It is no unknown fact that South African learners underachieve in mathematics. Due to the fact that the quality of mathematics teaching is one possible factor that has an influence on learners' mathematics achievement, there are valid reasons questioning the conceptual mathematical knowledge of mathematics teachers. In order to facilitate conceptual understanding teachers themselves must possess profound mathematical knowledge. Apart from the influence of a teacher's knowledge for teaching, teachers' attitudes and beliefs play a meaningful role in the way they teach mathematics. The deficient nature of prospective and practising teachers' knowledge of school mathematics, as well as their attitudes and beliefs towards mathematics has serious implications for the training of prospective mathematics teachers. Literature reveals that a technologically enhanced environment can improve the conceptual learning of prospective mathematics teachers. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of a dynamic technologically enhanced environment on the attitudes and beliefs, as well as the conceptualisation of prospective mathematics teachers regarding the function concept. In this study, prospective teachers were exposed to Geometer's Sketchpad®, a dynamic software programme providing a powerful learning context that promotes the investigation of algebraic relationships. In order to answer the research question, an explanatory mixed method design was used. In the quantitative part of the study, the Study Orientation Questionnaire in Mathematics and a function test were administered to prospective teachers. In the latter, conceptualisation of the function concept was measured in terms of four competence components, namely interpretation, modelling, translation and reification. In the qualitative part of the investigation semi-structured and task-based interviews were held with a group of prospective teachers. Analysis of the results revealed that the dynamic technologically enhanced environment did not contribute to an improvement of the prospective teachers' attitudes and beliefs. In fact, these decreased visibly. Regarding their conceptualisation, only the reification component showed a practically significant improvement. It therefore appears as if prospective teachers are not being prepared to benefit from the dynamic technologically enhanced environment. A model is proposed for the effective use of such a learning environment. The model involves that diagnostic assessment be made of prospective teachers' basic knowledge of the function concept, their study habits, their attitudes and beliefs with respect to mathematics, as well as their mathematics anxiety. The second component comprises recommendations made to prospective teachers as a result of the diagnostic assessment, as well as continuous support being offered as an integrated part of the mathematics module. Support is offered with respect to cognitive and meta-cognitive skills, affective factors and the creation of an advantageous technologically enhanced learning environment. Despite the restricted value of generalisation of the findings from this study, I still recommend the expansion, refining and implementation of the model so that prospective mathematics teachers can effectively benefit from a technologically enhanced environment. Key words for indexing: mathematics education, mathematics teacher education, teacher knowledge, prospective mathematics teachers, function concept, conceptual learning, tertiary education. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This thesis explores the knowledge needed for teaching statistics through investigations at the primary (elementary) school level. Statistics has a relatively short history in the primary school curriculum, compared with mathematics. Recent research in statistics education has prompted a worldwide move away from the teaching of statistical skills, towards a broader underpinning of statistical thinking and reasoning. New Zealand’s nationally mandated curriculum reflects this move. Consequently, little is known about the types of knowledge needed to teach statistics effectively. Ideas from two contemporary areas of research, namely teacher content knowledge in relation to mathematics, and statistical thinking, are incorporated into a new framework, for exploring knowledge for teaching statistics. The study’s methodological approach is based on Popper’s philosophy of realism, and the associated logic of learning approach for classroom research. Four primary teachers (in their second year of teaching) planned and taught a sequence of four or five lessons, which were videotaped. Following each lesson, a stimulated recall interview, using an edited video of the lesson, was conducted with the teacher. The video and interview recordings were analysed in relation to the teacher knowledge and statistical thinking framework. The results provide detailed descriptions of the components of teacher knowledge in relation to statistical thinking that are needed and used in the classroom. Included in the results are profiles of each teacher’s knowledge. These profiles describe ‘missed opportunities’, which were defined as classroom incidents in which teacher knowledge was needed but not used, and consequently resulted in the teachers not taking advantage of chances to enhance students’ learning. A number of significant themes were revealed, linked to knowledge for teaching statistics. The themes include: problems associated with teacher listening; the need for the teacher to be familiar with the data; students’ difficulties with various components of the statistical investigation cycle; and understanding variation and the development of inference. The study concludes that for effective teaching of statistics through investigations, it is necessary for teachers to have knowledge in each of four categories as related to each component of statistical thinking. If any aspect of knowledge is not available or not used, teachers will not enhance, and could disadvantage, students’ learning. Implications from the findings are considered for initial and on-going teacher education.

