ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors discuss the attributes associated with professions and ask whether teaching, in its current form, possesses these attributes. They argue that a defined, collective, and agreed-upon knowledge base and associated expertise are crucial to teaching being valued as a true profession. Evaluative thinking across the professions involves the use and critique of data and evidence to make contextualized judgments of value, and the ability to investigate potential biases that may lead to false conclusions and to modify views accordingly. For the teaching profession, the role of 'diagnostician' involves the ascertaining, from a range of evidence, what the child is ready to learn next and how this learning may best be fostered. Teaching must recognize and celebrate the teaching knowledge base and use research and theory in similar ways to professions such as medicine, engineering, and law.
