One route to becoming a qualified teacher in England is to complete a Post Graduate Certificate in Education. The first obstacle for these potential teachers is to be successfully selected onto a course. The potential teachers need to possess the appropriate personal and intellectual qualities required to become teachers. This study has sought to uncover how the gatekeepers to the teaching profession- the subject tutors and practising teachers involved in the selection process make the decisions as to whether a potential teacher has these appropriate personal qualities. The study considered what the potential teachers own construct of a teacher was, as they arrived for the selection interview. It explored what the practising teachers and subject tutors consider as appropriate qualities for these potential teachers. This research used grounded theory as the methodology for exploring how these potential teachers are selected onto an Initial Teacher Education programme. The analysis of the research has led to five emerging themes and a possible model to illustrate how the subject tutors and teachers select these potential teachers. The research highlights that the subject tutor interviews are semi structured in nature. It suggests that subject tutors expect these potential teachers to exhibit some evidence of six groups of ‘qualities’. These include; personal qualities (including the ability to reflect on their own development), subject knowledge for teaching, enthusiasm for the subject, experiences of observing or working with pupils, some knowledge of schools settings and some knowledge of the teaching profession. The practising teachers similarly expect potential teachers to have, personal qualities, vocational qualities, some knowledge of their subject and some knowledge of teaching. The research suggests that there is congruence between what the gatekeepers to the teaching profession often refer to as their ‘gut feelings’ about the potential teachers and the qualities referred to in research studies. This may give the gatekeepers greater confidence that their professional judgements are secure, and that ‘gut feelings’ masquerading as professional judgment can be relied upon!

The current coalition government in England has expressed its commitment to establishing an autonomous teaching profession. This study argues that such autonomy cannot exist in a system that is ideologically driven by market forces and neo-liberal policy. The best situation that most teachers can hope to experience – barring a seismic shift in material conditions – is an earned and scrutinised autonomy, which is an oxymoronic concept. It is argued that the tight control exercised by the state over what happens in schools through its promotion of market forces, reinforces the ideological nature of schooling in England. The theoretical and ontological basis of the study resides in an orthodox Marxist perspective and analyses the way in which neo-liberalism has formed the basis for the material conditions under which teachers currently work. It develops this idea to demonstrate how this dominant ideology pervades current discourse about pedagogy and curriculum, reducing such discourse to a narrower consideration of ‘standards’. It considers how this diminution of what the curriculum has become has, in its turn, had an impact on teachers’ view of their professional autonomy. Data are gathered from two rounds of interviews with 22 serving teachers complemented by some written responses from them. Six others with a professional interest in education policy-making, four of whom are headteachers, are also interviewed. The conclusion is drawn that teachers’ autonomy remains restricted, with any independence of action largely contingent upon the production of outcomes measured against limited, pre-determined and ideologically driven outcomes. The study identifies a disconnection between the aspirations of teachers with regard to their professional autonomy and those of some, but not all, headteachers. A further disconnection between the aspirations of teachers and the policies of central government is also identified. Significantly, teachers may enjoy more professional autonomy in those schools which currently, and possibly temporarily, enjoy market popularity. In terms of a contribution to the debate about teacher autonomy, the study demonstrates that, notwithstanding the effects of the current policy ensemble, teachers maintain a sense of what education could offer young people that goes beyond the existing, reductive models that frame their working lives.