Education, profession and culture: Some conceptual questions

What is it to regard the occupation of teaching as a profession - as distin ct from a trade or vocations The conventional modern conception of a profes sion is that of a normative enterprise in which standards of good practice are not just technically or contractually but also morally grounded: indeed , arguably the key; difference bd;een trades like plumbing or building and professions like medicine or law is that although the former are doubtless often, subject to ethical regulation, ethical principals are actually const itutive of professions. rt is also plausible to regard universal profession al obligations as grounded in, rights indexed to considerations of human ne ed: insofar as humans cannot in general flourish without health, medical pr actitioners are bound to respond to any medical need without favour or prej udice. This paper argues, however, that powerful and persuasive contemporar y critiques of notions of objective or value-neutral development and flouri shing raise quite serious theoretical problems (expressed here as antinomie s) for any analogous view of teaching as a profession.