Independent Schools Professional Development Programme
Pre September task
Preparation for Post Graduate study in Education
You should write a reflective account entitled:
Teacher identity in the independent school sector.
You should seek to answer the following questions:
- What is ‘teacher identity’ ?
- How has your identity as a teacher been formed to date?
- In what ways is your identitydetermined by you role within an independent school?
In order to achieve this you will need to:
Select and read from the Bibliography below (all texts available on open access online) and from any additional resources available to you.
Draw on your experience to date as a teacher in an independent school
You may also want to use the diagram below as a starter for your thinking.
From: Olsen B (2008) How Reasons for Entry into the Profession Illuminate Teacher Identity Development; Teacher Education Quarterly
Your assignment should be appropriately referenced to academic texts, using Harvard citation system.
(Word count: 1,000 – 1,500 words)
This assignment is diagnostically assessed at ‘M’ Level. Please see indicative ‘M’ level criteria matrix grid below. The feedback will be formative only. You may find the following resources useful
Deadline : 2nd October 2017 (electronic submission to your Personal Tutor)
You can expect to receive formative feedback within 4 weeks of submission date
Teachers’ Standards
This task together with your experience can contribute to the some/all of the following Teachers’ Standards
S8Fulfil wider professional responsibilitiesa)Make a positive contribution to the wider life and ethos of the school
b)Develop effective professional relationships with colleagues, knowing how and when to draw on advice and specialist support
d)Take responsibility for improving teaching through appropriate professional development, responding to advice and feedback from colleagues
Part Two: Standards for professional and personal conduct
Teachers uphold public trust in the profession and maintain high standards of ethics and behaviour, within and outside school.
They do this by:
- Treating pupils with dignity, building relationships rooted in mutual respect, and at all times observing proper boundaries appropriate to a teacher’s professional position
- Having regard for the need to safeguard pupils’ well-being, in accordance with statutory provisions
- Showing tolerance of and respect for the rights of others
- Not undermining fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
- Ensuring that personal beliefs are not expressed in ways which exploit pupils’ vulnerability or might lead them to break the law.
Teachers must have proper and professional regard for the ethos, policies and practices of the school in which they teach, and maintain high standards in their own attendance and punctuality.
Teachers must have an understanding of, and always act within, the statutory frameworks which set out their professional duties and responsibilities.
Annotated Bibliography
a useful introduction first few pages provide useful introduction to the theme
an interesting personal reflective paper
Emerging teacher identities
Graham A & Phelps R (2003) Being a teacher: developing teacher identity and enhancing practice through metacognitive and reflective learning processes. A more in depth discussion
Morrison, Chad M. (2013) "Teacher Identity in the Early Career Phase: Trajectories that Explain and Influence Development," Australian Journal of Teacher Education: Vol. 38: Iss. 4, Article 6. Available at:
Note: The assessment matrix can be found below.
/ Below 45
Fail
Learning outcomes not achieved / 45-49
Marginal Fail
Some learning outcomes achieved at Threshold Level / 50-59
Pass
Learning outcomes achieved at Threshold level / 60–69
Good
All learning outcomes achieved at a good level / 70-79
Excellent
All learning outcomes achieved at an excellent level / Over 80
Exceptional
All learning outcomes achieved at an exceptional / outstanding level
Key Differentiating Features / Generally poor, limited in scope, unsystematic, little evidence of work at level 7 / Some potential but as yet an inability to offer sustained relevant argument and analysis and little evidence of any clear implications for practice / Satisfactory in that the inquiry has focus and purpose and engages with more theoretical perspectives in a relevant way / The work has the substantial qualities of insight and relevance to the student’s professional development / Recognition of complexity is to the forefront and criticality is clearly evidenced / Depth and originality are such that others in the field could profit professionally and intellectually from reading the work
The Contextual level
(This set of criteria have to do mostly with the ‘getting going’ part of the dissertation – or in the case of Cert and Dip level work, prefigures – why this piece of work matters)
Is there a convincing case that the piece of work will enable them to locate their research in an area of significant professional relevance to
●Their immediate situation?
●The wider concerns of the profession?
●Relevant intellectual and theoretical debate?
Has the work raised significant questions relating to their area of inquiry/ research? Does the student identify how they are going to address these questions/areas of interest in a systematic way?
