Development of Greek-Cypriot teachers’ professional identities: is there a ‘sense’ of growth?

Abstract

In an effort to explore Greek-Cypriot teachers’ development of professional identities, the current study reveals the ways in which seven teachers in one primary school in Cyprus perceive themselves as agents improving their teaching and growing as professionals. In-depth interviews indicate that teachers’ conceptions of good teaching reflect a focus on results rather than processes while respondents perceive of their professional growth throughout the years as minimal. Teachers further demonstrate unsophisticated understandings of their own professional development, shifting the emphasis to seminars and underlining the system’s – rather than their own – responsibility for development. Interestingly, respondents acknowledge the value of informal collegial exchange of views, naturally emerging in school settings. In this regard, building system-wide capacity for good teaching through opportunities for shared learning in schools along with enhanced teacher responsibilization for professional development are further discussed.

Keywords:

• teacher professional development
• self-improvement
• good teaching
• teachers’ perceptions
• responsibilization