Four ‘academic sub-tribes’, but one territory? Teacher educators and teacher education in Scotland

Abstract

This paper takes a sociocultural approach to questions around the professional identity of teacher educators in Scotland. Through an analysis of the historical trajectory of Scottish teacher education and its institutions, it is suggested that there are four distinctive groups of staff currently working in the university departments that provide all of the initial teacher education. The professional backgrounds and experiences of these four groups are illustrated by data drawn from a series of interviews with Scottish teacher educators. The members of each of the four groups tend to have different relationships both with the academy and with the teaching profession. As they develop their careers as teacher educators, the continuously changing institutional environment may create different pressures on them, some of these emerging as identity conflicts, even though they are all working within the same ‘territory’ of teacher education.

Keywords:

• Scotland
• teacher educators
• professional identities

Acknowledgements

Thanks to my colleague Moira Hulme for comments on an earlier draft of this paper, as well as to my fellow members of the Teacher Education Group for the discussions which gave rise to some of the ideas reported here: Martin Jephcote, Marion Jones, Jeanne Keay, Trevor Mutton and Jean Murray.

Notes

1. The published report (Donaldson 2011) does not call for any immediate institutional change to university provision, although the continuing financial pressures in universities across Scotland have led to further staff reductions (June 2011).

2. In at least one pilot scheme, university staff are now being based partly in schools. Donaldson (2011) may lead to ’joint appointments’ by universities and local authorities (June 2011).

3. The Donaldson Report (Donaldson 2011) advocates the development of ‘hub schools’, as specialist centres for teacher education.