Identity, Scholarship and Professional Recognition in a College of Higher Education
Abstract
The “lifeworld” of staff, in a predominantly Further Education college, is examined within the macro framework of Higher Education in Further Education, now referred to as ‘College (based) Higher Education’ (CHE). The concern is with the development of ‘scholar teachers’ after Boyer (1997), in respect of their current self-identity and their aspirations for the future. This self-positioning embraces their experience of the socio-cultural milieu within which they co-exist, their intersubjectivity with others within this context, and the various influencing agents that have been purposely constructed (e.g., fora for dissemination and celebration of scholarly endeavour). All these co-constituted phenomena within the lifeworld of staff are explored in revealing how the past and present create imaginations and plans for what can be in the future. The influence of the accredited (internal) Higher Education Academy Fellowship Scheme is considered. Findings are work-in- progress and further research is required to reveal the ‘essence’ of ‘scholar teacher-hood’.
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