Becoming professionals: Teacher education students linking industry and community

This paper seeks to evoke thinking about the notion of becoming a professional in modern times. Inasmuch as the authors are teacher educators, the paper is concerned with the education of teachers as professionals while possibly having something to say to the larger question of the education of professionals in general. Currently "professional development" is a buzz word in education and training circles with considerable resources being spent in its name. We are asking if it might be wise to pause and reflect on our understanding of what it means to be a professional today. The paper is written as a consequence of a study that sought to evaluate the home economics professional practicum unit within the BEd(Secondary) program at Deakin University (Rusden Campus), and it falls in three parts, the first two being largely drawn from the evaluation report. Part one relates to the significance of the unit. Part two speaks to what the evaluation brought to light. Part three points to some aspects of the dilemma for educators in educating for professional practice while exploring some possibilities in the links between education and business/industry.