In search of a ‘professional compass’? GTE January 2014 Dr Clare Brooks GTE January 2014 Dr Clare Brooks

Since then... Age of super-complexity Increased accountability Policy/popular discourse of “crisis” Changing expectations by “teacher professionalism” School locus of change: policy technologies Teacher resilience and commitment What does it mean to be a geography teacher in this day and age?

Teacher Identity research … But says little about role of subject (geographic) identity? Interplay... - Context (s) - Individual Important … - Sense of “self” - Emotional - Sustaining - Shaped through reflection - Revealed through stories Being a teacher and Doing teaching Self and Others : Identity and Culture Being a teacher and Doing teaching Self and Others : Identity and Culture

Negotiating the classroom – Helena

Helena’s lesson on the Andes Lesson episodeBrief description of activityKnowledge “source” Lesson RecapStudent RecallStudents Extended recap Working in pairs, recall on knowledge from previous lesson Students Atlas activity Pair work with atlas, describing location Atlas Contrasting Andes and Alps Slide show (with music) of people living in the Andes. Slide Show / students Ask the Expert Textbook spread – developing questions and answers Textbook Note taking from newspaper article Interrogation of a newspaper article on farming practices of the Incas Newspaper article PlenaryReview of skills used during lessonStudents

Perspectives on Knowledge Content determined by the (GCSE) specification Locational knowledge – “important”; “key”; “geographical” Ask an expert – “just recall”; “no understanding” Textbooks and Articles – “because I’m not allowed to talk to them” Underpinned by her “subject story”: – Geography is about ways of understanding the world – Learning geography is about getting best results

Influences are mediated through contexts – Cultures of influence

Mediated through subject expertise Place Social Justice Balance Seeing world differently May not seem geographical at first BUT full of meaning Articulates purpose Developed early in their geographical career (when it became meaningful to them) Sustained their desire to continue with geography Sustained their desire to teach (or pass on geography) Continues to sustain them

These identities are shaped by subject/discipline (after Stengel) the relative focus on academic, pedagogical, utilitarian and existential concerns; the extent to which the moral is allowed and encouraged; the underlying view of knowledge.

Showing direction Macro level – “what should the GNC include?” Meso level – “school assessment policy?” Micro level – “how to explain x?” Moral dimension Meaningful and Purposeful Grounded in their geographical expertise

A Professional Compass Significance? – Political – Developmental – Personal – Professional