Interest in the study of teachers' professional development has increased in recent decades, reflecting recognition of the need to delve deeper into what counts as professional development in order to inform policies, leadership and professional learning processes. Emphasising the importance of teachers' views in identifying what counts as professional development, Linda Evans states that "it is one thing to identify the characteristics of teachers who may be categorised as being at any one of several points of professional growth; it is quite another thing to identify what creates those characteristics and how they may be effected” (2002: 133). Professional development may occur through formal or informal initiatives, and is multi-dimensional, involving behavioural, attitudinal and intellectual components (Evans, 2014) and yet government reforms tend to privilege behavioural development (Evans, 2011). Concerned with "micro-level professional development" (Evans, 2014: 192), Evans argues that strengthening teachers' professionalism - which, like professional development, is multidimensional - is the purpose of professional development. Reporting some of the emerging findings of a funded project, carried out 2022-24, this ECER paper will analyse what counted as professional development for Portuguese teachers who developed their professional careers over the last 40-50 years and are now approaching retirement. This is a very relevant population for the objectives of the study, because the 1974 democratic revolution was followed by years of great development of the Portuguese education system and much investment in teachers’ professional development. The study focuses on teachers known for being "committed", i.e. with strong involvement in the profession. Data were collected through semi-directive interviews aimed at producing narratives of the interviewed teachers’ professional lives. The overarching aim is to trace the development of the teaching profession in Portugal over the years, from teachers' perspectives, and illustrated through teachers' lives. This paper will present analysis of 25 life histories, namely of: 7 preschool teachers; 7 primary teachers; 5 middle school teachers and 5 secondary teachers. Two types of analysis were conducted: paradigmatic and narrative (Polkinghorne, 1995). In the first case contextual and personal factors underlying the moments of change narrated are identified; in the second, an "exemplar" narrative is elaborated, in the sense that a new story is created seeking to model the type of professional development pathway in one of the teaching stages considered. The results will be interpreted in the light of Evans's conceptual models of the multidimensionality of professionalism and of professional development.

Evans, L. (2002) What is teacher development? Oxford Review of Education, 28(1), 123-137. Evans, L. (2008). Professionalism, professionality and the development of education professionals. British Journal of Educational Studies, 56 (1), 20-38. Evans, L. (2011) The ‘shape’ of teacher professionalism in England: professional standards, performance management, professional development, and the changes proposed in the 2010 White Paper, British Educational Research Journal, 37(5), 851-870. Evans, L. (2014). Leadership for professional development and learning: enhancing our understanding of how teachers develop. Cambridge Journal of Education, 44(2), 179–198, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2013.860083 Polkinghorne, D. E. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 8(1), 5-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839950080103