Clasificación de los sistemas de energía solar térmica

3.1.1 Differing components: knowledge and skills, work and others (colleagues)

Throughout this thesis the following definition of professional identity, created by two American sociologists is used.

“professional identity can be defined as the perception of oneself as a professional and is closely related to the knowledge and skills one has, the work one does, and the work- related significant others or the reference group”

(Bucher and Stelling, 1977)

This definition highlights that there are three main components to professional identity; one’s own knowledge and skills, work and work- related others or colleagues.

3.1.2 Knowledge and skills

According to Bucher and Stelling’s (1977) definition, a further significant component of professional identity, is knowledge and skills. Knowledge and skills are linked very closely to work. Work has to be underpinned by knowledge of how to do that job and having the required skills to do the work. This again is significant for this thesis and its research participants, as prior to commencing teaching, FE teachers will have gained a plethora of knowledge and skills from their main occupation (see Gleeson and Mardle

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1980, Robson 1998a and Gleeson et al 2005). For example a plumber will typically have studied a qualification encompassing the acquisition of key practical skills required to do the job as well as the relevant underpinning knowledge. However as the practitioner progresses towards teaching a different set of knowledge and skills will be required which in turn will impact on their perceived professional identity.

3.1.3 Work

A significant component of professional identity described in the above definition is work. Work is what one does typically on a day to day basis in an occupation. Work in many occupations is also described as ‘practice’. This term practice is used when describing what teachers typically do in their job. This definition states that how one perceives one’s professional identity is intrinsically linked to what teachers ‘do’. This work component is extremely pertinent for this study, as the study is seeking to understand how FE teachers’ identity is formed, as they transfer from practitioner to teacher, or from one ‘form’ of work to another. The link that Bucher and Stelling make between work and identity, suggests that an FE teacher’s professional identity will change, since what they do in their job changes in their journey to becoming FE teachers. Professional identity is also linked to workplace learning, and according to (Illeris, 2011:40) is “typically developed through a combination of vocational education and work”.

3.1.4 The impact of colleagues on professional identity

Bucher and Stelling (1977) refer to the “work-related others” as one of the three key influences of professional identity. They argue that working alongside others in an organisation can provide a rich source of learning and development, particularly at the initial training period of a new job. This training process in many organisations is referred to as mentoring, which, in FE teacher training, encompasses new teachers being assigned a dedicated experienced practitioner, primarily for support and guidance (Cunningham 2012).

Research on the impact of mentoring and learning from others on new FE teachers’ identity is limited, which is a factor in the rationale for this thesis highlighted in section 1.8. Some of the research published on trainee FE teachers’ engagement with

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teachers (Bathmaker and Avis 2005, Lucas and Unwin 2009, Maxwell 2010a), in which trainees felt as though they were treated as “outsiders”, and, rather than being

welcomed into the community of FE teachers, were “marginalised” (Bathmaker and Avis, 2005:55). Lucas and Unwin (2009) asserted that colleges had failed to recognise that new teachers are both “workers and learners (trainee teachers)” and would benefit from “greater support from more experienced colleagues” (Lucas and Unwin,

2009:431).

The influence of others and colleagues in communities is discussed in more detail in section 4.2.6 of the chapter concerning workplace learning. Bucher and Stelling’s (1977) definition provides the theoretical position this work adopts and illustrates the key components of professional identity that will be explored in the thesis. The position of professional identity within the wider discourse of FE professionalism is examined now.

3.1.5 Identity within the professionalism discourse

A significant aspect of the psychological concept of professional identity is how the individual articulates or ‘professes their identity’ and how their individual view of identity relates to the ‘body’ of professionals within an occupational group (Illeris 2011). Briggs (2005:20) argues that professionalism concerns primarily a conscious act of professing a set of values. These values or codes are then monitored corporately through the organisation that the professional belongs to, and also individually through individual reflection. She argues that within FE, teachers are committed to

professionalism in a tripartite manner, the three key elements of which are illustrated in Figure 1. This profession of identity- ‘the profession which I belong to’ is particularly significant for this research, as this thesis is concerned with how a change in

professional identity occurs and what the most significant factors in that change process are. Evidence that will be examined now suggests that this ‘change’ process is

fragmented and non- linear, primarily due to FE teachers’ commitment to their former occupation or profession.

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Figure 1 Tripartite commitment to professionalism (Briggs 2005:20)