If teachers are to reclaim any sort of agenda--let alone a radical one--they need to be taken seriously as professionals. Why aren't they? Derek Gillard surveys the history of teaching in England and argues that teacher professionalism was a short-lived phenomenon which has been in decline for thirty years. Far from rescuing it from the Tories, New Labour has extended the process of de-professionalisation. With a third of the teachers recently saying they are considering leaving the profession within the next five years because of workload, initiative overload and the target-driven culture the issues Derek Gillard identifies as key to the process of professional renewal take on a particular significance.