Professional identity is a socially constructed concept, one we cannot physically measure, point to, see, touch or hear; yet we sense it in ourselves, even if it is not always clear what the identity is. Interwoven with professional identity, notions of ‘professionalism’, ‘re-professionalising’, ‘professionalisation’ and ‘raising professional standards’ have been common topics of debate surrounding teachers in the Further Education and Skills sector for many years. Whilst ninety percent of teachers in the Further Education (FE) sector undertake Initial Teacher Education (ITE) on a part-time basis whilst in-service, little is written about their experiences and the role these experiences play in shaping their professional identity. Primarily concerned with exploring the relationship between praxis and the professional identity of in-service, undergraduate trainee teachers, my research was designed to give voice to their experiences as they navigated their way through a part-time teacher education programme while working as full-time contracted teachers. Often these experiences are not articulated, and to a degree remain hidden. However, as a teacher educator I have been in the privileged position where trainee teachers have shared their stories with me. In keeping with the interpretive methodology and the bricolage method of the research, to give voice to the participants’ experiences I have used the structure of vignettes to create layered stories that are rich in detail and characterisation, and allow for the juxtaposing of their individual and shared experiences to reveal the implicit significance of their stories. The layered stories and discussion of findings in the thesis provide unique insight into the lived experiences of teachers in the hitherto largely neglected phase of in-service, undergraduate teachers in post-compulsory ITE.

For those who teach in higher education and draw on vocational rather than academic backgrounds, the processes of socialisation are complex, extended and highly conditioned by their ‘past’ professions. These professions are seen to provide both ‘resources’ and ‘dissonances’ in the transitions that constitute their progress towards becoming a teacher. Whilst a great deal has been written of these processes in older universities with high concentrations of academic staff whose careers are largely confined to higher education itself, relatively little is known of parallel processes in newer institutions that are highly connected to specific kinds of workplace. This study addresses the way in which the current literature has under-represented the experiences and perspectives of ‘late entrants’ to teaching in higher education who come to work in a university from a profession that is ‘outside’ of higher education itself. The study uses a case study approach based on a series of semistructured interviews to reveal and analyse the processes of socialisation for ten participants undertaking a programme of teacher training (PGCAP). It describes a certain kind of ‘insider’ research where closeness and rapport exist alongside asymmetries of power and forms of ‘guilty knowledge’. Narrative methods are used to analyse and represent the data from differing perspectives to reveal a range of engagements, commitments and experience. These are seen to shape the socialisation process through key ‘turning points’ promoting movement towards a teacher identity. The study draws on theoretical perspectives based on the work of Bernstein (2000) and Bandura (1997) in order to analyse core processes both situationally and from an individual perspective. The research raises key questions about the learning environments created for participants on this teacher training course and the wider discourses that influence such provision. It also challenges a growing assumption that the attempts by the state to control and improve teaching in higher education are incorporated into individual teaching practice.

Despite a number of reforms to education, concern over teachers’ knowledge and confidence to teach physical education persists. This thesis examines the process of becoming a primary physical educator at the initial stage of a teacher’s career. The aim of which is to consider the ways beginning teachers source their professional knowledge and the implications this has on their confidence to teach. The study argues for a clear articulation of the subject’s knowledge-base and proposes a framework for the development of knowledge in primary physical education initial teacher education. Participants were drawn from a range of providers in England and were in the final year of their programme. The research adopted a mixed method approach using an online survey to obtain quantitative data and interviews to elicit constructs about beliefs from four case-study participants. The study identified that beginning teachers had perceived high levels of confidence across the subject’s knowledge-base, but areas of most and least confidence were varied and personal to the individual. The sourcing of knowledge was mainly drawn from school and university settings, but in many cases personal interests and prior experiences formed a central role in sourcing content knowledge when no opportunity was presented. Despite the varying routes that exist to become a primary physical educator, this research argues that all beginning teachers require a breadth of knowledge during initial teacher preparation, with university and school partnerships offering explicit roles in developing professional knowledge to a secure level. It further argues that it is through a focus on individual teacher transformation, not merely reflection that will ensure inherent challenges faced by primary physical education will be addressed.