Chapter 10 brings a contemporary perspective to the issues raised in Chapter 3 on schooling as a public institution. Chapter 10 explores the meaning of the "professionalization" movement to improve schools by improving teachers and teacher preparation. A key consideration in this discussion is whether teaching is a profession. This chapter points out that unlike other occupations called professions, teaching serves the entire childhood and youth population and is both publicly funded and publicly controlled. In addition, most of its practitioners are women, who have historically earned less and have had less professional autonomy than men. Despite teaching's comparatively lower status among professions, this chapter maintains that teaching is clearly a profession nonetheless, with its own characteristics and ethical mission. Moreover, despite social forces that might work in favor of the success of some students and against the success of others, teachers are challenged to identify the sources of authority from which they can operate effectively in their own classrooms. The Primary Source Reading shares one teacher's experience in negotiating the limits of professional autonomy.