教師素質向來被視為教育改革成敗之關鍵，近年來接連不輟的教改運動改變了教師的角色，而「教師素質」決定「教改成敗」之論點則潛藏著過度簡化教育環境複雜性的隱憂。「教師素質」這個簡單的名詞，背後其實牽涉了權力、文化、政治等社會元素。不論被視為教育改革的成敗要素，亦或教育體制中的前線人員，「教師」這名詞與廣大的社會脈絡息息相關。本文採現象學的徑路，檢視教師角色變遷的應然與實然。並探討整個社會對教師行使專業權力時的助力與阻力，進而反思教師如何在學校文化與社會文化兩股力量的形塑與挾持中，調和內在主體意識與外在社會期望，進而成為期待中的教改關鍵者。

Teacher quality is always seen as the key to a success of an education reform. Recently, incessant education reforms have changed the teachers’ role. The argument that teacher quality determines a success of an education reform lurks the concern about oversimplifying the complexity of educational environments. In fact, “teacher quality,” this simple term, is involved in power, culture, politics, and other social components. The term “teacher” is closely related to a wide social context no matter it is seen as the key to a success of an education reform or a frontline worker within an educational system. This paper adopts the phenomenological approach to examine the ideals and reality of teachers’ changing role. It also discusses the facilitators and barriers that teachers receive from the entire society when they use their professional power, and reflects on how teachers balance their self-awareness and social expectation between school culture and social culture, and further become desired key education reformers.