“I’m always the unusual one”: exploring the dialogic identities of male primary teachers

During the past two decades, there has been a drive towards the recruitment of primary teachers from diverse backgrounds and experiences, including more men. Nevertheless, in 2016, 85% of teachers working in primary and nursery settings were female (DfE, 2017a), more men drop out of teacher training than women, although proportionally more are found in school leadership roles (DfE, 2017a). In order to bring meaning to teacher workforce statistics, research directs focus to male primary teachers’ identities, claiming that dominant discourses pressurise men to display typical masculine behaviour within a feminised environment. The discourse positions men as ‘high flyers’, legitimising their career choice and swift promotion into management – by presenting them as role models for problematic boys, or as vulnerable in the workplace, struggling with a negative discourse that places them under scrutiny. This thesis adds to our understanding of men’s experience in the female-dominated space of the primary school through an exploration of the identity development and enactment of a group of male students as they progress from their final undergraduate year leading to qualified teacher status into their first year of teaching and beyond. Framing their narratives of becoming a teacher within Holland et al.’s (1998) theory of ‘Figured Worlds’, this thesis moves beyond assumption of fixed identities and performances that are determined by dominant gender discourses towards an emphasis on the dialogic nature of identity development: an ongoing ‘self-in-practice’. It explores how the culture of the primary school is characterised by particular figures and values, where dominant discourses and narratives of self - make available and legitimise particular positional identities and performances for male teachers. I argue that when men first enter primary schools they demonstrate resistance to their discursive positioning as ‘unsuitable’, negotiating hegemonic masculine discourse in order to reposition themselves as a successful teacher and valued male role model. However, over a time-frame of three years, my participants were able to create nuanced dialogic responses to their position within the primary school environment, beginning to disrupt prevailing discursive identities, and form their “own opinions” about what it means to be a male primary teacher

The identity dilemmas of Early Career Teachers from under-represented groups in the UK

Uncontested narratives of normality in primary teacher training are located and demonstrated in heteronormativity, whiteness, able-bodiedness and femininity. Early-Career Teachers who know and feel they lie outside of these are positioned uneasily as they try to locate spaces to express their identities and enable self-agency. This article explores how beginning teachers from under-represented groups come to understand themselves and others during the process of becoming a primary teacher. Through qualitative analysis of video stories of 12 novice primary teachers, we identified salient themes including dilemmas around identity invisibility/hypervisibility and lack of agency to (re)construct their identities. Our findings have implications for teacher educators and school leaders to provide new teachers opportunities to explore their identity dilemmas alongside their peers in safe spaces. Developing provision that builds beginning teachers’ peer networks alongside their understanding of self may not only offer an outlet for self-agency but impact on teacher retention from those located in under-represented groups

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Developing through reflection and collaborative enquiry

Professionalism in teaching is not a status ascribed on qualifying to teach, but a dynamic process of action, reflection, enquiry and experimentation. This chapter identifies critical reflection and collaborative enquiry as core tenets of professionalism in teaching. We acknowledge that professional learning is most effective when it addresses the specific needs of teachers and the pupils they teach (i.e. grows from locally identified priorities), is undertaken in situ (within the context of practice), and is sustained over time (at least two terms for bespoke Continuing Professional Development). The frameworks and strategies outlined in this chapter are intended to support your development as a learning professional in school. The chapter is structured in two sections. First, we revisit the crucial role of reflection for professional learning drawing on examples from primary teachers at different stages of their professional learning journey. Cycles of reflection are used to illustrate the process of iterative professional learning. Second, we address the importance of collaboration using four examples of collaborative professional learning used in primary and secondary schools, and across clusters of schools: guided viewing of video, lesson study, learning rounds, and collaborative curriculum enquiry. The chapter concludes by drawing key themes together to help you plan for professional growth through the early career stage