The Professional Development unit (Professional Advancement and Teacher Welfare Committee) consists of nine (9) persons with powers to co-opt. It deals with all matters pertaining to the welfare of teachers and the advancement of professional practice and sponsors activities such as courses, workshops and seminars.

As a certified teacher, you assume a professional status which carries with it a set of behavioural expectations, which are outlined by the Jamaica Teachers' Association in its Code of Ethics. This code is provided as a guide to teachers in maintaining at all times the high traditions of the profession.

Benefits of a Professional Association

• Sometimes membership in an appropriate professional body is one of the many prerequisites for a job
• Proven channel to get help with personal and professional problems
• Provides networking (sounding board for and from peers) and grapevine resources
• Helps you to grow your social circle
• A professional association usually lends credibility to the professional
• Creates standards that members should abide by, and ensures that due recognition is brought to the field
• Members often benefit from its effectiveness as a career development tool

Maximizing your Professional Association Membership

• Maintaining contact with peers
• Know key players in the Association
• Join Committees
• Read and apply information gleaned from association literature
• Have a strategy for mingling at events; if you are shy and need moral support to socialize, carry a colleague with you