ERIC Number: EJ1071828
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Jul
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1874-785X
EISSN: N/A
Teachers' Professional Identity Negotiations in Two Different Work Organisations
Vähäsantanen, Katja; Hökkä, Päivi; Eteläpelto, Anneli; Rasku-Puttonen, Helena; Littleton, Karen
Vocations and Learning, v1 n2 p131-148 Jul 2008
Recent studies have described professional identity as the interplay between individual agency and social context. However, we need to understand how these are intertwined in different kinds of work settings. This paper focuses on teachers' professional identity negotiations as involving the work organisation, the professional community and individual agency. The data were gathered from two work organisations representing different management cultures and sources of control over teachers' work. Open-ended narrative interviews were used, focusing on teachers' own experiences and perceptions. A data-driven qualitative analysis was applied. Our findings indicated that different work organisations provided differing resources for teachers' professional identity negotiations. Teachers were more committed to their work organisation if they had enough agency, if they had opportunities to practise their own orientations towards the profession, and if major changes were not imposed on their working practices from outside.
Descriptors: Professional Identity, Work Environment, Interviews, Experience, Teacher Attitudes, Qualitative Research, Educational Administration
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A