The relevance of the research is explained by the contradiction between the needs of the society and the state in teachers with a high level of professional identity capable to create a convincing, positive, socially significant image of modern person, and the lack progress in a number of theoretical, methodological, ontological and structural aspects of the problem of motivation of a modern teacher for professional self-improvement. The article analyzes the accumulated information about professional identity in the national and foreign Pedagogy of the late XX – early XXI centuries and the empirical data obtained during the Russian-Latvian project in 2013-2017 in the field of structural components of teachers’ professional identity. The leading method of the research of this problem was a questionnaire survey, conducted among 721 teachers of secondary schools of Smolensk and Riga, which allowed identifying the components having a statistically significant impact on the teacher’s professional identity. The article presents data indicating that, generally, the professional identity of both Russian and Latvian teachers, regardless of the years of their teaching experience, is characterized by a democratic style of work. Among the alarming indicators revealed in the course of the Russian-Latvian survey is a psychological and emotional state in their professional activity and value orientations in the profession. The practical usage of the results will contribute to the formation of professional identity not only of young teachers but also of students of pedagogical universities.

teacher; professional identity; style of work; psychological and emotional state; values.