The legacy of community cohesion: exploring the teacher agency of beginner RE teachers

ABSTRACT

This article explores the teacher agency of five beginner RE teachers undertaking their 1-year probationary period (Post-Initial Teacher Education)¹ in five Secondary RE departments in the North-West of England during the 2018/2019 academic year. Drawn from a piece of doctoral research, the article discusses the findings of an interpretivist practitioner-inquiry, which adopted an ecological approach to teacher agency. The article suggests that for the beginner RE teachers involved in the research their sense of agency was significantly influenced by their own experiences of RE as secondary-aged pupils and that this is to a much greater extent than the current literature on teacher agency may acknowledge. The article suggests that despite the passage of time a ‘legacy of community cohesion’ dominates their sense of teacher agency and informs their sense of self as a teacher of RE. The article concludes by briefly considering the tensions, which such a sense of agency may cause in the current climate of what it means for pupils to ‘get better’ at RE.

KEYWORDS:

• Religious education
• secondary
• teacher agency
• initial teacher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Participants in this research undertook a 1-year induction as Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs). Since September 2021 this has been replaced by the 2-year ‘Early Career Teacher’ induction in all English schools.

2. General Certificate of Secondary Education. The compulsory examinations sat by pupils at the end of their Secondary education.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sjay Patterson-Craven

Sjay Patterson-Craven currently works at Edge Hill University where she leads on Initial Teacher Education for the Secondary and Further Education phase. Prior to this she led on Post Graduate ITE for Secondary RE and taught RE in secondary schools in Manchester. She completed her EdD in 2021 which explored the teacher agency of NQTs in RE