Teacher professional identity: competing discourses, competing outcomes

Abstract

This paper focuses on issues of the professional identity of teachers in Australia under conditions of significant change in government policy and educational restructuring. Two discourses, democratic and managerial professionalism are identified which are shaping the professional identity of teachers. Democratic professionalism is emerging from the profession itself while managerialist professionalism is being reinforced by employing authorities through their policies on teacher professional development with their emphasis on accountability and effectiveness. The second part of the paper examines the types of professional identity emerging from these discourses. The two identities identified are the entrepreneurial and the activist identity. While these identities are not fixed, nevertheless at various times and in various contexts teachers may move between these two professional identities.Issues of teacher professionalism and teacher professional identity are now evident in much research literature emerging from the USA, UK and Australia. Recent education reforms and the associated changes in working conditions and professional expectations have meant that issues of teacher professionalism and professional identity are being contested at both the level of policy and of practice. Indeed, current debates in the public and scholarly arena indicate that there are competing views about the nature of teacher professionalism. Furthermore, in some instances debates still circulate about whether or not teaching is a profession. What counts as teacher professionalism has come to be a site of struggle between various interest groups concerned with the broader enterprise of education. Some would say that it is in the best interests of government for teaching not to be seen as a profession as it gives greater opportunity for regulative control of the profession. Others would suggest that given the specialized knowledge base of teachers, the increased demand for professional standards and the great demands for teachers to see themselves as knowledge workers, then they have earned the status of being a profession in a more orthodox sense.In this paper the focus is on issues of professional identity of teachers in Australia under conditions of significant change in government policy and educational restructuring. The argument is in two parts. First, is that two competing discourses are shaping the professional identity of teachers. These discourses are democratic and managerial professionalism. I suggest that democratic professionalism is emerging from the profession itself while managerialist professionalism is being reinforced by employing authorities through their policies on teacher professional development

The effects of reform: Have teachers really lost their sense of professionalism?

“…Sachs (2001) argues that it is imperative that teachers retain the image of the teacher they wish to be, maintaining an identity which is based on strong values and beliefs which is likely to sustain teachers throughout a career filled with challenge and hurried change:…”

Schooling Teachers: Professionalism or disciplinary power?

“…Interpretations and definitions of professionalism Marshall (1939), Goode (1957), Wilensky (1964) Social service professionalism Parsons (1954), Stinnett and Huggett (1963), Purvis (1973), Travers and Rebore (1990) Professions based on functionalist theory Hoyle (1974) Professionalization, professionality Goodson and Hargreaves (1996) Classical, flexible, practical, extended, complex and postmodern professionalism Hanlon (1998) Commercialized professionalism Goodson (1999Goodson ( , 2000 New and principled professionalism Freidson (1994Freidson ( , 2001 The ideology of professionalism Sachs (2001Sachs ( , 2003Sachs ( , 2005 Transformative, democratic, managerial and activist professionalism Hargreaves (2000), Day (2002) The four ages of professionalism Hilferty (2007Hilferty ( , 2008, Evans (2008Evans ( , 2011 Enacted professionalism Evetts (2009) Organizational, occupational professionalism Evans (2011) Deduced, assumed professionalism Bourke (2011) New/classical/practical discourses of professionalism Educational Philosophy and Theory 85…”

A conversation of teachers: In search of professional identity

“…It is not a fixed attribute of a person, but a relational phenomenon (Beijaard et al, 2004). Also, identity is negotiated, shifting and ambiguous, the result of culturally available meaning and the open-ended power-laden enactment of those meanings in everyday situations (Sachs, 2001;Melluci, 1996). Gee (2001, p. 99) offers another view on identity, namely identity as an important analytic tool for understanding schools and society.…”