Abstract
The process of academizing the training for Physical Education (PE) teachers was completed with the French Act of July 16, 1984 on the organisation and promotion of sports and physical exercises, (Savary’s Act) which established the UFR STAPS. However, the first mixed competitive exam to qualify as a PE teacher was only set up a few years later, during the 1989 session. As we took into account these elements, we thought it would be interesting to question two samples of PE teachers. On the one hand, we examined PE teachers who were in CREPS, in IREPS or in UEREPS before 1975 and, on the other hand, we questioned those who benefited from a university degree, in STAPS followed by professional training in IUFM after 1989. In other words, we collected the testimonies of PE teachers who benefited from two very different trainings: before and after the creation of faculties dedicated to Sports and Exercise sciences in France. Moreover, as the old training system was sex based and as the new training scheme is mixed-sex, we felt that it was necessary to question a sample of professionals while considering the gender parity factor. Therefore, the professional identity construction, according to the view of Belkaïd (1999), is interesting to consider. Through the analysis of professional life stories, our approach is both qualitative and comparative, and, in addition to “reconstruct career paths, which led, at different times, individuals to take up PE teaching career” (Michon et Caritey, 1998), our aim is to reveal distinctive features of the professional identity of PE teachers at a specific period. Our goal is thus to ask the following question: is it the same job?