This thesis explores the knowledge needed for teaching statistics through investigations at the primary (elementary) school level. Statistics has a relatively short history in the primary school curriculum, compared with mathematics. Recent research in statistics education has prompted a worldwide move away from the teaching of statistical skills, towards a broader underpinning of statistical thinking and reasoning. New Zealand’s nationally mandated curriculum reflects this move. Consequently, little is known about the types of knowledge needed to teach statistics effectively. Ideas from two contemporary areas of research, namely teacher content knowledge in relation to mathematics, and statistical thinking, are incorporated into a new framework, for exploring knowledge for teaching statistics. The study’s methodological approach is based on Popper’s philosophy of realism, and the associated logic of learning approach for classroom research. Four primary teachers (in their second year of teaching) planned and taught a sequence of four or five lessons, which were videotaped. Following each lesson, a stimulated recall interview, using an edited video of the lesson, was conducted with the teacher. The video and interview recordings were analysed in relation to the teacher knowledge and statistical thinking framework. The results provide detailed descriptions of the components of teacher knowledge in relation to statistical thinking that are needed and used in the classroom. Included in the results are profiles of each teacher’s knowledge. These profiles describe ‘missed opportunities’, which were defined as classroom incidents in which teacher knowledge was needed but not used, and consequently resulted in the teachers not taking advantage of chances to enhance students’ learning. A number of significant themes were revealed, linked to knowledge for teaching statistics. The themes include: problems associated with teacher listening; the need for the teacher to be familiar with the data; students’ difficulties with various components of the statistical investigation cycle; and understanding variation and the development of inference. The study concludes that for effective teaching of statistics through investigations, it is necessary for teachers to have knowledge in each of four categories as related to each component of statistical thinking. If any aspect of knowledge is not available or not used, teachers will not enhance, and could disadvantage, students’ learning. Implications from the findings are considered for initial and on-going teacher education.

Mathematical knowledge is often a prerequisite for students at Swedish upper secondary vocational programs to be able to study vocational courses, for example electricity courses in the Electricity Program. Electricity Program students study mathematics in their electricity courses as well as in their mathematics course. The mathematics in those two settings has a different character. A goal of this thesis is to investigate what constitutes that character. In this study three mathematics and five electricity teachers have been interviewed about how they would explain three mathematical electricity tasks to students on the Electricity Program. Teacher knowledge in both electricity and mathematics has been used in the analyses and has been compared between the different teacher groups. In addition to providing an overview analysis of all the teachers’ explanations, detailed analyses have been carried out, comparing pairs of teachers’ explanations. The teachers’ choices of explanations and their use of specific and general mathematical knowledge have been studied. Mathematics contains a wide range of subject areas but also a wide range of representations and methods that highlight different aspects of mathematics. This study shows that different teachers emphasize different aspects of mathematics in their explanations of the same tasks, even though intended to the same students, both in the their choices of explanation and in their use of mathematics. The electricity teachers drew upon their practical electrical knowledge when they connected their explanations of mathematics to vocational work. The electrical knowledge they used not only grounded the tasks in a, for them, well-known real-world environment. The electrical knowledge actually helped them to solve the tasks, albeit in a more concrete/specific way than the mathematics teachers. The electricity teachers drew upon more specific mathematical knowledge in their explanations of the interview tasks, whereas the mathematics teachers drew upon more general mathematical knowledge in their explanations.  