The Personal and Professional Selves of Teachers: Stable and Unstable Identities

In much educational literature it is recognised that the broader social conditions in which teachers live and work, and the personal and professional elements of teachers' lives, experiences, beliefs and practices are integral to one another, and that there are often tensions between these which impact to a greater or lesser extent upon teachers' sense of self or identity. If identity is a key influencing factor on teachers' sense of purpose, self‐efficacy, motivation, commitment, job satisfaction and effectiveness, then investigation of those factors which influence positively and negatively, the contexts in which these occur and the consequences for practice, is essential. Surprisingly, although notions of ‘self’ and personal identity are much used in educational research and theory, critical engagement with individual teachers' cognitive and emotional ‘selves’ has been relatively rare. Yet such engagement is important to all with an interest in raising and sustaining standards of teaching, particularly in centralist reform contexts which threaten to destabilise long‐held beliefs and practices. This article addresses the issue of teacher identities by drawing together research which examines the nature of the relationships between social structures and individual agency; between notions of a socially constructed, and therefore contingent and ever‐remade, ‘self’, and a ‘self’ with dispositions, attitudes and behavioural responses which are durable and relatively stable; and between cognitive and emotional identities. Drawing upon existing research literature and findings from a four‐year Department for Education and Skills funded project with 300 teachers in 100 schools which investigated variations in teachers' work and lives and their effects on pupils (VITAE), it finds that identities are neither intrinsically stable nor intrinsically fragmented, as earlier literature suggests. Rather, teacher identities may be more, or less, stable and more or less fragmented at different times and in different ways according to a number of life, career and situational factors.

Variations in the Work and Lives of Teachers: Relative and Relational Effectiveness

The VITAE project is a four‐year (2001–2005) research study, commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills, conducted with 300 teachers in 100 schools in seven local education authorities in England. The project aimed to identify factors that may affect their work and lives over time and how these factors may, in turn, impact on their teaching and subsequent pupil progress and outcomes. It combined quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis in order to define and examine notions of teachers' relational and relative effectiveness. The first part of the paper addresses the nature of effectiveness and three key themes relating to the changing contexts of teachers' work, lives and effectiveness: the challenge of reform to notions of professionalism; professional identities; changes in teachers' work and lives. The research design and early findings and their effects upon the development of the research form the second part. The final part of the paper discusses three sets of understandings which are fundamental to any consideration of teachers' work, lives and effectiveness: relative and relational effectiveness; teacher identities; teachers' life and work contexts. The research suggests that policy‐makers, school leaders and teachers themselves need to attend to these if teacher recruitment, retention and standards are to improve.

Invaluable but Invisible: an Initial Investigation of Chinese Graduate Skill Development and Subsequent Skill Use

Measures of impact of Higher Education have often neglected the Chinese student view, despite the importance of these students to the UK and Chinese economy. This research paper details the findings of a quantitative survey that was purposively distributed to Chinese graduates who enrolled at the University of Worcester on the Business Management degree between 2004-2011 (n=49). Analysis has been conducted on their skill development throughout their degree, their skill usage in different employment contexts, the value of their degree, and gender differences in skill development and usage. Discrepancies between skill development and usage, between males and females, and with previous research findings are discussed. Future research directions are also specified.

Review into the Proposed Registration of Teachers and Others who Support Learning in the Independent Sector with the Education Workforce Council

During the passage of the Education (Wales) Bill, Assembly Members called for parity in the way the behaviour of practitioners within maintained schools and the independent sector are regulated. This study was therefore commissioned to gather the views of groups and individuals who work in the education sector in Wales, on whether: i) there should be a requirement for practitioners (both teaching and learning support staff) within independent schools and private FE institutions to register with the Council ii) employers should be legally required to refer cases of unacceptable professional conduct and serious professional incompetence to the Council It was also intended, through this process, to gather views on the potential implications associated with any such registration so that the resulting impact could be identified. The individuals and organisations consulted included head teachers, college principals, governing bodies, teaching staff, learning support staff, trade unions, registration bodies, independent sector representative bodies, inspectorates and teaching councils. Consultations took place between August and November 2015, with data gathered through an online survey, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews and via email.

Conceptualizing and Researching the Professionalization of Religious Education Teachers: Historical and International Perspectives

Current discussions on Religious Education (RE), both in Germany and England, focus on the quality of teaching and the professionality of teachers, but neglect the historical and institutional process of professionalization upon which conceptions of teaching quality and teacher professionality hinge. This article seeks to provide definitional clarity by differentiating between individual and collective professionalization; exploring teacher professionalization in general and in the special case of RE; and operationalizing the concept of RE teacher professionalization for the purposes of planned historical and international comparative research. A three-fold conceptualization of professionalization is proposed, consisting of the following inter-related levels: (1) initial and continuing professional development; (2) professional self-organization and professional politics; and (3) professional knowledge. The breadth, complexity and significance of the historical and institutional processes associated with the professionalization of RE teachers at each of these levels is described and discussed. It is argued that further historical and international comparative research on these lines would contribute a broader and deeper understanding of the presuppositions of RE teacher professionality beyond current debates.