Becoming and Being a Teacher in Adverse Times: Iberian Perspectives

In this chapter I look at major trends in becoming and being a teacher in Portugal and Spain in adverse times. Even though I take into consideration existing international literature, I will focus on some of the key aspects that characterise the teaching profession and teacher education in Iberia by drawing upon empirical work carried out in both countries. The intention is not to do an exhaustive literature review nor to undertake a state of the art. Rather, my aim is to look at major trends characterising teaching and teachers' work as well as teacher education in terms of current challenges in order to identify possible directions. Contradictory trends may be identified in the ways in which teacher professionalism has been defined as well as in real conditions of teachers' work in schools and classrooms with implications for teacher education.