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Arguing for Your Self: identity as an organising principle in teachers' jobs and lives
Author(s) -
Maclure Maggie
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
british educational research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1469-3518
pISSN - 0141-1926
DOI - 10.1080/0141192930190401
Subject(s) - identity (music) , sociology , self concept , psychology , pedagogy , mathematics education , social psychology , aesthetics , philosophy
Biography and life history are currently enjoying a revival in educational research and development. This article considers the implications of adopting a ‘biographical attitude’ to research and policy issues, and explores the notion of identity as an organising principle in teachers' jobs and lives. Identity, it is suggested, can be seen as a kind of argument— a resource that people use to explain, justify and make sense of themselves in relation to others, and to the world at large. While identity is a site of permanent struggle for everyone, teachers may be undergoing a particularly acute crisis of identity, as the old models and exemplars of teacherhood disintegrate under contemporary social and economic pressures. The article is based upon an empirical study of 69 primary and secondary teachers .