This work challenges, on one hand, cognitivist researches that show misconceptions and exaggerated exaltations of teachers' capacity for reflection and autonomy, and on the other, evolutionary studies on the teaching career that do not explain the "detours" found in the development of this professional teaching. The study aims to identify levels of acquisition of professional teaching in the fields of pedagogical practice, autonomy and professional identity, and to investigate teachers' forms of reacting to conflicts in everyday school life. Nineteen teachers from the 5th to 8th grades from a state school in Araraquara, São Paulo State, were interviewed using a set of stories that simulated problematic school situations. The analysis of testimonies allowed for the establishment of three hierarchical levels in the acquisition of professional teaching, each one being accompanied by a form of compensational reaction to the conflict. The study indicates that changes in teachers' professional practice depends on their awareness not just to change itself but also to central disturbing factors, not always noticed, that affect balance. Teachers can notice the conflict, without being sympathetic to changes, and they can become sympathetic to changes but do not know how to make them.
TEACHER EDUCATION; CONFLICT; EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE; TEACHER ATTITUDES