The different explanations of mathematics from the two kinds of teachers are markedly different, depending on whether they have a more practical/vocational or a more general/algebraic approach. The solutions to the interview tasks turned out to be the same but the character of the solutions paths are substantially different. This raises questions regarding the students’ abilities to reconcile the different approaches. / Kunskap i matematik är ofta en förutsättning för att studenter på gymnasiets yrkesprogram ska klara av sina yrkeskurser, till exempel i ellärakurser på elprogrammet. Studenterna på elprogrammet möter matematik i både sina ellärakurser och i sin matematikkurs. Matematiken i de här två sammanhangen har olika karaktär. Ett mål med den här licentiatavhandlingen är att undersöka hur dessa karaktärer ser ut. I denna studie har tre matematik- och fem el-lärare intervjuats om hur de skulle förklara tre matematiska eluppgifter för studenter på elprogrammet. Lärarkunskaper i både matematik och ellära har använts i analyserna och jämförts mellan de båda lärargrupperna. Utöver översiktliga analyser av alla lärarnas förklaringar av varje uppgift, har dessutom detaljanalyser gjorts, med jämförelser av par av lärares förklaringar av matematik. Lärarnas val av förklaringar och användande av specifik och generell kunskap i matematik har studerats. Matematik innehåller ett flertal delområden och dessutom ett flertal representationer och metoder som belyser olika aspekter av matematiken. Denna studie visar att olika lärare betonar olika aspekter av matematik i sina förklaringar av samma slags uppgifter, trots att de är ämnade för samma slags elever. Lärarnas val av förklaringar och lärarnas användande av matematik visade sig vara olika. Ellärarna använde sig av praktisk elkunskap när de kopplade sina förklaringar av matematik till yrkeskunskaper inom elområdet. Den elkunskap de använde inte bara situerade uppgiften i för dem, en välkänd, verklig miljö. Dessutom hjälpte elkunskapen dem att lösa uppgifterna, om än på ett mer konkret/specifik sätt än matematiklärarna. Ellärarna använde mera specifika matematik-kunskaper i sina förklaringar av dessa intervjuuppgifter, medan matematiklärarna använde sig av generella matematikkunskaper i sina förklaringar av generell matematik. Matematiken i de två olika lärargruppernas förklaringar visade sig vara markant olika, beroende på om de har en mer praktisk/yrkesmässig eller en mer generell/algebraisk ansats. Lösningarna av intervjuuppgifterna var desamma, men karaktären av lösningarnas var markant olika. Detta leder till frågor om det är rimligt att förvänta sig att studenter ska förstå likheten i de olika ansatserna. / <p>This licentiate thesis is included in the serie: Studies in Science and Technology Education (FontD<em>) </em>The Swedish National Graduate School in Science and Technology Education, FontD, http://www.isv.liu.se/fontd, is hosted by the Department of Social and Welfare Studies and the Faculty of Educational Sciences (OSU) at Linköping University in collaboration with the Universities of Umeå, Stockholm, Karlstad, Mälardalen, Linköping (host), the Linneus University, and the University of Colleges of Malmö and Kristianstad. In addition, there are three associated Universities and University Colleges in the FontD network: the University Colleges of Halmstad and Gävle and the Mid Sweden University. FontD publishes the series Studies in Science and Technology Education.</p>

This thesis is concerned with the knowledge and skill requirements to teach technology education. Technology education has an important part to play in the UK economy. There is great demand to produce a technologically skilled workforce and secondary school technology education is a key element in the supply of skilled engineering technicians and graduates. Whilst there have been improvements in the number of pupils choosing to study mathematics and science there has been a decline in those studying technology. The work in this thesis has focused on the subject of Design and Technology as it provides pupils with the majority of their compulsory technology education in England. This thesis is comprised of four studies, adopting a mixed-methods approach. The first study characterised the background knowledge of Design and Technology teachers through a demographic analysis. In the second study observations were made on the adoption and teaching of a novel technology resource by trainee teachers. The third study analysed the opinions of teachers who attended a subject knowledge enhancement professional development course. In the fourth study the results of the previous studies were explored in further detail to triangulate findings and to test assumptions. In the first study the admissions data of 341 trainee Design and Technology teachers over the academic years 2000-2001 and 2013-2014 inclusive was analysed. The key finding of this analysis was that 81% of Design and Technology teachers have their entry qualification in creative arts and design and not in a technology subject. This misalignment of subject knowledge was discussed to be a result of the existing training standards and hypothesised to be contributory to the lack of technology teaching, and over emphasis of design in Design and Technology. The second study used observational methods to record