Chapter 8: The Identity of University Teachers: New Positions for New Challenges

The university of the 21st century is undergoing a radical and accelerated transformation. Factors such as the continuous increase in students with very different profiles, global competition between universities, the impact of ICT or the emergence of new pedagogical paradigms, such as teaching by competencies, or formative assessment, require new abilities of the university teacher, traditionally based on their academic status, not very permeable and flexible. This chapter identifies and analyzes, from the perspective of the Dialogical Self Theory, the professional positions most commonly held by university teachers and advocates the re-construction of their professional identity, in order to be more adjusted to current challenges, offering some advice and guides for their training.