Background:

the teaching identity represents the thinking, doing and feeling that arise from teaching. Its radical renewal is effective when reflection is the coping strategy that the teacher dominates while facing critical incidents originating in the classrooms.

Objective:

to establish the link between the dimensions of the professional identity of the teacher in Obstetrics and the coping strategies while facing the most recurrent critical incidents in educational contexts.

Methods:

a qualitative-interpretive study was carried out in three Chilean private universities in the province of Concepción, where the Obstetrics and Childcare career is taught during the period March-August 2019. Theoretical methods were used: analysis-synthesis and inductive-deductive; empirical ones: semi-structured interviews and discussion groups.

Results:

three units of analysis with their corresponding codes were investigated: professional identity of the Obstetrics professor, critical incidents in Obstetrics teaching, and coping strategies; Professionals expressed their conceptions, strategies and emotions about teaching and revealed that transitory reflective approaches are the most used. The most recurrent critical incidents were due to non-compliance with the rules of student´s conduct, lack of clarity of content, and disorganization of time, space and resources.

Conclusions:

the link was established between the dimensions of the professional identity of the Obstetrics teacher and their coping strategies while facing critical incidents. Although there is an adequate decision-making, it is not enough to achieve a change in their identity, so they need pedagogical training to perfect their teaching functions.

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