Professional Identity Development through Incidental Learning

Book excerpt: Since the early 1990s there has been a persistent drive towards professionalising the education sector, with a particular focus on those responsible for teaching the post-fourteen age group. This shift towards recognition of the sector in terms of the professionals who teach within it has led to constant, repetitive revision of teaching standards, the regulation and subsequent de-regulation of the teaching qualifications and the introduction of professional bodies. This book aims to explore the way that professional identity develops for trainee teachers, in the FE and Skills sector, with a particular emphasis on the role that incidental learning has in this development. The author argues for a more holistic approach to the development of professionalism through these informal learning experiences, as opposed to a criteria based approach.