This question's been on my mind for some time now and I hope someone can answer it.
Why do people refer to the teachers at hogwarts as professors? Is it common practice or is it just another oddity you can scratch up to them being magical?

 

I know thats the standard term in Ireland for any school teacher.

 

To the best of my knowledge, here in Britain a Professor is a person at a University who has in depth knowledge of their topic, senior lecturers are professors and so forth.

The way Hogwarts has always come across to me is that the teachers are usually Masters of their particular subject. Whether or not that sort of rank actually exists in the wizarding world, no idea. But, the fact remains that they know and understand their subject better than most people. They have mastered the ins and outs of it, like a Professor of any muggle subject at a University has.

A school teacher here is not called a Professor, but they don't usually have great depths of knowledge of a subject. More often than not their knowledge of practically restricted to the curiculum. I only know of one teacher who has a PhD, he's a chemistry teacher at a secondary school and he tutored me in chemistry last year. He has a PhD because he didn't become a teacher straight away, he worked for the Government and in Industry before becoming a teacher, so a PhD was very useful for him.

 

From Wikipedia

Source. Check out the rest of the article for more info.

Also, you misspelled British in the title- I think you can still fix it.

 

Don't know how to change the title I'm afraid but oh well, thanks for the help!