TEACHER IDENTITY UNDER CONSTRUCTION: BEING A TEACHER IN TIMES OF EDUCATIONAL INSTABILITY

Abstract

Teacher identity is a dynamic, historical, and social process, constantly influenced by institutional, political, cultural, and subjective factors. In contemporary contexts marked by educational instability—expressed by frequent curricular reforms, precarious teaching work, professional devaluation, the advancement of digital technologies, and the intensification of socio-emotional demands—being a teacher transcends the technical mastery of teaching and requires constant identity reconstruction. This work aims to analyze the construction of teacher identity in times of educational instability, problematizing the challenges faced by teachers and the strategies of resistance, adaptation, and re-signification of pedagogical practice. It is based on theoretical contributions that understand teaching as a social, political, and reflective practice, highlighting initial and continuing education as privileged spaces for identity formation. It argues that teacher identity is not a fixed or individual attribute, but a collective and processual construction, strongly influenced by working conditions, educational public policies, and the relationships established in daily school life. It is concluded that, in the face of educational instability, it becomes essential to strengthen spaces for critical reflection, professional development, and pedagogical autonomy, in order to enable teachers to recognize themselves as active subjects, capable of intervening, resisting, and transforming the educational reality in which they are embedded.