how three trainee teachers adopted and taught lessons using a novel technology resource created for the study. The resource was designed to teach laser cutting and the design of mechanical systems. Subsequent analysis revealed the difficulties participants had in understanding and teaching the technology aspects of the projects. The existing practice, and collective knowledge of teachers within the schools used in the study were found to create obstacles for the trainees in trying to implement technological content. The third study developed a new professional development course for teachers to address the issues observed in the second study. The quantitative and qualitative data was obtained from 20 participant design and technology teachers before, during and after the course. Participants reported to be confidence in teaching technology, yet were unable to demonstrate a deep understanding of the subject content. Participants engaged with the procedural knowledge aspects of the course but not with the conceptual knowledge. They considered many aspects of technological and engineering content to be irrelevant to pupils. The fourth, and final, study developed questionnaires to assess teacher and pupil reactions to the provision of 57 different technology projects resources and training sessions to 82 schools across London. Useable data were generated from 33 teachers and 458 pupils. Measurements of teachers confidence in teaching the new Technology National Curriculum revealed that teachers strengths were the making of products. The weaknesses were teaching modern mechanical and electrical systems. Pupils motivation towards technology revealed positive attitudes, but they were unaffected by resources teachers considered to be novel. This study was used to triangulate the findings of the previous study and validate the claims made. The major contribution to knowledge of this thesis is the quantified description and analysis of teachers technology knowledge. The interrelationships of the distinct teacher knowledge domains were analysed to discover how they affect technology education. The main conclusion of this study is that teachers have difficulties in developing and teaching technology based schemes of work to meet the National Curriculum requirements. However, teachers appear unaware of this situation and consider themselves confident in teaching the technology curriculum topics. These difficulties have been caused by teachers lack of compatible background subject knowledge, and were evident in the teaching of projects without secure technology content. This thesis recommends that a significant intervention is required to provide support to Design and Technology teachers to develop their knowledge and skills in teaching technology.

Communicative approaches, such as communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based language teaching (TBLT), have been promoted in second language education around the world for over four decades. This continued mainstream status may be due to their convincing theoretical bases in principles of second language acquisition, which are believed to be beneficial to language learners. However, they are not widely accepted by teachers in many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts. A number of studies in a variety of contexts have aimed to identify factors which impede their implementation, but few of these have further built on the implications of these investigations. The current investigation, instead, studied classroom practice in a Taiwanese EFL secondary school, in order to identify and solve any problems arising. Based on the assumption that teacher learning is a complex process, it was necessary to set up a teacher development programme (TD) and use action research to explore how it could help teachers develop their practitioner knowledge of communicative approaches. Drawing on the data from questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations, the main finding was that the teachers’ limited understanding of these approaches seemed to be a more dominant factor than the teachers’ beliefs. This resulted in perceptions of learners, syllabus/textbooks and time becoming barriers to the implementation of the approaches, as often pointed out in past studies. This study also found effective ways to encourage teachers to learn to implement this new pedagogy. First, supplying examples of a theory’s practical application equipped practitioners to develop practical knowledge of that theory. Second, collaborative learning between the teachers, as well as the assistance of an expert, helped make the teacher education programme work. This led to the conclusion that communicative approaches motivated teachers in their professional practice. The findings of this research could shed light on these aspects of L2 teaching in a variety of other similar contexts and could be useful for educational policymakers, practitioners, and teacher educators in implementing innovative approaches.

