A total of 259 educators participated in a survey to assess whether substitute teachers in Southern Alberta enjoy the same professional regard and the same wages, benefits, and professional development opportunites as regular classroom teachers. The finding indicated that: substitute teachers are professional in that they are certificated teachers with Education Degrees; substitute teachers are not in accordance with other educators in their assessmentd of the reality of equal professional status of substitute teachers in matters of professional regard; principals and teachers do not agree that substitute teachers should be given equal wages, benefits, and paid professional development opportunities; the defintion of equal professional status as it pertains to substitute teachers needs to be redefined; and substitute teacher must understand their professional responsibilites so they can take control of their own professionalism. Within the framework of the sociology of professionalism the results of the study help to explain why stubstitute teachers should be taking control of the work they do in order to define their professional role. Workshops for educators on substitue issues and concerns will help alleviate the contradiction of the concept of the professional status of substitute teachers. Substitute teacher involvement in their professional associations may ease the conflict between substitutes and other educators in matters of professionalism and economic parity. A follow-up study on student perception of substitute authority in the classroom is needed. / ix, 231 leaves ; 28 cm.