Jane Glaser wrote >First, the term indoctrination is an unfortunate one to use for >any profession. A sense of professionalism with fine basic >skills and academic background is hardly indoctrination. It may be unfortunate but it may also be accurate. It becomes indoctrination when the sense of professionalism must be instilled into people in a fomal classroom setting and not through succusful participation in that profession. Too often at professional conferences and at the few "Museum" classes I have attended and other discussions of professionals, participants and teachers seem to think that professionalism is something that can be artificially imposed if we only talk about the subject enough. I find that classes like this are indeed more indoctrination than education. This may sound flippant but it has always been a litmus test for me that the more time members of a field spend trying to convince themselves and others that they are a profession, the less likely they are to actually be one. If we want to instill a sense professionalism in students lets behave like professionals and demand them to do the same. Professionalism should be learned but not necessarily taught. I think that the field of museum work is less a professions than it is a series of professions united for a common goal. MATThew A. White Director of Education Baltimore Museum of Industry 1415 Key Highway Baltimore, MD 21230 (410)727-4808 FAX(410)727-4869 e-mail [log in to unmask]