Teaching as a profession

Is teaching a profession like medicine or law, or merely an occupation? A profession has specialised knowledge, long preparation, a code of ethics, autonomy of judgement and service to clients. Teaching meets most of these tests but is often called a semi-profession because teachers have less autonomy and lower status and pay than doctors or lawyers. Worked example: a doctor decides treatment within professional standards; a teacher similarly exercises professional judgement when adapting a lesson to a struggling class — that judgement, not just following a script, is what makes teaching professional work.