The teaching profession faces challenges in adapting to the knowledge society. Information is abundant but hierarchical, while attention is scarce. Teachers were suited to the Gutenberg era but not the Internet era. There is a risk that professionalization becomes a strategy for the teaching profession to be out of reach of democratic oversight or the public. An alternative is creating a new democratic professional model different from bureaucratic origins and liberal temptations. The interests of the teaching profession do not always align with those of the education institution or society.