Classical background, topics of schooling history in high school and university bring attention to the existence of global challenges of the 21st century common today. These calls necessitate the creation of new historical study from the younger contemporaries allowing to enter consciously the real world of the people living before and near it, able to analyze historical events, owning proper, commercial, socio-political knowledge, valuing cultural traditions of other people. In the article elements of a professional representation of the history teacher of the 21st century are discriminated from positions of modern historical and pedagogical approaches, it is determined that the main ways of development of professionalism are the scientific character of historical thinking of the teacher, development of individual style of teaching and participation in innovative activity. The practical value of results consists of the practical use of conscious need of the modern teacher of history for continuous professional self-improvement.