Teachers' professional identity: a study of cases from science education.
Mike Watts*, Gill Nicholls**
* Roehampton Institute, London, ** University of Surrey (UK)
Abstract
This paper explores the interrelationships between social expectation,
personal self-image and professional identity, with a particular focus
on members of the teaching profession. The timing of the paper coincides
with a period when the nature of professional accountability is increasingly
of public concern, when professional identity is being closely questioned,
and when the particular notion of teaching as a profession is centre stage.
In the UK, for example, the government main-tains tight rein on teacher
performance through centrally specified curriculum legislation, through
public accountability in school league tables, through salary structures
and the operations of the semi-autonomous Teacher Training Agency. Government
ambivalence over the full professionali-sation of teachers can, in our
view, be seen in the lack of self-determination granted to the newly proposed
General Teachers Council, and to the professional autonomy of teachers.
The aim of the paper is to approach this work from a Kellyan perspective,
illustrating some of the tensions within professional identity with interview
data from an empirical study. Much of the discussion is couched in terms
of teachers of science within secondary schooling.
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