This study investigates teachers' professionalism and professional development practices which still have lower quality based on the law and do not produce an improved performance yet in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. This investigation focuses on teachers' behavior-attitude, pedagogic skills, and diversity learning activities through effective professional development as commitment to do continuous improvement. The supporting factors and the constraints of being professional teacher are also identified. The design of this study employs exploratory mixed method design with triangulation approach. Simple random sampling is occupied in choosing 331 samples out of 2367 population to answer the questionnaires. While twelve teachers were selected using purposive sampling for interview and observation. The t-test and Anova analysis show that gender has significant different in behavior-attitude practice, while education professional qualification is significant on both behavior-attitude and teachers' learning activities. The qualitative findings show the need to display exemplary behavior-attitude, strength teaching skill, knowledge and beliefs through diversity learning activities in effective professional development. Teacher professional development needs supporting on policy, moral, infrastructure, and financial that can lead teachers to be professional. This study has provided a model of teacher professional development as an input for improving the quality practice of teacher professionalism and professional development in Indonesia, particularly in South Sulawesi province.

AbstrakMengidentifikasi tantangan bagi guru dalam mengembangkan profesionalisme mereka dalam mengajar untuk meningkatkan hasil belajar siswa. Keterbatasan fasilitas pendukung dan minimnya peran serta masyarakat dalam mendukung program pemerintah mempengaruhi kinerja guru dalam mengajar. Fokusnya ditujukan pada pengembangan profesionalisme mengajar dalam meningkatkan pengetahuan dan keterampilan guru SMP di Makassar dalam menghadapi kendala yang muncul di kelas. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif melalui studi kasus untuk mengidentifikasi hambatan profesionalisme dalam mengajar. 36 sampel untuk kuesioner terbuka dan sembilan di antaranya dipilih secara purposive untuk diwawancarai. Data dianalisis dengan pengkodean berdasarkan tema yang terkait dengan kendala dalam pengelolaan pengajaran. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan empat kendala yang dialami oleh guru dalam mengembangkan profesionalisme mereka, yaitu kendala pada buku pelajaran dan lembar kerja siswa, penggunaan laboratorium sekolah, media berbasis TIK, dan siswa itu sendiri. Identifikasi ini dapat mendorong masyarakat dan orang tua untuk membiayai penyelenggaraan pendidikan dan pengembangan profesionalisme dalam mengajar serta meningkatkan kreatifitas guru untuk bekerja secara efektif. Kata kunci: Profesionalisme pengajaran, Tantangan guru, Dukungan masyarakat dan orang tua AbstractIdentifying challenges for teachers in developing their professionalism in teaching to improve students' learning outcomes. The limitation of facilities at school and the low participation of society in supporting the government programs influence teacher performance in teaching. The focus was addressed on the development of teaching professionalism in improving knowledge and skills of Junior High School teachers in Makassar based on the barriers in the class. This study employed qualitative methods through a case study to identify the barriers of professionalism in teaching. 36 samples for open-ended questionnaire and nine of them are selected purposively to be interviewed. The data was analyzed by coding based on themes related to constraints in teaching management. The results showed four obstacles experienced by teachers in developing their professionalism, namely constraints on textbooks and student worksheets, school laboratory usage, ICT-based media, and the students themselves. The identification could encourage the community and parents to finance the operational of education and the development of professionalism in teaching also to improve teacher creativity to work effectively.