In terms of academic qualities the relevant criteria are:
Reflective/Reflexive Skills
The ability to:
Evaluate and critically engage with current thinking through the medium of research, education policy and practice;
Evaluate research and practice-informed approaches and the thinking behind them;
Critically consider the implications for what can be learned. / The piece of work fails to convincingly locate their inquiry within a relevant context. The work is characterised by assertion rather than questioning. There is a lack of an investigative agenda, through reference to relevant situations, policy or theoretical debates. There is no clear rationale or purpose for the work. It is difficult to see how the work would make any contribution to the student’s professional development or to the development of their local context. / The piece of work recognises the importance of raising questions as a feature of research and inquiry. However, the relationship between the questions and the context in which they have arisen remains unclear. Contextual relevance and significance is muddled, episodic and under developed. While the writer is able to describe their immediate situation and policy and wider concerns, the evidence of their ability to select relevant aspects and thereby provide sound foundations to their analysis is limited. The wider intellectual and theoretical concerns are under developed and not well integrated. As a consequence the contribution of the piece of work to the student’s professional development and local context is likely to be limited. / The student is able to describe their context in sufficient analytical detail to be able to validate some significant and relevant inquiry and research questions. Research questions are clearly focussed and together with the analysis, create a sense of direction and purpose to the study. More theoretical perspectives clearly contribute to the value of the study. There is evidence that the piece of work has contributed to the student’s professional development. / The student offers a comprehensive account of their own professional development needs and relate these to an analytical account of relevant aspects of the context where appropriate. The work is linked to wider professional and policy concerns of clear importance to understanding the issues under consideration. Intellectual and theoretical aspects are deployed effectively to develop insight and understanding. As a consequence of meeting the above criteria, there is a substantial promise that the piece of work will contribute to the student’s professional development. / The student offers a perceptive and analytical account of their context in ways which select and argue for relevant features. These accounts are clearly seen and represented as data. Where the work is addressing wider concerns a clear account of the derivation of these concerns is offered. Theoretical perspectives are addressed in ways which evidence clear understanding and enhance the range of practical possibilities. The work is written in such a way that the beneficial professional effect on the student and those they work with is tangible. / The student’s account of a relevant context is presented and analysed so that the connection between the immediate, local & general professional experiences and practices is apparent and relevant. Emergent questions are seen as contingent, fluid and likely to shift. Shifts are recognised and debated within the text. Wider professional concerns are seen as integral to meaningful understanding of practice and specific moments of practice can be linked to wider educational narratives. The complexity of practice is fully acknowledged. The provenance of theoretical perspectives deployed is clearly understood. The work could influence the understanding and practice of other practitioners as well as the student.
The Conceptual Level
(This set of criteria has most to do with the demonstration of critical analysis and the development of understanding part of the writing)
Has the student demonstrated that they can analyse the key aspects and issues involved in their work such that their use of theory and literature clearly enhances their understanding of and insight into the questions raised by the writer? Does the work reflect the complexity of understanding education as social praxis?
In terms of academic qualities the relevant criteria are:
Knowledge and Understanding
The ability to:
Develop well reasoned perspectives that are evidenced/backed up;
Use literature and practice-based approaches as appropriate, to demonstrate clear insights;
Synthesize a variety of perspectives to enhance understandings. / Key concepts employed in the piece of work to interpret experience and/or explain significant aspects of education are barely recognised as such. As a consequence there is an inadequate use of theoretical perspectives. Where theory is considered, it is ill judged and underdeveloped, making little or no contribution to the writer’s understanding of the issues being discussed or their practice. Key concepts are accepted uncritically with little attempt to engage with them in order to develop insight and understanding. / There is some recognition that educational practice and educational issues presuppose explanatory concepts. However, evidence of systematic engagement with central concepts is very limited. As a consequence, where educational and social theories are engaged with, they are treated as a ‘given’ with little evidence of developing a perspective or viewpoint. There is little recognition that educational (and/or appropriate) theories and practices are socially located and as such can be regarded as problematic and needful of analysis. There is some evidence that there is potential to deploy concepts to help order the practical world but it remains nascent and implicit. / Educational practices, experiences, issues and/or policies are recognised as involving concepts which can give them legitimacy and purpose. The student recognises their deployment of concepts and links them to relevant educational (and/or appropriate) theory. The work critically engages with theory in ways which clearly contributes to understanding. As a consequence the work is able to arrive at perspectives on practical conduct which can be referenced to appropriate educational (and/or appropriate) theory. Thus the work recognises the intellectual and analytical moves which need to be made although deployment is modest. / The student is able to identify the richness of concepts involved in educational experiences, practices, policies and issues. As a consequence their work deploys a range of educational (and/or appropriate) theories in ways which clearly enrich their understanding. They understand something of the ways in which educational (and/or appropriate) theory relates to phenomena in the world in ways which extend the scope of practical action. They are able to distinguish between different kinds of theory in ways which enhances the work. / The student’s level of recognition of the key concepts in their accounts of educational experience, practices policies and issues is thoroughly comprehensive. They are able to argue for why a particular concept has greater significance than another. They connect concepts to educational (and/or appropriate) theory in ways which demonstrate insight and ownership. Their deployment of theory is sophisticated and highly effective. They have some understanding of the provenance of the theories they deploy in ways which clearly relate to their understanding of the practical world. / The piece of work displays an ability to blur the distinction between theory and practice. The student recognises that practice has many and varied forms but will always contain theoretical qualities. Similarly theory assumes a world of practice which the work is able to tease out and debate. As a consequence the work is able to socially situate theory in ways which lends itself to originality and a contribution to knowledge. There are clear about the implications of their analysis for practice and are able to present this in a cogent and focussed way.
