Nailing Down an Identity – The Voices of Six Carpentry Educators
Abstract
This paper reports on a small research study in which six carpentry tutors at an urban polytechnic were interviewed regarding their identity and perceptions of their work as trades educators. Some preliminary findings suggest that the ‘occupational identity’ (Seddon, 2008) of trades educators as ‘teachers’ is less problematic than suggested (see Haycock & Kelly, 2009). This paper argues that notions of good teaching within Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) may be driven by normative/singular notions of pedagogy that do not recognize specific or ‘signature pedagogies’ (Shulman, 2005) active within trades education. It is suggested that further work in the area of ‘signature pedagogies’ for the trades will legitimise trade educator practice. However, it may challenge professional developers, teacher trainers and educational administrators within institutions to reconsider their assumptions about what constitutes ‘good teaching’ in a trade related environment.
Downloads
References
Adams, D., & Gamage, D. (2008). A study of leadership effectiveness in a large VET institution in Australia. International Journal of Educational Management, 22(2), 214-228.
Anderson, D., Brown, M., & Rushbrook, P. (2004). Vocational education andtraining. In G. Foley (Ed.), Dimensions of adult learning: Adult educationand training in a global era. Berkshire, England: Open University Press.
Anderson, D., Clemans, D., Farrell, A., & Seddon, T. (2001). Re-imagining VET. Education Links, 63, 21-26.
Attwell, G. (2007). New roles for vocational education and training teachers and trainers in Europe: A new framework for their education. Journal of European Industrial Education, 256-265.
Bathmaker, A., & Avis, J. (2005). Becoming a lecturer in further education in England: The construction of professional identity and the role of communities of practice. Journal of Education for Teaching, 31(1), 47-62.
Beaty, L. (1998). The professional development of teachers in higher education: Structures, methods and responsibilities. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 35(2), 9.
Billett, S. (2009). Overview: The technical and vocational education and training profession. In R. Maclean & D. Wilson (Eds.), International Handbook of Education for the Changing World of Work [electronic resource]: Bridging Academic and Vocational Education.http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-1-4020-5280-4
Brown, M. (2010). Examining historical narratives around 'hands on' learningand industrial education. Paper presented at the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association 13th Annual Conference,Gold Coast, Australia, 8-9 April.
Carew, A., Lefoe, G., Bell, M., & Armour, L. (2008). Elastic practice in academic developers. International Journal for Academic Development, 13(1), 51-66.
Chappell, C. (2001). Issues of teacher identity in a restructuring Australian vocational education and training (VET) system. Australian and NewZealand Journal of Vocational Education Research, 9(1), 21-39.
Chappell, C., & Johnston, R. (2003). Changing work. Changing roles for vocational education and training teachers and trainers. Adelaide, Australia: National Centre for Vocational Education and Research.
Figgis, J. (2009). Regenerating the Australian landscape of professional VET practice: Practitioner-driven changes to teaching and learning. A National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation Program Report. Adelaide, Australia: NCVER.
Gleeson, D., Davies, J., & Wheeler, E. (2005). On the making and taking of professionalism in the further education workplace. British Journal ofSociology of Education, 26(4), 445-460.
Goodson, I. (2001). The story of life history: Origins of the life history method insociology. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research,1(2), 129-142.
Goodson, I., & Choi, P. (2008). Life history and collective memory as methodological strategies: studying teacher professionalism. (Company overview). Teacher Education Quarterly, 35(2), 5.
Goodson, I., &Numan, U. (2002). Teacher's life worlds, agency and policy contexts. Teachers & Teaching, 8(3/4), 269-277.
Grollmann, P. (2009). Professionalization of VET teachers and lecturers andpractices in TVET Institutions in an international perspective. In R.Maclean & D. Wilson (Eds.), International Handbook of Education for the Changing World of Work [electronic resource]: Bridging Academic and Vocational Education. http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-1-4020-5280-4
Harris, R., Simons, M., & Clayton, B. (2005). Shifting Mindsets. The changing work roles of vocational education and training practitioners. Adelaide: NCVER.
Haycock, J., & Kelly, D. (2009). From 'trade teacher' to 'critically reflective practitioner': The relationship between theory and occupational identity formation in TAFE teachers. Paper presented at the AVETRA Conference, Sydney, Australia.
Hillier, Y. (2009). Innovation in teaching and learning in vocational educationand training: International perspectives, A National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation Program Report. Adelaide, Australia: NCVER.
Jesson, J. (2010). University teaching: Unpicking some issues. In J. Jesson, V.Carpenter, M. McLean, M. Stephenson & Airini (Eds.), University teaching reconsidered. Wellington: Dunmore.
Kell, P. (2004). A social and political role for TAFE teaching. Professional Voice,3, 3.
MacFarlane, B., & Hughes, G. (2009). Turning teachers into academics? The role of educational development in fostering synergy between teaching and research. Innovations in Education and Teaching International,46(1), 5-14.
Marginson, S. (2000). Rethinking academic work in the global era. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 22(1), 23-35.
Ministry of Education. (2010). Tertiary Education Strategy, 2010-2015. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Myers, M., & Young, L. (1997). Hidden agendas, power and managerial assumptions in information systems development. An ethnographic study. Information Technology and People, 10(3), 224-240.
Palmieri, P. (2004). Approaches to the idea of the 'good teacher' in vocational education and training. Paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education, Melbourne, Australia.
Parker, J., Chambers, E., Huber, M., & Phipps, A. (2008). Editorial: Boundaries, signature pedagogies and theorizing. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 7(2), 115.
Ramsden, P. (2008). The future of higher education teaching and the student experience. UK: Higher Education Academy.
Robertson, I. (2008). VET teachers' knowledge and expertise. International Journal of Training Research, 6(1), 1-22.
Rorabaugh, W. (1988). The craft apprentice: From Franklin to the machine age in America. New York: Oxford University Press.
Schuller, A., & Bergami, R. (2008). A teacher’s voice on workplace change and curriculum influence through industry placement. The International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management, 7(11), 1-7.
Seddon, T. (2008). Crafting capacity in VET: Towards an agenda for learningand researching in the VET workforce. Paper presented at the VocationalEducation and Training Research Association Conference. Retrieved 1October, 2009, fromhttp://www.avetra.org.au/AVETRA%20WORK%2011.04.08/P4%20-%20Terri%20Seddon
Shulman, L. (2005). Signature pedagogies in the professions. Daedalus, Summer, 52-59.
Stevenson, J. (2007). Technical and further education reforms: Theoretical issues. The Australian Researcher, 34(3), 15-34.
Vahasantanen, K., & Etelapelto, A. (2009). Vocational teachers in the face of amajor educational reform: Individual ways of negotiating professional identities. Journal of Education & Work, 22(1), 15-33.
Willis, P., & Trondman, M. (2002). Manifesto for ethnography. Cultural Studies – Critical Methodologies, 2(3), 394-402.
Copyright (c) 2023 Lisa Maurice-Takerei, Joce Jesson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.