The legacy of community cohesion: exploring the teacher agency of beginner RE teachers

This article explores the teacher agency of five beginner RE teachers undertaking their 1-year probationary period (Post-Initial Teacher Education)1 in five Secondary RE departments in the North-West of England during the 2018/2019 academic year. Drawn from a piece of doctoral research, the article...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:British Journal of religious education
Main Author: Patterson-Craven, Sjay (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: [publisher not identified] 2023
In: British Journal of religious education
Year: 2023, Volume: 45, Issue: 4, Pages: 394-403
Further subjects:B secondary
B Religious Education
B teacher agency
B initial teacher education
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:This article explores the teacher agency of five beginner RE teachers undertaking their 1-year probationary period (Post-Initial Teacher Education)1 in five Secondary RE departments in the North-West of England during the 2018/2019 academic year. Drawn from a piece of doctoral research, the article discusses the findings of an interpretivist practitioner-inquiry, which adopted an ecological approach to teacher agency. The article suggests that for the beginner RE teachers involved in the research their sense of agency was significantly influenced by their own experiences of RE as secondary-aged pupils and that this is to a much greater extent than the current literature on teacher agency may acknowledge. The article suggests that despite the passage of time a ‘legacy of community cohesion’ dominates their sense of teacher agency and informs their sense of self as a teacher of RE. The article concludes by briefly considering the tensions, which such a sense of agency may cause in the current climate of what it means for pupils to ‘get better’ at RE.
ISSN:1740-7931
Contains:Enthalten in: British Journal of religious education
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/01416200.2023.2220937