Abstract
This article examines the processes involved in the construction of the professional identity of teachers of physical education. It looks at the attitudes and perceptions of professional roles which enable P.E. teachers to establish and rationalize their professional choices.Special focus is given to the function of time in emphasizing the complex and changing nature of professional identity. It is seen that time can give a temporary cohesion to identity which P.E. teachers may then adjust whenever institutional, human or contextual changes occur in their careers.When such changes take place, teachers modify and reconstruct certain aspects of their identity to adapt and build a coherent environment which is defined by professional constraints, individual resources and personal values. Changing professional attitudes and conceptions lead teachers to adjust their initiatives and adopt new patterns of involvement.Five subjects were interviewed at a six-year interval. The results focus on one case study and show how over time, different aspects of interaction between the individual and his professional context can determine changes in identity. This would confirm both the stable and changing nature of professional identity.