Becoming, being, belonging: teachers' experiences of identity transitions during Master's level research

The commitment of many in the teaching profession to engage in active research at a local (classroom and school) level has a long history in England (Stenhouse, 1981; Wyse et al., 2018). However, teachers’ engagement in and with research has been significantly influenced in recent years through hegemonic policies and practices in education. Directions for teacher education in England – both initial teacher training/education (ITTE) and continuing professional development (CPD) – are shaped by national politics and are tightly controlled by the centre through the Department for Education (DfE) and the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) (Gunter, 2023). Since 2019, centralisation, standardisation and accountability in ITTE and CPD have intensified with the introduction of Core Content Frameworks for beginning and early career teachers, along with a suite of National Professional Qualifications for experienced teachers. This direction carries with it implicit, and at times explicit, criticism of university-based teacher education (Menter et al., 2019). At the same time, common perceptions and discourses about teachers’ work seem to have shifted away from teaching as a caring, moral and ethical endeavour and towards teaching as corporate and marketised, with an emphasis on economic and measurable data outcomes (Moore & Clarke, 2016; Skinner et al., 2021). As a result, some consider that teaching in England has become a ‘semi-profession’, in which teachers are positioned as ‘technicians’ and their engagement in critical intellectual and research work is actively discouraged (Mayer & Mills, 2021; Menter & Flores, 2021).
Set in this challenging policy and practice context, the key aim of this empirical research was to collate teachers’ descriptions of their experiences as a teacher and a researcher during and after their engagement in completing a Master’s in Education dissertation. The intention was to build rich narratives which shed light on the cognitive and affective aspects of each participant’s identity[ies] as teacher and researcher and any transition[s] in identity[ies] that they experienced.  In order to do so, a conceptual and analytical framework was constructed. This framework was influenced significantly by the work of Hattie (2004) who frames self-concept using the metaphor of a rope. Developing this metaphor further, and influenced by the work of Holland et al. (1998) and Noffke (1997), a model was constructed within which it was possible to conceive and examine particular strands, yarns and fibres of teacher and researcher identity[ies] of each participant.
Three teachers, who were in their final, dissertation year of a part-time Master’s in Education programme undertaken at their local university, opted to participate in this project. During the course of their final year in the Master’s programme, they each submitted a sequence of video diary entries, articulating their experiences of what it meant to become, to be, and to belong as a researcher AND a teacher. Along with semi-structured interviews, one of which took place 12+ months after completion of their Master’s degree, these personal descriptions were brought together into first person narratives which were subsequently analysed using the conceptual and analytical framework.
The original contribution of this work is two-fold. Firstly, a unique contribution is made through the development of a conceptual and analytical framework which extends previous metaphors of a rope to explore notions of the formation and reformation of identity[ies] related to time, place,, and space. Secondly, contributions to knowledge are made through summarising and analysing participants’ narratives, exploring their experiences of [re]formation of the personal, professional and political strands of their identity[ies] as teacher and researcher. At particular moments in time, as well as over many months, each of these teachers went through some re-conceptualisation of what it meant to become, to be, and to belong as a researcher and a teacher. These experiences came to be characterised as transformational: at times painful, but at others joyful and uplifting, these teachers’ stories encapsulate what it means to be a research-active teacher in England. The value of these stories can be seen in the final conclusions and responses, where recommendations are made at multiple levels and for multiple actors which would further enhance teachers’ – and teacher educators’ – potential to develop and sustain a sense of belonging as researchers within and across professional and academic communities.

Keywords: identity
teacher research
narrative research
professional learning
professional development
Advisor: Burn, K
Thompson, I