Le Gallais, Tricia Anne (2006) Building identities in FE: A case study of construction lecturers. PhD thesis, Birmingham City University, UK.
Abstract
This case study focuses upon a group of construction lecturers at Riverford College and their perspectives on change and working in the Further Education (FE) sector. In seeking to understand how they create consciousness (both individual and collective) the research participants' lives are retrospectively traced from childhood to their present posts as vocational lecturers at Riverford College. The research shows that their relative 'failure' to engage with the 'literate culture' (Young 1975) of schooling becomes rebalanced through the process of enculturation into their trades. Thus, their lengthy apprenticeships provide a set of cultural norms and professional standards which become the touchstone of their professional identity. Despite their resistance to the notion of their professional identity being grounded in their membership of the teaching profession, this group of construction lecturers exhibits many of the attributes expected of professional educators. This is evidenced through their strong service ethic, high standards as practitioners, subject knowledge and expertise, and in their attention to the holistic experience of their students (this is in line with Hoyle's (1975) 'extended professional'). However, the indications from this research are that the far-reaching effects of incorporation, accompanied by the rise of a prescriptive professional identity driven by a control and compliance model of management in FE has led the lecturers to attempt to resist this process by reasserting their autonomy. This has taken the form of a reinforcement of the communities of practice of their former trades and the professional standards they acquired during their time 'on the tools'. Essentially, this has meant a sloughing away from imposed professional standards towards looking outside the college for professional reference points. The research argues that the need to retain significant autonomy over orientation and practice has been neglected by policy makers and managers with the unanticipated consequence that commitment to college direction and purpose becomes weakened.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | identity, reinforcement, manager, practitioner, profession, apprenticeship, consciousness, communities of practice, norms, case study, compliance, commitment |
| Subjects: | human factors and perception, data collection methods, practitioner, professional education, knowledge management, sociology, health safety and environment, building materials, psychology, institututions |
| Topics: | Health and Safety, Construction Materials, Roles and Professions, Information Management, Organizational Design, Education, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here