Resumen:
This work aims to study and reflect on teaching identity. The theme is very broad and
very important, since the discussion does not usually form part of the routine of
schools. The research seeks to delineate what leads a person to choose teaching as
a profession, to remain there for a long period of their life and to demonstrate through
the brightness of their eyes, their wish to pursue further reflection on the identity and
the knowledge needed for teaching practice. The central focus is the extent of
personal choice and the staying on in teaching. It examines, through the data
collected from teachers involved in the research, what motivates them, what
encourages the teacher to perform his/her activity, the significance and the meaning
of being teachers. The research counts on the participation of educators from the
municipal teaching network of Estância Velha, and highlights that there is no way to
separate the life story from its representations and knowledge, and in which ways
these issues reflect upon attitudes in everyday school life in different relations. The
analysis of the problem is deepened through readings that regard the issue of
choosing the teaching career, as the way the professional builds up his/her teaching
identity. It attempts to assume and interpret the contribution of the texts by Miguel
Arroyo, Antonio Nóvoa, Selma Garrido Pimenta, Maurice Tardif, José Carlos Libâneo
among others. Although the reflection on the issue will not be completed in this
dissertation, the objective is to understand the relationship of the professional in the
education field with their teaching activity, so that this work might be used in studies
and discussions that aim the improvement in education.