Esta dissertação traz uma pesquisa cujo foco é o docente de formação técnica que atua ou atuou nos cursos oferecidos no âmbito do PROEJA – Programa Nacional de Integração da Educação Profissional com a Educação Básica na Modalidade de Educação de Jovens e Adultos instituído pelo Decreto n° 5.840, de 13 de julho de 2006. O objetivo da pesquisa é investigar a forma como o professor de formação técnica se faz docente em sua atuação nos cursos oferecidos no âmbito do PROEJA em dois campi do IFSUL – Instituto Federal Sul-rio-grandense: Campus Sapucaia do Sul e Campus Charqueadas. Como objetivos específicos pretende: conhecer as trajetórias profissionais e formativas destes docentes; identificar os saberes mobilizados na prática docente, considerando como e onde o professor os tem construído; identificar o espaço da formação continuada nas suas trajetórias; e analisar se há e quais são as características específicas da atuação nos cursos do PROEJA em relação a outros em que atua. De abordagem qualitativa, utiliza a metodologia do estudo de caso. Os dados foram produzidos através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com seis docentes que não cursaram licenciatura ou cursos de pós-graduação em Educação e analisadas a partir do método da análise de conteúdo. Entre os achados destaca-se a especificidade da atuação docente no PROEJA, a importância de formações continuadas baseadas na experiência e contexto real de trabalho dos professores, o status da docência na rede federal de educação profissional e tecnológica e a aprendizagem da profissão através do aperfeiçoamento, na prática diária da sala de aula, dos saberes trazidos das experiências discentes. O trabalho apóia-se nos referenciais teóricos dos campos de estudo do trabalho-educação, PROEJA e do trabalho docente e busca contribuir com a discussão sobre a formação de professores para a educação profissional e tecnológica e a profissionalização docente. / This research focuses on the technical training teacher who either teaches or has taught in the courses offered under PROEJA - National Program of Integration between Vocational Education and Basic Education for Youth and Adults established by Decree No. 5840 of July 13, 2006. The objective of this research is to investigate how the technical training teacher who does not hold a degree in education performs as a teacher in the PROEJA courses offered in two campuses of PROEJA IFSUL - Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Sul: Sapucaia do Sul Campus and Charqueadas Campus. Having these as specific objectives, this research intends to : learn about career paths and training of these teachers; identify the knowledge mobilized in the teaching practice, considering how and where the teacher has acquired them; identify the space of continuous teacher training in his/her teaching career; and to analyze whether there are and what are the specific characteristics of his/her practice in the PROEJA courses in relation to other courses in which he/she teaches. This study makes use of the qualitative approach, using the case study methodology. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with six teachers who had not received a degree in education or made graduate studies in education and were analyzed by the content analysis method. What should be highlighted among the findings is the specificity of the teacher performance in PROEJA, the importance of a continuing education program based on experience and teacher real working environment , the prestige of teaching in the federal network of professional and technological education schools and the learning about the teaching profession through daily practice in the classroom and through knowledge acquired by the experience brought by students. The study is based on the theoretical fields of study of work and education, PROEJA and the teaching practice and seeks to contribute to the discussion on teacher training for vocational and technological education and to the professional practice of teachers.

