Abstract
This paper is part of a larger study dealing with the social group of secondary school teachers from Romania and their training in 1864-1914. The second half of the nineteenth century saw profound transformations in the Romanian society. The modernizing measures of the state and the political elite aimed at the construction of institutions and the formation of the staff required to run them. In direct connection with these measures, the education became a precondition for access to offices. It was an age when the general perception and the attitude of society towards knowledge changed profoundly, in the sense of an increased appreciation. The professional training of teachers became a crucial aspect in the crystallization of this group, representing a key element in the process of acquiring prestige and social identity. Before the outset of the First World War, the profession of teacher required mastering over a set of well-defined body of knowledge, but we should not assume that this was always the case. As observed by us in the paper, some transformations occurred starting from 1864. As time went by, the body of knowledge that a teacher was expected to acquire became more solid and was completed with pedagogical training. The criteria for obtaining teaching positions were homogenized in the whole Kingdom of Romania. The professionalization had significant consequences on the secondary school teachers. First of all, they could request a higher pay, and then, their consistent professional training and the prestige rendered by knowledge, allowed them the ascension in the elite, obtaining in this way a more attractive social status, according to their aspirations.

Keywords
education, knowledge, secondary school teachers, Romania, professional training.