On either side of the teacher: perspectives on professionalism in education

Abstract

This paper brings together two studies which examine the nature of professionalism in education by focusing on the perspectives of two under-researched groups namely ‘teaching assistants’(TAs) and teacher educators (TEs) working ‘either side’ of the school teacher . The projects were conducted in, and framed by, the UK policy context of public sector modernization and austerity and drew upon different approaches including auto-ethnography, life history and discourse analysis. The authors examine the formation and representation of professional identity in education through TAs’ and TEs’ discourses of ‘professionalism’ in education. Three themes in the accounts are discussed; TA to teacher and teacher to TE as ‘non-standard’ professional progressions, role ambiguity, and the role of classroom experience and HE learning in the professional identities of TAs and TEs. We comment on the importance of capturing alternatives to the discourse of imposed policy, emergent in practitioners’ voices, and reflect upon the ways in which these voices contribute to the wider international debate on professionalism in education

From LSA to teacher: the value of classroom experience in shaping a ‘teacher’ identity

“…Participants regarded training as the acquisition of technical skills but placed greater value on the contexts in which they had been able to understand and reflect on actions, dilemmas and ambiguities as LSAs. Similarly, the value they placed on autonomy in the development of their pedagogical skills aligns with arguments in the literature that professional knowledge and, hence, professional identity, develop through active agency in the reality of the classroom situation, where both are constantly tested (eg: Edmond and Hayler, ; Svensson, ).…”

Professional Competency Differences among High School Teachers in Indonesia

“…According to Edmond, N., & Hayler, M. (2013) professional competencies are crucial skills which determine the success of a teacher in carrying his duties as professional. The following questions provide general guidelines to explore teachers' competencies:…”

Narrative learning through life: Kenyan teachers’ life-stories and narrative learning, and what this means for their relation to the teaching profession

“…Currently, in the academic world, there is no common understanding of what a teacher's professionalism is (Dahl, in press;Beijaard et al, 2004, p. 108;Lei et al, 2012Lei et al, , p. 1299. Broadly, teacher professionalism may be defined as professional and subject-related knowledge and qualifications, proven high standards, confidence, attitudes and values in complex undertakings (Edmond and Hayler, 2013;Hargreaves, 2000;Shin, 2012;Tichenor and Tichenor, 2005), life-long commitment (Toh et al, 1996) and a disposition to 'move' in the field towards professionalism (Shin, 2012). According to Hargreaves (2000, p. 175) 'postmodern teaching professionalism' includes the capacity to address a diverse and complex clientele in conditions of increasing moral uncertainty, where many methods of approach are possible, and where more and more social groups influence and decide.…”