Orientador: Roberto Nardi / Banca: Odete Pacubi Baierl Teixeira / Banca: Silvania Sousa do Nascimento / Banca: Isabel Martins / Banca: Sandra Regina Teodoro Gatti / Resumo: Compreender o papel da linguagem na Educação em Ciências tem sido o objeto de investigação de estudos para diversos pesquisadores nos últimos tempos. Além disso, verifica-se, também uma mudança na maneira de compreender o papel da linguagem na educação científica. Ou seja, tem havido um crescente interesse sobre a natureza das interações entre professores e alunos visando à construção de conhecimentos científicos, e sobre o papel das diferentes linguagens e discursos que circulam no contexto interativo discursivo da sala de aula. Diante disso, nos concentramos neste estudo a investigar o processo de mobilização de saberes docentes em cotextos interativos discursivos de ensino de Física envolvendo analogias e seu potencial como recurso didático. Além disso, por estar inserido na área de formação de professores, este estudo também tem por objetivo gerar reflexões acerca do potencial das analogias como recurso didático, possível de subsidiar o desenvolvimento de ações no campo da formação inicial de professores, investigar habilidades que os futuros professores possuem (ou deveriam possuir) visando a produção e o desenvolvimento de atividades de ensino que comportem a analogia como um recurso didático / Abstract: Understanding the role of language in Science teaching has been the object of research studies for many researchers in recent times. Moreover, there is also a change in the way of understanding the role of language in science education. In other words, there has been a growing interest in the nature of interactions between teachers and pupils to the construction of scientifc knowledge and the role of different languages and discourses that circulate in the discursive context of the interactive classroom. Given this, we focus in this study to investigate the mobilization of teachers knowledge in interactive contexts discursive teaching physics involving analogies. On addition, by being inserted in the area of teacher training, this study also aims to generate ideas about the potential of analogies as a teaching tool possible to subsidize the development of actions in the field of initial teacher training, research skills that future teachers have (or should have) aiming at the production and development of educational activities involving the analogy as a teaching resource / Doutor

Esta dissertação traz uma pesquisa cujo foco é o docente de formação técnica que atua ou atuou nos cursos oferecidos no âmbito do PROEJA – Programa Nacional de Integração da Educação Profissional com a Educação Básica na Modalidade de Educação de Jovens e Adultos instituído pelo Decreto n° 5.840, de 13 de julho de 2006. O objetivo da pesquisa é investigar a forma como o professor de formação técnica se faz docente em sua atuação nos cursos oferecidos no âmbito do PROEJA em dois campi do IFSUL – Instituto Federal Sul-rio-grandense: Campus Sapucaia do Sul e Campus Charqueadas. Como objetivos específicos pretende: conhecer as trajetórias profissionais e formativas destes docentes; identificar os saberes mobilizados na prática docente, considerando como e onde o professor os tem construído; identificar o espaço da formação continuada nas suas trajetórias; e analisar se há e quais são as características específicas da atuação nos cursos do PROEJA em relação a outros em que atua. De abordagem qualitativa, utiliza a metodologia do estudo de caso. Os dados foram produzidos através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com seis docentes que não cursaram licenciatura ou cursos de pós-graduação em Educação e analisadas a partir do método da análise de conteúdo. Entre os achados destaca-se a especificidade da atuação docente no PROEJA, a importância de formações continuadas baseadas na experiência e contexto real de trabalho dos professores, o status da docência na rede federal de educação profissional e tecnológica e a aprendizagem da profissão através do aperfeiçoamento, na prática diária da sala de aula, dos saberes trazidos das experiências discentes. O trabalho apóia-se nos referenciais teóricos dos campos de estudo do trabalho-educação, PROEJA e do trabalho docente e busca contribuir com a discussão sobre a formação de professores para a educação profissional e tecnológica e a profissionalização docente. / This research focuses on the technical training teacher who either teaches or has taught in the courses offered under PROEJA - National Program of Integration between Vocational Education and Basic Education for Youth and Adults established by Decree No. 5840 of July 13, 2006. The objective of this research is to investigate how the technical training teacher who does not hold a degree in education performs as a teacher in the PROEJA courses offered in two campuses of PROEJA IFSUL - Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Sul: Sapucaia do Sul Campus and Charqueadas Campus. Having these as specific objectives, this research intends to : learn about career paths and training of these teachers; identify the knowledge mobilized in the teaching practice, considering how and where the teacher has acquired them; identify the space of continuous teacher training in his/her teaching career; and to analyze whether there are and what are the specific characteristics of his/her practice in the PROEJA courses in relation to other courses in which he/she teaches. This study makes use of the qualitative approach, using the case study methodology. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with six teachers who had not received a degree in education or made graduate studies in education and were analyzed by the content analysis method. What should be highlighted among the findings is the specificity of the teacher performance in PROEJA, the importance of a continuing education program based on experience and teacher real working environment , the prestige of teaching in the federal network of professional and technological education schools and the learning about the teaching profession through daily practice in the classroom and through knowledge acquired by the experience brought by students. The study is based on the theoretical fields of study of work and education, PROEJA and the teaching practice and seeks to contribute to the discussion on teacher training for vocational and technological education and to the professional practice of teachers.

