BEYOND WHAT IS COVERED: THE PERCEPTIONS OF PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY FOR A NEW TEACHER IN A CULTURALLY DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT

This study explores the discourses that occurred within me as a new teacher starting my career at a culturally ‘different’ school. In particular it examines how teaching in this environment impacted my own professional identities and my construction of those I perceived as being culturally ‘different’ or the ‘other.’ For the purposes of this thesis identity will be defined as one’s changing concept o f herself and how she seeks to portray this concept to others through daily performances. This sense of self is formed by one’s internal discourses regarding her own skills, values and abilities as well as external discourses o f how she perceives her audience views her performances of self. Discourse in this study is defined as conveying meaning through language, clothing, gestures, body language, symbols or other means. This study employs qualitative and autoethnographic methodologies. Over one hundred journal entries ranging from poems and prose to single sentence entries were analyzed for major themes and patterns. Findings indicated that when I as a new teacher felt my professionalism was not respected by the administration, I developed strong feelings of incompetence and fear of being revealed as an imposter. With the continuation of feeling judged and deemed as unprofessional or illegitimate by the administration, a discourse or perception of self and ‘other’ emerged in my daily journals. The importance o f mutually respecting relationships with the socially constructed ‘other’ are highlighted along with the creation of a third space where discussion of‘differences may occur. When both these elements became part of my experience the perception of my professional incompetence and the ominous ‘other’ faded

Comparing Notes: Recording and Criticism

This chapter charts the ways in which recording has changed the nature of music criticism. It both provides an overview of the history of recording and music criticism, from the advent of Edison’s Phonograph to the present day, and examines the issues arising from this new technology and the consequent transformation of critical thought and practice

The Italian London of John North: Cultural contact and linguistic encounter in early modern England

This article takes as its subject the remarkable diary kept by a young English gentleman named John North from 1575 to 1579. On his journey home from Italy in 1575 -77, North changed the language of his diary from English to Italian. On his return to London, he continued to keep a record of his everyday life in Italian. This article uses North's diary as a starting point from which to reconstruct the social and sensory worlds of a returned traveler and Italianate gentleman. In doing so, it offers a way of bridging the gap between individual experiences and personal networks on the one hand, and the wider processes of cultural encounter and linguistic contact on the other

Wider Still and Wider: British Music Criticism since the Second World War

This chapter provides the first historical examination of music criticism in Britain since the Second World War. In the process, it also challenges the simplistic prevailing view of this being a period of decline from a golden age in music criticism