Professional Vs Subject Knowledge

It takes a special person to excel in both the professional knowledge and subject knowledge, but it is the teachers that do excel in both areas that we remember the most. I think being educated in both areas is crucial. However, the passion for teaching is what shows through no matter the subject matter.
In class, we used the example of life guarding and teaching swimming lessons. I was a lifeguard for six summers in my home town and can definitely relate to the debate that the subject knowledge is crucial before being able to teach it. You can not teach someone how to swim before knowing how to swim yourself. However, you can be the best swimmer in the region and not have the skills to teach someone else how to swim as well as you. Through our class debate, I really found myself concluding that you cannot have one without the other. The professional knowledge and passion for teaching definitely needs to be there, but I think the more confident you are and the more experienced you are in the subject knowledge the more this passion for learning and teaching will show through. As a teacher, professional knowledge for me is the most important. It is this desire for continual learning that is paramount for the success of educators in the school systems. Simply knowing a subject does not mean you will be able to transmit the material very well, especially in light of the diverse needs of students in today’s classrooms.