Leaton Gray, Sandra;
Whitty, Geoff;
(2010)
Social trajectories or disrupted identities? : Changing and competing models of teacher professionalism under New Labour.
Cambridge Journal of Education
, 40
(1)
pp. 5-23.
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Abstract
Since the 1988 Education Reform Act, the teacher’s role in England has changed in many ways, a process which intensified under New Labour after 1997. Conceptions of teacher professionalism have become more structured and formalized, often heavily influenced by government policy objectives. Career paths have become more diverse and specialised. In this article, three post-1997 professional roles are given consideration as examples of these new specialised career paths: Higher Level Teaching Assistants, Teach First trainees and Advanced Skills Teachers. The article goes on to examine such developments within teaching, using Bourdieu’s concept of habitus to inform the analysis, as well as Bernstein’s theories of knowledge and identity. The article concludes that there has been considerable specialization and subsequent fragmentation of roles within the teaching profession, as part of workforce remodelling initiatives. However, there is still further scope for developing a greater sense of professional cohesion through social activism initiatives, such as the children's agenda. This may produce more stable professional identities in the future as the role of teachers within the wider children’s workforce is clarified.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Social trajectories or disrupted identities? : Changing and competing models of teacher professionalism under New Labour |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Since the 1988 Education Reform Act, the teacher’s role in England has changed in many ways, a process which intensified under New Labour after 1997. Conceptions of teacher professionalism have become more structured and formalized, often heavily influenced by government policy objectives. Career paths have become more diverse and specialised. In this article, three post-1997 professional roles are given consideration as examples of these new specialised career paths: Higher Level Teaching Assistants, Teach First trainees and Advanced Skills Teachers. The article goes on to examine such developments within teaching, using Bourdieu’s concept of habitus to inform the analysis, as well as Bernstein’s theories of knowledge and identity. The article concludes that there has been considerable specialization and subsequent fragmentation of roles within the teaching profession, as part of workforce remodelling initiatives. However, there is still further scope for developing a greater sense of professional cohesion through social activism initiatives, such as the children’s agenda. This may produce more stable professional identities in the future as the role of teachers within the wider children’s workforce is clarified. Keywords: politics of education; sociology of education; teacher education; teachers; teaching assistants This is an electronic version of an article published in Gray, Sandra Leaton and Whitty, Geoff (2010) Social trajectories or disrupted identities?: changing and competing models of teacher professionalism under New Labour. Cambridge Journal of Education, 40 (1). pp. 5-23. Cambridge Journal of Education is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03057640903567005 |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10002665 |
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