Exploring the professional socialisation of teachers in further education: a case study

Abstract

An ethnographic case study focusing on the experiences of one trainee further education teacher is reported. Following the principles of naturalistic enquiry, participant observation and reflexive interviews were used to construct data about the student teacher's experience of the untaught components of the professional training programme, namely her involvement and interactions in the placement college. Some of her coursework was also available for analysis. The data were analysed in terms of four categories (the control and management of students, the facilitating of learning, teaching-related administration and ways of passing on professional knowledge and experience). The student teacher's professional development and her relationships with ‘significant others’ are discussed briefly in terms of two key themes, identification and separation. There is a brief attempt to describe some of the possible implications of studies such as this for the further education teacher training curriculum and for the profession as a whole.