Abstract: Knowledge or Control? Teacher Knowledge, Professional Identity and Practitioner Research

In this thesis, I have taken an English independent school as a case study and used an evolving design to explore teachers’ views of school education, teacher knowledge and teacher research, scrutinizing their perceptions through the lenses of identity and professionalism.

My view of education has influenced the nature of this study and the research topic is very important to me both personally and professionally. I acknowledge my positionality: I am an advocate of the principles of a liberal education; I believe in a holistic education; I hold a strong aversion to a view of schools as educational businesses. However, in the questions that I have asked, in my choice of methods I have used to answer them, in my interpretation of the data collected and in my data presentation, I have striven to take account of my own views and move beyond them.

The research comprised two phases with the design evolving to respond to the data. Phase 1 involved semi-structured interviews about teacher professionalism and identity with 26 teachers to explore the extent of discourse in the case study school. The data suggested differences in views of teacher identity, professionalism and knowledge, but it also presented gaps, and evidence of a non-critical professional discourse.

In an attempt to address statements and gaps in the Phase 1 interview data, and drawing on the research literature, Phase 2a used Q methodology and Q sorts from 53 teachers to explore teacher viewpoints of teacher identity and professionalism. As such, Q methodology provided an important, ‘alternative’ lens that was able to capture the voices of practising teachers themselves and draw out similarities as well as differences. The Q data suggested that although there was broad consensus amongst the participants, there were three distinct viewpoints of teacher identity and two distinct viewpoints of teacher professionalism in the case study school. These viewpoints were explored further in ten semi-structured interviews in Phase 2b.

This research extends the influential work of Day and Gu (2010) into teacher identity and professional life phases, and illustrates that views around teacher identity and professionalism in schools should not be viewed as homogeneous. It also illustrates that there is more work to be done in the field of teacher professionalism and identity to better understand the views of teachers and the consequences of a non-critical discourse. The importance of this task should not be underestimated. Without a critical engagement that is capable of interrogating different ideological positions, teacher identity becomes shaped not through individual teachers exercising their reflexivity but set by external factors alone.