PhD study

Vocational teachers’ professional identity negotiations and agency amid changing work practices

Katja Vähäsantanen

 

Finnish vocational teachers face continuous changes in their work organizations and the contents of their work. This PhD study examines vocational teachers’ professional identity negotiations and agency amid changing work practices. The study in its final form will include five empirical sub-studies. The data for the study were obtained via open-ended narrative interviews. Sixteen vocational teachers were interviewed from one vocational institution in 2006, and fourteen of these teachers were re-interviewed in 2007. The interviews were analysed via different qualitative approaches. The empirical findings of the sub-studies are published in five international refereed publications. The findings will be related to theorizing regarding professional identity and agency at work, and the conceptualization of socio-cultural approaches. Furthermore, the study will consider (i) the support required for teachers’ identity work, commitment and well-being amid changes, (ii) fruitful conditions for teachers’ work in boundary-crossing settings between school and working life, and (iii) requirements for developing education and for remaking the work practices of workplaces.