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we offer tips on how you can improve your professionalism to prepare for the work world

From Student to Professional: Mastering the Art of Professionalism in Education

The number of students getting bachelor’s degrees in education has declined over the last 30 years, making up only 4% of over two million degrees issued in 2020. This drop could be happening because of various reasons, including education majors not getting the support they need in the transition to the professional world.

Not only must students be aware of the unique challenges that come with teaching in the real world, but they must also develop their professionalism to be as confident and effective in their role as possible. Guidance on how exactly to do this could make a difference in inspiring a new wave of professional educators.

Before we offer tips on how you can improve your professionalism to prepare for the work world, let’s touch on some of the challenges education majors encounter when they’re transitioning into their professional educator roles.

Challenges Education Majors Face When Entering  the Professional World

Transitioning into the professional world and working with students is much more challenging than most people think. The nerves that come with entering the classroom as a teacher could make a student second guess their decision to become an educator.

It’s also hard to grasp just how difficult it is to work with a variety of students on a full-time basis when you’re in college. It’s a fast-paced, ever-changing environment that you must be ready for if you want to succeed.

Finally, if you start teaching right out of college, you’re still pretty young. You may not feel like you’re the established professional educator that you are because of this. You’re still growing into a mature adult. So, you may not think you have the leadership skills to work with children effectively, hindering your confidence and growth in the profession.

Thankfully, there’s a way to thrive despite these challenges in the transition phase.

Tips for Mastering Professionalism as an Educator

It’s much easier to navigate challenges in the professional world when you exhibit professionalism.

This is because professionalism involves being confident, setting high standards for how you work, and showing how much you care about your students. You’re willing to tackle obstacles to provide a positive educational experience.

To master professionalism as an educator, start with improving your self-image.

Improve Your Self-Image

Being a successful teacher requires confidence, so you can effectively communicate with your students and colleagues. You need it to take on challenges and find adequate solutions. You need confidence to be successful in all that you do as a teacher.

But to have confidence, you must first have a positive self-image. How you look at and feel about yourself can affect your confidence. If you look at yourself in a good way, you’re more likely to act with conviction. On the other hand, if you have a negative perception of yourself, self-doubt, low self-esteem, and stress resulting from these confidence issues will follow.

You can improve your self-image by practicing self-care. Doing things that nurture your mind, body, and soul will bring you closer to yourself. You’ll develop a positive relationship with yourself that results in a favorable self-image. Self-care activities can be simple, like getting enough sleep and eating right, or more detailed, like going on a weekend getaway every quarter.

If you need additional support for improving your self-image, try therapy. A therapist can help you further flesh out your self-image issues and develop a plan for addressing them and coping with triggers.

Prepare for Working With Kids

Working with kids is no easy task. Their minds, emotions, and behaviors are still developing, causing them to make decisions and do things that may surprise you.

If you aren’t ready for these types of ups and downs, it may cause you to have negative interactions with your students that hurt them and their educational journey. It could also harm your career progression because you’ll appear unprofessional and unable to handle the job.

Luckily,  there are ways to prepare yourself for working with kids. Ensure you’re physically ready for all the moving around you’ll be doing as a teacher. Build a wardrobe of clothes that are professional, comfortable, and allow you to be mobile. And finally, grow your empathy, patience, and enthusiasm.

Preparing to work with kids full-time ahead of time will help you feel more confident in your abilities and ultimately appear more professional.

Be a Positive Role Model

If you want to exude professionalism, work on becoming a positive role model. A positive role model inspires others to live productively and meaningfully. They have integrity. They hold themselves to high standards. They’re someone others can look up to. All of these things are a part of professionalism.

To become a positive role model, you should first identify what you do well and what you need to work on. As you work on your weaknesses, you become a stronger, more well-rounded person. And if you share your journey with your students, you’ll become someone they can relate to and look up to.

Positive role models are also transparent and honest. Communicate openly with the people around you to become a more effective communicator and listener. Finally, establish a set of core values that you’re committed to living by. You need them to ensure you always conduct yourself with integrity.

Feeling and conducting oneself like a professional doesn’t come naturally to every education major transitioning into the professional world. The unique challenges in the process don’t make it any easier. But by applying the tips above, you can master the art of professionalism and move into a professional education role seamlessly.

SEE ALSO: How to Get Ahead of the Game as a Business Student

Market Yourself Social Media

Market Yourself on Social Media

Statistics tell us that in 2017 alone 81 percent of Americans had a social media profile—but how can you market yourself on social media professionally?

It’s amazing the way people perceive someone from a simple, yet detailed, social media website such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram. The saying is true: “A picture says a thousand words.” So how do you make yourself more appealing when it comes to prospective head hunters looking for their next applicant?

To market yourself on social media, eliminate all those old photos starring you holding a beer bong or a bottle of liquor with your tongue hanging out—for starters. Sure, save them onto your computer so you can look back someday and laugh at your memories, but remove them from social media because employers will take a look at a candidate’s social media profiles. The last impression you want to make on a prospective employer is that you’re unprofessional and irresponsible. There’s a time and place for everything, and as we get older, we need to leave a lasting, positive impression for those who may help us plant seeds for long and prosperous career.

A person’s perception of you can change in an instant. All it takes is some light “Facebook stalking” to find out where you might live, who you’re currently dating and the things you enjoy doing. I, personally, have found myself reeling in shock after seeing an old friend’s social media page. It makes you wonder what kind of life they’re living and this is what potential employers will think, as well. Even though you may not be connected on social media, your profile picture is very much visible and certain information about yourself could be posted publicly. To market yourself on social media to a professional standard, hide anything that may potentially harm your reputation—such as offensive public statuses or tweets—and make a future boss reconsider adding you to the team. Instead, consider publishing your academic and professional achievements. You can also use platforms like Twitter and Facebook to build a network of like-minded professionals by making groups or forums for topical discussions. This will help future employers see that you are serious and passionate about the industry you’re applying for.

Not every profile photo of yours needs to be of you wearing professional attire or a head shot you had snapped at Sears. Just try to keep it moderately conservative and classy. Don’t be too revealing in certain areas—if you catch my drift. Men: this goes for you, too. Keep status updates to a minimum so it doesn’t appear that you spend a majority of your day with your nose in your phone. Yes, we all have our opinions on politics, children and lifestyles; to a head hunter, however, an aggressive and assertive personality could spark controversy in an office setting—this is a big turn-off for someone in search of a solid candidate. So keep those blunt thoughts between you and friends, and off of your social media accounts.

I’m not saying do not be true to who you are—by all means, be yourself. Just remember though, you’re not the only person viewing your profile. Words mean something, an image represents something, and social media portrays you. Don’t be fake, just be smart. A positive mind is the beginning to a positive life. You know that Memories notification you get on Facebook every day that displays everything you posted on that very day over the past um-teen years? Wouldn’t you love to look back at it in a year and say, “Wow, I’ve come a long way since then.” Welcome to adulthood!

Further reading: Using LinkedIn