Transformation in teachers’ professionalism: models and problems

Abstract

By addressing some historical models that marked various transformative phases of teacher professionalism, this paper discusses their postulates and compare them with the new—and often contradictory—identity needs of teachers operating in a context characterized by continuous shifts.
Placing itself within the contemporary educational discourse, this work recovers the concept of educational model, meant as a project that is not any more considered as a set of directions for goal-oriented action, but rather as a working hypothesis—i.e. a logical-conceptual statement of purpose.
Then, it deals with the crisis of the role of teachers and its causes. Finally, it focusses on the issues faced by teachers when they engage in the natural and cultural roles of mediators.