ERIC Number: EJ1262793
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-3831
EISSN: N/A
Teacher Specialists and the Boundaries They Encounter: Towards a Nuanced Understanding of Teachers' Perspectives of Specialised Teacher Roles
Lorentzen, Marte
Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, v64 n5 p677-691 2020
This article studies differences in teachers' and teacher specialists' perspectives of a newly introduced teacher specialist role in Norway. It is known that the emergence of specialised teachers challenges the egalitarian norms of the profession. However, there is a lack of insight into teachers' perspectives of these roles and the nuances of egalitarianism in schools. By drawing on extensive observational data, focus groups and individual interviews, the present paper explores the characteristics of teacher specialists' perceived boundaries, and how these boundaries can nuance the comprehension of teachers' perspectives. The results reveal three boundaries: a knowledge boundary, a structural boundary and a relational boundary. In general, teachers have an overall positive perception of role differentiation in terms of knowledge specialisation. However, their support of such differentiation seems to be related to--and dependent on--an absence of interference with their classroom practice and individual autonomy.
Descriptors: Specialists, Teacher Attitudes, Teacher Role, Role Perception, Professional Autonomy, Foreign Countries, Elementary School Teachers, Secondary School Teachers, Professional Development, Professional Identity
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Norway
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A