Formação de professores e desenvolvimento profissional

The aim of the article was to analyze and systematize, within a perspective of theorization based on research and theoretical developments, the difficulty related to teacher education (pre and in-service) concerning professional development. The analysis is conceptually structured based on the close relation of teacher education to (1) the construction and nature of knowledge of the professional educator and (2) the sociopractical nature of teaching as a complex social function to be performed by the professional teacher to be educated. The methodology developed in this analysis was based on information from the literature available in the field and from the long course of the author’s research, intervention, policy advice and publications in this field, as well as literature and research reviews conducted by the author. The main aspects of the analysis emphasize the following: ressignification of the dualism pre-service/in-service teacher education within the richer concept of professional development; the essential relation between teacher education debate and the analysis of the teaching activity regarding professionalism; and the clarification of the teachers’ profile as a professional and its implications for the rationale of teacher education. The final considerations, for the field of teacher education, focus on the need to reinforce the concepts of professional development and professionalism as potential transformers of teacher education effectiveness and quality