Social class (in)visibility and the professional experiences of middle-class novice teachers

Hall, David; Jones, Lisa

Abstract

This article focuses upon the classed and early professional experiences of middle-class novice teachers in England experiencing and contemplating working in schools serving socio-economically disadvantaged communities. Through an examination of the visibility and invisibility of social class in education set within an increasingly unequal and changed social landscape, the article reports upon research which seeks to better understand the class identities of these teachers. Evidence is presented of the key, yet complex, role that social class occupies within the working lives of new teachers and reveals the different ways in which teachers respond to the classed dimensions of their early professional experiences. It is concluded that the fundamentally important role that social class plays in terms of shaping early professional experiences in teaching suggests the need not only for a commensurately enhanced focus as part of early professional development, but also for attention that is sensitively attuned to the class identities of teachers.

Citation

Hall, D., & Jones, L. (2013). Social class (in)visibility and the professional experiences of middle-class novice teachers. Journal of education for teaching : JET, 39(4), 416-428. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2013.782121

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 29, 2013
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Oct 20, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 23, 2017
• Journal: Journal of education for teaching
• Print ISSN: 0260-7476
• Electronic ISSN: 1360-0540
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 39
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 416-428
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2013.782121
• Keywords: Class identity, Social class, Middle class, Socio-economic disadvantage, Novice teachers
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/444455
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02607476.2013.782121
• Additional Information: This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article published in: Journal of education for teaching, 2013, v.39 issue 4.