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The study investigates how teachers in one Slovenian primary school talk about their professional identity and work following participation in Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) based CPD in comparison with other teachers. NLP is usually defined as a behavioural model and a set of explicit techniques, developed by Bandler and Grinder (1976) by studying patterns created in interaction between brain, language and body. This study has defined NLP as an approach to developing professional practice through modelling. The background to the study was the researcher's personal experience of being a teacher in the midst of the conflicts in ex-Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the main aim has been to explore the teachers' subjective experiences and representations of their professional identity and their work with a hope of developing the professional practice. The study examined comparatively two groups of teachers (14 Slovenian primary school teachers) looking for similarities and differences in the way they talk about their professional identity and their work. The epistemological position of the study is interpretivism combined with several overarching frameworks including 'constructive' critical theory and a 'constructive' action research approach. Semi-structured interviews, non-participant structured observations, reflective diaries and video-stimulated interviews were used for data collection and the data was coded both deductively and inductively. The study showed significant differences and some similarities between the two groups of teachers and their way of talking about professional identity and their work. The teachers who attended NLP-based CPD tended to see themselves as nurturers/carers and awakeners, underpinning their professional identity with values such as fun, Tatjana Dragovic EdD dissertation 10 curiosity and enjoyment. The teachers who did not attend NLP-based CPD emphasized the importance of being an instructor, underpinning it with values such as responsibility, equality and fairness. Evidence suggests that teachers who attended NLP-based CPD talk about themselves as more self-sustained and in more positive terms than other teachers. They also appear more prepared to maintain their professional identity irrespective of personal, social or political changes/critical events. There was also evidence of similarities in the two groups' perception of the teacher identity as being multifaceted and teaching being a calling. The study can have interesting implications for the design of continuing professional development (CPD) courses, where less focus on skills and knowledge and more focus on beliefs, values and identity might be more effective.

This thesis reports on an investigation into the role of the ESL component of a teacher professional development (PO) system in a national-level curriculum innovation initiative - the Malaysian Smart School Curriculum (SSC) project. The central aim of the study was to attempt to carry out an in-depth investigation of the functioning of a PD system occurring in a context which is currently under-represented in research and theorising, with a view to contributing thereby to the further development of understanding about such systems and their overall conceptualisation. The study employed a mixed-method design, consisting of an initial "horizontal" dimension and a subsequent ''vertical'' one. The former took the form of a survey of ESL teachers and ESL "managers" in a single state within Malaysia, aimed at eliciting information and views about the functioning of the SSC PO system. The latter consisted of a case study, based on a single SSC secondary school in the same state. Interviews, field notes and documentary analysis were used to elicit data, with a similar focus to that obtained in the first part of the study, from the school's ESL teachers, management team and the wider related network of SSC PO personnel. The findings were analysed in terms of the "state-of-the-art" model of PO presented in Adey (2004). In overall terms, a number of major discrepancies were found between the two systems. In the main, the SSC PO system was found to have an overall "Skills and Knowledge Transmission" orientation, i.e., to focus mainly on the provision of "input" about the SSC via off-site training courses with relatively little on-site follow-up, in contrast to the additional presence in Adey's model of an important linked "Community of Practice"-oriented PO element. The SSC PO system was also seen, by and large, not to have brought about the desired understanding at the classroom level of how to put SSC-related teaching and learning techniques into practice. However, these outcomes were not viewed as implying that PD systems such as the SSC one should simply be redeveloped to conform to the "prestige" model. Rather, it is argued that there needs to be greater appreciation of the way the design of PO systems is influenced by socio-cultural factors, and of the importance of attempting to remedy any shortcomings in them in a culturally-appropriate manner.

A radical review of initial teacher training in England and Wales was brought about by the implementation of Circular 9/92, 'Initial Teacher Training (Secondary Phase)' (DES, 1992). The Circular laid out criteria and procedures for accreditation of courses. This virtually removed the traditional autonomy that the universities had had in the training of initial teachers for over one hundred years. The roles and responsibilities of tutors and teachers were drastically changed, with teachers becoming 'mentors' and taking almost total control of the extensive school-based elements, including the assessment of students. Tutors had to prepare students for their extended school experiences, train mentors and carry out a quality control function to ensure the students were adequately trained in the schools. Courses were to be based on the achievement by students of competences which were for the most part concerned with the acquisition of classroom skills. Thus theory was to be subordinate to practice. It followed logically from this that the schools' contribution was to become more vital than that of the Higher Education Institutions (REls). The REls were to form partnerships with schools and the teachers empowered to train new teachers in a way not before envisaged. This posed the questions: Would it work? Could it work? This thesis examines the development of one such Partnership. It traces the thinking behind the philosophy of the Partnership and the influence that philosophy had on Course development. It highlights the innovative features of the Course and identifies the structural and procedural difficulties that arose from the developmental processes. It attempts to evaluate the success of the first year of the Partnership by examiningthe provision for student training in the schools and in the University, and to provide guidelines for the development of the programme. The evaluation of provision was carried out by using questionnaires which identified every element of training provided by the Partnership. Three questionnaires were developed with students, mentors and tutors identifying the elements received or provided. The responses made by the different parties were then compared. The results of the study demonstrated that the Partnership is generally working successfully in the training of students on the secondary Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) Course which is an example of good Initial Teacher Education (ITE). The Course has many strengths and some weaknesses. The greatest strength is the provision made for the students so they may develop the skills required to be excellent classroom practitioners. Both mentors and tutors have adopted the role of student trainers successfully and most mentors have worked through the competency model of ITE. The weaknesses lie in the following areas: the consistency of provision for students; the variety of activities experienced by students; the appropriate use of the competency model of training by some tutors and; the integration of theory and practice by the majority of both mentors and tutors. As the Partnership evolves all the weaknesses have been, or are being addressed, with the exception of the integration of theory and practice which still remains a thorny issue.

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