bachelor level or master level when attending a diploma pedagogical course where, they will only be considered as diploma level. The challenge is how to motivate people who want to enter the profession. Harmonization of Accreditation Prior to the establishment of the Education Council of Zambia. There were other bodies carrying out the accreditation exercise. The challenge now is that accreditation is done twice, it is therefore necessary to harmonize the work. Teaching Profession in Zambia For a long time, Zambia had intended to establish a body to look into issues facing the teaching profession, such as anyone entering the profession without proper qualification and licensing. According to Banja, the Zambian Ministry of Education (MOE) until 1977 recognized that there was no professional body. Document from the Ministry of Health, which outlines our future national policy on education, 'The Ministry recognizes the need for a professional teaching corps that establishes and maintains the highest professional standards among teachers. Zambia in 2013, as indicated above, through Parliament enacted the Teaching Profession Act, No. 5 of 2013, commencing the establishment of the Teaching Council of Zambia on 21 March 2013. The Teaching Council of Zambia (TCZ) is the long-awaited professional standards body in Zambia. With the advent of the professional body, this implies that once a person registers as a teacher and obtains a license, he or she automatically becomes a member of the teacher's professional body and is expected to comply with its rules and regulations. For this reason, the law on the teaching profession n. 5 of 2013 defines a teacher as "a qualified, registered person who teaches or instructs, a school head, principal or teacher of an educational institution, technical education instructor, a head of education department or a uniteducational at any other educational institution other than the university". The key issue that arises from the definition is that a person must be registered and qualified. Anyone who does not comply with the rules can be prosecuted using the Zambia, Teaching Profession. To be qualified, a person must undergo training and be certified as qualified. In Zambia, training for teaching qualification comes from diploma, bachelor's, master's and PhD level, but few at doctoral level. With the entry into force of the Law on the teaching profession, n. 5 of 2013 and the Education Council of Zambia, only persons with higher diplomas and qualifications can teach in secondary schools. Again, in secondary schools, only upwardly digressing teachers can teach older students. This is to ensure that only teachers with the right skills and qualifications teach the required level of students. Teachers' Continuing Professional Development (CPD) The pressure placed on teachers to deliver quality education means that teachers need to continually upskill themselves to meet the demands of delivering quality education. According to Barber and Mourshed cited in Zhu et al. their work cites the 2007 McKinsey report which states that "the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers". In order for quality education to take place in schools, teachers should have the ability to teach can be acquired mainly through training. According to the Ministry of Education, a policy document from the Ministry of Education, "Educating our future", suggests strategic approaches for in-service teacher training: demand-driven programmes, responding to identified needs. Programs that focus on school needs and are based in schools or resource centers. Cost-effective programs that allow large numbers of teachers to have learning opportunities. Programs that include students not only in the contents of the subjects but also in the methodologies, use materials or classroom management methods. Related to the above strategies, In-service for Term (SPRINT) programs were launched in 2000 by the Ministry of Education as a lifelong learning framework for school teachers. The purpose of the programs was to promote quality training in education. While many have been trained while in service, there are some who have never benefited from it. The current CPD adopted is school-based continuing professional development (SBCPD). The purpose of this professional development system According to the Ministry of Education, teachers' continuous professional development (CPD) is to improve teaching and learning through lesson study. The challenges of teacher continuing professional development (CPD) The challenge with the first CPD system, In-service for Term (SPRINT) means that not all schools have implemented the system, consequently only a few have benefited from it. The challenge posed by the current system of continuous professional development called School Based Continuous Professional Development (SBCPD), according to the Ministry of Education, is that teachers are overloaded with other school programs and see this program as an additional burden on them. Failure to make the most of the system usually creates the problem. The sustainability of the SBCPD. If most teachers and principals see him as a burden, he won't get much support and that will lead to failure. The other problem is that once the donors are gone, it becomes/