Social visions on the teaching profession

Abstract

From the second half of the twentieth century on, studies related to the teaching profession have been produced in many countries, including Brazil. The numerous studies varied in terms of focus and approach. They have become more holistic, more integrated, providing an important advance in the understanding of the subject. In the same period, studies concerning “gender” also increased by the feminist movement. Finally, it has also been followed by a flourishing debate in the field of social sciences about the concept of “social class”, often seen as totalizing, unable to cope with the multifaceted social reality. It has been proposed, for example, the use of the concept of “popular classes”, more flexible and appropriate to reveal the dynamics of social relations. At the intersection of these three movements, not only simultaneous but linked, new social visions on the teaching profession are being elaborated, sometimes in a contradictory way. Understanding them is the main purpose of this article. With help from the relevant literature about the subject, reports were analyzed on the lives of six teachers at the beginning of their careers, who work in the school system from a mid-size city in the state of São Paulo.