The Coherence Level
(These criteria are mostly to do with the practice /theory relations and the ability to put forward sustained arguments)
Does the piece of work demonstrate a high level capacity to synthesise practice and theory which leads to a better understanding of both? Does the dissertation (or assignment) demonstrably contribute to self knowledge and relevant professional knowledge? Does the work demonstrate a high level capacity to construct arguments which recognise complexity, address contradiction, but also provide sustained, critically legitimated perspectives?
In terms of academic qualities the relevant criteria are:
Principles into Practice
The ability to:
Identify areas for improvement and areas of strength;
Demonstrate how the work has drawn upon a variety of perspectives / The work is characterised by an inability to establish implications for practice . The analysis of experience, practice, policy and or educational issues is so disjointed as to undermine any coherent overview. There is no awareness that others will be affected by any conduct proposed and therefore will effect outcomes. The work evidences simple assertion resting on unproblematised viewpoints. The relevance of the study remains doubtful / The student offers some evidence of the ability to see practical implications in the analysis but it is unsystematic in approach. Their understanding of theoretical aspects is limited and characterised by restatement rather than selection and qualification. There is little recognition that theory has the power to engage with practice and vice versa. Both theory and practice are presented in simplistic terms. As a consequence evidence of a positive impact on professional self- understanding and conduct is limited and unconvincing.
However, the study has potential to inform practical understanding and conduct . / The student is able to develop a consistent and coherent account of theory and practice. Their understanding of both has been clearly enhanced through the process of writing. As a consequence their educational beliefs and value positions are more readily defensible intellectually and professionally. The implications for their practice are articulated and convincing. / The student is able to embrace a complex relationship between theory and practice. This is evidenced in their ability to recognise the limits of theory when related to the complexity of practice. Equally it enables them to deploy theory to give status to hitherto disregarded aspects of practice. Their understanding of education is solid with strong foundations. / The piece of work celebrates and relishes a complex theory practice relationship. They are able to reconcile conflicting viewpoints where appropriate while recognising and examining contradictions. The work has clear implications for practice but recognises that any such implications need to be prioriterised and ordered to be effective. / The piece of work evidences sustained and substantial qualities of good argumentation. Theoretical and practical positions are advanced, checked out and legitimated or rejected. The work is characterised by an ability to engage with the notion that the world of education is not constructed by the student alone but involves the actions and beliefs of others which have to be addressed and analysed. Effective practice, shifts in belief and values are explored together with the implications for others who inhabit their professional world.
The Justificatory Level
(this is where the work demonstrates outcomeswhich are defensible, appropriate to their own professional development)
Has the work shown an informed and systematic use of appropriate research methodologies or approaches? Has the student demonstrated the route to their conclusions by an analytical use of appropriate data? Do their conclusions demonstrably contribute to their own professional development and insights into the issues raised by the research? / The piece of work shows little understanding of how to conduct sustained investigative writing or research. Research methodologies or approaches are not recognised as such and the work is conducted through a smattering of randomly selected methods. As a consequence, it is difficult to see how any data was gathered. There is an absence of building a well-founded perspectives on the area being investigated. Any conclusions offered are disconnected from the investigation. The justifications for impact on practice are not rooted in the research. / The piece of work displays some understanding of research and investigation as requiring a systematic approach. Methods for gathering some data are evidenced but there is no recognition that these methods link to different methodological traditions or approaches. Data is present in the work but the reasons for its inclusion are not clearly established. Some useful conclusions are beginning to be drawn but these are not convincingly linked to the work as a whole. Impact on professional practice is asserted but without effective justification. / The piece of work offers a clear account of the research methods they are going to deploy. These are used to gather pertinent data. This is analysed in ways which lead to justifiable conclusions. The relationship between method and methodology or approaches is understated. The student is able to identify some implications for their own professional development, which clearly grows out of their research. / The student recognises that there are different ways in which to undertake research and investigative writing. They are able to describe the ways in which their selection of methods is linked to methodology or approaches. They have a critical grasp on the data they deploy such they are able to interrogate it systematically. They recognise that the relationship between their investigative outcomes have to be argued for and debated. / The piece of work portrays research as a deeply contested area. Notions of ‘truth and findings’ are approached with caution. Justifications and outcomes are themselves presented as complex, to be further debated. The implications for future professional conduct are set out but seen as contingent and possibly time-limited. The piece of work, therefore, has potential for further research which is recognised by the writer. / The piece of work is able to connect research methodologies or approaches deployed in the study to some significant traditions of human thought. They enjoy the complexity which ensues from making this connection. Their data has elements of originality which enables them to identify diverse professional development possibilities. The level of justification is such that the work has implications for practitioners other than themselves.