Cultured or encultured?: A study of the cultural identities of English teachers and the English department in secondary schools

Thesis

This research explores the relationship between the identity of an English department in a secondary school and the individual teachers within that unit, and the ways in which the departmental identity interacts with that of the individual identity.  Although there is increasing pressure on all schools to perform within the competitive realm of league tables, schools’ reactions to these pressures vary. It is these variances and their effects on the cultural identities of English teachers and departments which the research investigates through case studies of three schools in the south of England. These case studies offer differing perspectives drawn from teachers with varied experience as teachers of English.

To facilitate an understanding of the process by which the departments interact with the individual identities, the qualitative data tools of semi-structured interviews, observations and documentary analysis were used. These tools provided data that illustrated both the department view and the individual view of identity.

Data was thematically analysed, initially through inductive coding where commonalities emerged. These commonalities were then synthesised to form a coding framework which was applied to deductive coding of the same data and across the data of the departments in two other schools. Findings suggest English teachers are diverse in their understanding of the role of an English teacher and the purpose of English teaching. Secondly, the construction of an English teacher’s identity is shaped by their past experiences, interactions with others and government and school wide policies and practices. The data indicated there are numerous external factors that influence the context in which teachers operate which can affect the individual’s identity. Finally, the study intimated that the culture of an English department is affected by external influences. The ways the department managed these varied due to the internal cultures of cooperation and a shared vision on the one hand and the top down imposition on the other. In both cases the departments’ responses impacted upon the identity of that individual.

Authors: Dingwall, N

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-o8ory8nnn
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: English teachers; identity; case studies; English departments
• Subjects: Education, Secondary; English; Teachers