Becoming a lecturer in further education in England: The construction of professional identity and the role of communities of practice

Avis, James; Bathmaker, Ann Marie

Abstract

Further education colleges in England offer a wide range of post-school education and training provision. Recently they have undergone major transformations that have resulted in considerable changes to the work of those teaching in them. In this paper we examine how cultures of learning and teaching in colleges are affected and how the nature of professional identity has changed. The paper considers the formation of professional identity amongst a group of trainee lecturers completing a one-year full-time teacher-training course at a university in the English Midlands. Lave and Wenger's work on apprenticeship to communities of practice is used to examine the effect of trainees' teaching placement on the development of professional identity. Rather than identifying effective processes of increasing participation in existing communities of practice, a strong sense of marginalisation and alienation amongst trainees was observed. The paper argues that this is detrimental both to trainees and experienced lecturers if they are to actively engage in building new forms of professionalism for the future. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd.

Citation

Avis, J., & Bathmaker, A. M. (2005). Becoming a lecturer in further education in England: The construction of professional identity and the role of communities of practice. Journal of Education for Teaching, 31(1), 47-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607470500043771

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2005
• Journal: Journal of Education for Teaching
• Print ISSN: 0260-7476
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 31
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 47-62
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02607470500043771
• Keywords: lecturing, further education, professional identity, communities of practice
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1054053
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02607470500043771
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is an electronic version of an article published in "Bathmaker, Ann-Marie (2005) Becoming a lecturer in further education in England: the construction of professional identity and the role of communities of practice. Journal of Education for Teaching, 31 (1). pp. 47-62". Journal of Education for Teaching is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/02607470500043771.