In a society riddled with inequalities, the walls that separate those with access to quality education and those without it need to be knocked down. In their place, constructions aiming at providing opportunities to overcome this condition must be built. One of the pillars of such constructions is represented by teacher education courses and the impact they may have on the Brazilian educational scene. Nowadays, this preparation brings new challenges to be faced through curriculum reforms. The focus of this paper is the 'Letras' courses, especially the ones with dual qualification _ English and Portuguese Languages. This paper presents a discussion of aspects concerning professional identity, relating objectives and content definition, teaching practice and its articulations, inclusion of prospective teachers in communities of practice and the development of an investigative attitude. The text presents issues to be raised during discussions of curriculum reform based on the authors' own experience.