Teacher educators’ constructions of professionalism: a case study

Abstract

This article addresses an under-researched area of teacher education by analysing teacher educators’ constructions of their professionalism and the constituent professional resources and senses of identity on which that professionalism draws. The research is an embedded case study of 36 teacher educators in two Schools of Education in England, using questionnaires and interviews. The study is framed by a broadly sociological concern with the (re)production of social patterns and relations through teacher education. The findings show that three modes of professionalism were constructed by educators within the sample group, with each deploying professional resources and senses of identity in varying ways to position individuals as credible and legitimate practitioners within the field of teacher education. The paper argues that professionalism may well be influenced by the complex interrelationships among individual biography, institutional setting, and national imperatives for teacher education.