Is Teaching a Profession?

A profession renders a unique, definite, and essential service to society.  Only the people in the particular profession render the service; for instance, only lawyers practice law.  The service rendered must be considered so important that it is available to all the people in a society.

• YES

• NO

A profession relies on intellectual skills in the performance of its service.  This does not mean that physical actions and skills are not needed; rather, the emphasis in carrying on the work is on intellectual skills and techniques.

• YES

• NO

A profession entails a long period of specialized training.  Because professional work requires special intellectual skills, it requires specialized intellectual training.  General education such as that represented by a bachelor’s degree is valued but is not considered adequate.  The specialized training must cover a substantial period and not be obtained in cram courses or correspondence.

• YES

• NO

Both individual members of the profession and the professional group enjoy a considerable degree of autonomy and decision making authority.  Professional groups regulate either own activities rather than having outsiders set policies and enforce adherence to standards.  Whereas factory workers hae very limited decision-making power and are closely supervised in the performance of their work, professionals are expected to make the most of their own decisions and be free of close supervision by supervisors. 

• YES

• NO

A profession requires its members to accept personal responsibility for their actions and decisions and, in general, for their performance.  Because a professional’s service is usually related to the client’s human welfare, this responsibility is an especially serious one.

• YES

• NO

A profession emphasizes the services rendered by its practitioners more than their financial rewards.  Although the personal motives of any individual professional are not necessarily any higher than any other workers’, the professional group’s public emphasis is on service. 

• YES

• NO

A profession is self-governing and responsible for policing its own ranks.  As a consequence, professional groups perform a number of activities aimed at keeping the quality of their services high and looking out for the social and economic well-being of the professional members.  Also, these self-governing organizations set standards of admission and exclusion for the profession.

• YES

• NO

A profession has a code of ethics that sets out the acceptable standards of conduct for its members.

• YES

• NO