Teaching: What is Constant and What is not Consolidated in the Social Representation

This paper uses a dimensional and structural analysis of representations to discuss how teachers’ work is envisaged by a group of students of higher education who are studying to become teachers. Resulting from the research that was conducted there is a representation of teacher as a professional of education and knowledge and of teaching as a profession in which the instructional component is the permanent and core element whereas non-teaching activities are perceived as something which is not consolidated, except for the purpose of reinforcing the stable traits. The contents and the structure of such a representation question not only the role of training in terms of innovation but also the conditions under which changes are implemented.