The professional system of physical education: the process of professionalization, the search for autonomy and the implications for a professional life

The main objective of the study is to know the organization of physical education in the working world, the process of professionalization and the search for autonomy from social institutions in order to find out how these dimensions imply in professional life. The study was drawn, mainly, from authors who discuss the ideology of the profession of tradition in the Sociology of Professions. The question that leads to this study is how the professionalization process of Physical Education has been constituted, as well as what forms of interactions of the profession with the State, the market, the society and the own occupational system? We start from the hypothesis that there are mechanisms that support Physical Education in the professional and social system, directly impacting the identity of Physical Education and its ideal of profession. It is a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive study. The occupational analysis of Physical Education was organized in two dimensions: the macrostructural and the microstructural. Both are composed of three segments where professionals guide their careers: academic, managerial and practical. Thus, we map (a) the academic segment, by the structure for the formation and production of knowledge in Physical Education; (b) the managers 'segment, through the organizations' strategies for professional self-regulation, and (c) the mapping of the labor market in Physical Education, both in the school and non-scholar fields, to analyze the segment of practitioners. To describe the interactions between the macro and micro dimensions professionals, we conducted semi-structured interviews with professionals from different segments, allowing to analyze the dynamic cross from the State, organizations and society. Macroestructure data in Physical Education showed that, despite the expansion of the academic segment with an intense increase in the number of courses, inversely there is low number of graduates from the training schools. The production of knowledge has in fact reflected the intense specialization of research lines, revealing the need to encourage partnerships and agglutinate axes of studies that favor less vertical research practice. In the segment of managers, it is observed that the network of professional organizations of Physical Education is recent and is in the process of structuring. The actions for the representation of the area are still disarticulated, with actions to convince the public about the social commitment of Physical Education and few actions directed towards the dialogue with the professional itself. In the segment of professionals, who work directly in the labor market, there is a category of young people, who remain in formal jobs on average for 15 years. The relationship between working time and higher remuneration was significant. In addition, there is currently greater gender balance in formalized jobs. Through the interviews, the professionals claim to have low expectations about the career future due to the few guarantees of return to investments in the professional project. It is considered that there should be greater interaction between the academic, managerial and professional segments, seeking to make stronger a collective conception of Physical Education, as a unit that composes a larger social system. (AU)