From “vocational identity” to “professional identity”: the constituition of a unified teaching staff

Abstract

This study analyses the transformation
from a “vocational identity” inherited
from the Normal Schools, to a “
professional identity” that is sought
both by educational administrators as
well as by the spheres that are
representative of educational
personnel. Our objective consists in
verifying if there was a break with or
continuity in the social identity of
teachers who work in Elementary
Education and to analyze the
implications in the unification and
professionalization of the teaching
staff. Given the assumption that there
is a contradictory dynamic in the
process of construction of teaching
staffs we also examine the influence
of social factors (sex, social-cultural
and social professional origin, age and
education) that tend to unite teachers
and contribute to the consolidation of
a homogeneous educational policy.