Trajectories in Professional Development of Teachers in Higher Education: Conditioning Factors

Abstract

Being part of a wider inquiry, aimed to contribute to the understanding of the professional development of higher education teachers, focusing specially on those who work in teacher training at the polytechnic higher education subsystem, the current text gives account of the results obtained in the qualitative phase of the study. This phase intended to analyze the representations of the university teachers, by conducting semi‑directive in‑depth interviews. Based on the results of the subjects' speech content analysis, it was possible to identify endogenous and exogenous factors, which influenced, favorably or unfavorably, the processes of learning and professional development at some point in their professional careers. If the endogenous factors are preferably referred to as potentiating factors of the professional development, exogenous factors stand out as inhibitory factors. It is worth noting that teacher training is also recognized by respondents as a booster mechanism of teacher’s professional development.