During the period 1952-1999 four major proposals on teacher education was put forward by four different Swedish Government Official Reports. By the way the proposals deal with the different aspects that needs to be considered in relation to the intended reforms of teacher education they also engage in a construction process of the teacher. Within the 1952 proposal teachers are constructed as a professional group with strong common interests, a well-defined societal mission and a collectively owned repertoire of ways to deal with the challenges of the profession. Within the 1999 proposal teachers are constructed as individuals who have to manage their life as teachers almost entirely on their own and relying on their personal ability rather than on a collectively owned base of knowledge. In my paper will discuss the process of change in the construction of the teacher during the period 1952-1999 in relation to Stephen Toulmins analyses of the modern project in Cosmopolis (1990). I will also discuss alternative ways to construct the teacher in the perspective of Toulmins concept "the third modernity".