Active-location-in-teachers’-construction-of-their

Activelocationinteachers’constructionoftheirprofessionalidentitiesJOHNCOLDRONandROBINSMITHIdentityasateacherispartlygivenandpartlyachievedbyactivelocationinsocialspace.Socialspaceisanarrayofpossiblerelationsthatonepersoncanhavetoothers.Someoftheserelationsareconferredbyinheritedsocialstructuresandcategoriza-tionsandsomearechosenorcreatedbytheindividual.Setsofpractices(traditions)conveypossibilitieswithinsocialspace.Thedevelopmentofateacher’sprofessionalidentityislargelydependentonthequalityandavailabilityofthesevariedfactors.Thispaperidenti®esthecraft,scienti®c,moralandartistictraditionsassigni®cantineducationalpractice.Althoughcurrenttrendsemphasizeanarrowaspectofthecrafttraditionandthetechnologyofteaching,themulti-dimensionalnatureofteachingisrecognized.Teachersneedtobeawareofmanypotentialpositionstheymightassume.Policiesthatimposegreaterdegreesofuniformityandconformitythreatentoimpoverishthenotionofactivelocation.Inthisaccountofhowteachersacquiretheirprofessionalidentities,wedrawonseveralresourcesinsocialtheoryandphilosophy,andonourexperienceofmorethan20yearseachasprimaryteachersandteachereducators.Wehopethattheexplanatorydepthofsocialtheorywillencouragearadicalrethinkingofthenatureofteachers’actionsinschoolsandalsoprovideforasenseofindividualagencytocharacterizethepersonaldimensioninteaching.Theconceptualizationofhowpersonsacquiretheiridentitiesasteachershasimplicationsforthekindofsupportneededforprofessionaldevelopment.Wewantalsotoidentify,andrespect,thevariousingredientsofprofessionalidentity.Thismeans,forexample,notrelegatingtheteacherastechniciantoaninferiorstatuscomparedtothatofcriticalenquirer.Finally,wetrytoacknowledgewhatitfeelsliketobeaprofessionalintoday’sschools.SeveralinterventionsintheprofessionaldevelopmentofteachersinEnglandandWalesinthe1990sunderscoretheneedforthisanalysis.TheTeacherTrainingAgency(TTA),agovernmentorganizationresponsiblefortheinitialandcontinuingeducationofteachers,hasdevisedaprofes-sionaldevelopmentframeworkbuiltaroundwhataretakenasstagesofprofessionalexpertise.At®rst,thesestagesidenti®ed`fourkeygroups±newlyquali®edteachers,expertteachers,expertsinsubjectleadershipandmanagement,andexpertsinschoolleadershipandmanagement’(TTA1996a:5).Thestandardsnewteachershavetoattaininordertoqualifywerepublishedin1997asthelatestinasuccessionofnationalrequirementsj.curriculumstudies,1999,vol.31,no.6,711±726JohnColdronandRobinSmithareresearchcoordinatorsintheSchoolofEducationatSheeldHallamUniversity,SheeldS102BP,UK.Theyhavetaughtinprimaryschoolsandrunteacher-educationprogrammes.JohnColdron’sresearchdealswithsocialjusticeandwithparentsandschools.RobinSmith’scurrentresearchexaminestheprofessionalknowledgeofteachersandstudentteachers.0022±0272/99$12´00Ñ1999Taylor&FrancisLtdforinitialteachertraining(DepartmentforEducationandEmployment(DFEE)1997a).Asisnowthefashion,eachoftheserequirementswasdetailedinalistofstatementsofcompetenceorstandards.Anationalquali®cationandstandardsforheadteachershavealsobeenestablished.Agreementonotherkeyrolesprovedhardertoachieve,anddraftversionsofstandardsmayyetbesubsumedbythenewLabourgovernment’s(electedin1997)ownagenda,inparticular,thecreationof`anewcareergradeofAdvancedSkillsTeachertorewardthebestclassroomteachers...whoarepreparedtotakeonadditionalrolescontributingtothequalityofteachingintheirschools’(DFEE1997b:48,para.19).Anattempttoprovidecoherentguidanceandaframeworkfortheprofessionaldevelopmentofteachersistobewelcomed,notleastforthedebateitwillprovokeabouthowteachersmightimproveduringtheircareers.Butwefearwhatisonoersofarfromthispowerfulbodyismisconceivedandone-dimensional.Thisconclusiondoesnotmeanthatwerejectthecaseforskillful,knowledgeableteachersandforsystematicgrowthofprofessionalexpertisethroughoutacareer.Butweshallarguebelowforamoreroundedaccountofteaching,andoutlinetheimplicationsofthataccountforthoseconcernedwithfosteringteachers’professionaldevelopment.Fromthebeginningof,butalsoduring,theircareers,teachersareengagedincreatingthemselvesasteachers.Beingateacherisamatterofbeingseenasateacherbyhimselforherselfandbyothers;itisamatterofacquiringandthenrede®ninganidentitythatissociallylegitimated.Thisprocessbeginswiththeconfermentofquali®edstatusonteachersanditcontinuesinthewaycolleagues,childrenandparentsrespondtothem.Althoughweusethesingularterm`professionalidentity’,wedonotinterpretthatidentityas®xedorunitary.Studiesofteachers’careersfromabiographicalperspectiverecognizethenotionofselfasa`complex,multidimensionalanddynamicsystemofrepresentationsandmeaningswhichdevelopsovertimeastheresultofinteractionsbetweenthepersonandanenvironment’(KelchtermansandVandenberghe1994:47).Draw-ingonherownstudyandotherbiographicalapproaches,MacLure(1993:312)contendsthat`identityshouldnotbeseenasastableentity±some-thingthatpeoplehave±butassomethingthattheyuse,tojustify,explainandmakesenseofthemselvesinrelationtootherpeople,andtothecontextsinwhichtheyoperate’.Thetensionbetweenagencyandstructure(orthesocially`given’)inthegeneralphenomenonofsocialbeingisre¯ectedinspeci®canalys