This article, which is the partial result of a literature review, consists of a theoretical reflection on the formation of the university professor. It starts with the premise that the educator’s training is one of the determining factors for improvement in the teaching-learning process, and in the formation of an aware and emancipated citizen. We believe that one of the most promising ways for this formative process to occur is to transform the university professor into a professional researcher of his own teaching practice. Our objective is to offer a reflection on this process, drawing on some authors that indicate possibilities for this realization. This aims of this article are three-fold. First, it deals with the problem of the relationship between the professor and the student, and the need to rethink the learning processes. Second, it addresses a problem regarding the career of the higher education professor. Finally, the third part discusses the possibility of a higher education professor being a researcher of his own teaching practice. In conclusion, this article highlights the urgent need for the processes of formation of research professors in Higher Education institutions, besides stricto sensu graduate programs. This article is part of a wider research project entitled “Teaching improvisation in the context of expansion of Higher Education: the problem of teaching identity”.