Este estudo propôs-se a entender alguns traços relacionados à formação da identidade de professores de Ciências e Biologia e, com isso, contribuir com as pesquisas sobre identidade docente. Nossa hipótese inicial era de que esses desenvolveriam características provenientes de dois estatutos epistemológicos diferenciados: o que compreende as Ciências Biológicas e o que compreende as Ciências Humanas e as Ciências Educacionais. Ao lançar mão de características provenientes destes dois modos de construção de conhecimento, estes professores teriam um diferencial identitário importante. As construções teóricas utilizadas na argumentação e na análise dos dados foram elaboradas à luz de referenciais teóricos de perspectiva sociológica e epistemológica. A perspectiva sociológica diz respeito ao entendimento que temos sobre a formação de identidades profissionais, no que se refere às relações sociais estabelecidas na dinâmica escolar, e, também, aos saberes da profissão docente. A perspectiva epistemológica foi utilizada para compreendermos como as Ciências Biológicas entendem seu objeto de pesquisa e como constroem conhecimentos a partir deste entendimento. Dessa forma, articulamos três construções teóricas: o conceito sociológico de identidade, proposto por Claude Dubar (2005); os saberes docentes, formulados por Maurice Tardif (2007); e a teoria epistemológica e noção de perfil epistemológico de Gaston Bachelard (1979a, 1979b, 1996). A investigação foi desenvolvida com base numa abordagem qualitativa, por meio de questionário e, em função do número amostral, revelou-se um estudo de caso. Participaram do estudo professores de Ciências e Biologia, atuantes na rede pública estadual de ensino de Porto Alegre, formados na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, nos últimos dez anos. Nossos dados apontam que a identidade docente destes professores está relacionada ao perfil empírico-positivista. No entanto, características do mesmo perfil podem ser percebidas em docentes graduados em outras áreas disciplinares, que se referem a outros modos de produção de conhecimento e, portanto, outro estatuto epistemológico. Também podemos inferir que a conformação do Curso de Licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul prepara o estudante para atuar tanto como pesquisador como professor. Assim, a identificação profissional constitui-se em relação à profissão que mais apresenta status diante do olhar do outro: a de pesquisador. / This study aimed to understand some peculiarities according to the identity formation of science and biology teachers, and intend to contribute with the research on teacher identity. Our hypothesis was that these traits develop from two different epistemological status, which includes, by one side, the Biological Sciences and, by the other side, which embraces the Humanities and Educational Sciences. By resorting to features from these two ways of constructing knowledge, these teachers have an important differential identity. The theoretical constructs used our study as argument and data analysis were prepared in the light of theoretical and epistemological sociological perspective. The sociological perspective deals with the understanding that we have on the formation of professional identities related to social relations in school routine, and also to the knowledge of the teaching profession. The epistemological perspective was used to understand how the biological sciences view their research object and how they build knowledge. Thus, we articulated three theoretical constructs: the sociological concept of identity proposed by Claude Dubar (2005), the teacher knowledge, formulated by Maurice Tardif (2007), and the notion of epistemological theory and epistemological profile of Gaston Bachelard (1979a, 1979b, 1996). The research was based on a qualitative approach, then according to sample size, proved to be a case study. The sample was composed by science and biology teachers who work in public schools in Porto Alegre, and graduated at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in the last ten years. Our data indicate that the teacher identity of the participants is related with the positivist-empirical profile. However, features of the profile can also be perceived in teaching graduates in other disciplines, which refer to other modes of knowledge production and, therefore, another epistemological status. We can also infer that the conformation of the Degree in Biological Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul prepares students to act both as a researcher and teacher. Thus, the identification work ends up happening with the profession that has more status in the eyes of the other: as a researcher.