Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted: An Exploration of the Influence Research Engagement has on the Professional Identities of University-based Teacher Educators

Abstract

This thesis explores how engagement both with and in research shapes the professional identities of those working within the highly regulated and politically contested landscape of teacher education in England (V. Ellis & Childs, 2023). It is grounded in the work of Pierre Bourdieu and draws on the conceptual tools developed in texts such as Homo Academicus (Bourdieu, 2007) and Outline of a Theory of Practice (Bourdieu, 1977), alongside contemporary and affective readings of his work by scholars including Threadgold (2020) and S. Ahmed (2014). Through this lens, the study interrogates the often-marginalised role that research plays in the professional lives of teacher educators (Nicholson & Lander, 2022), offering insight into how teacher educators position themselves as both producers and consumers of research. The thesis assumes that understanding the research engagement of teacher educators requires attention not only to external policies, institutional structures, and academic expectations, but also to the relational, emotional, and affective dimensions of research, all of which shape their evolving professional identities. The empirical research adopts a single embedded case study design, drawing on semi structured interviews with four experienced teacher educators based at a university in England. All participants work predominantly with beginning teachers and specialise in the primary age phase. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022), with the themes and codes generated, presented, and explored through the presentation of composite narratives. As discussed by Johnston (2024) and Willis (2019), this is an under-theorised but purposeful narrative approach for disseminating findings. Composite narratives present accounts of lived experience using the words of participants, rearticulated through the perspectives of imagined others. This method was chosen both to preserve participant anonymity and to present findings in a form designed to provoke reflection and resonance for the reader. The study exposes the considerable challenges teacher educators face in sustaining research engagement, which are exacerbated by ongoing systemic reforms and increasing accountability demands. Within this context, research often becomes secondary, as subtle forms of symbolic exclusion contribute to a sense of disconnection from the wider university. These challenges are not only structural but also deeply affective, as feelings of marginalisation, frustration, and diminished professional worth shape how teacher educators experience and enact their roles as researchers. The composite narratives illustrate how teacher educators navigate these pressures, often expressing frustration at the lack of time, institutional support, and recognition afforded to their research endeavours. Yet, despite these constraints, the narratives also reveal important signs of hope. Drawing on the concept of illusio (Bourdieu, 2007), the deep, often unexamined investment individuals make in a particular social field, the data point to a strong, enduring commitment to the belief that scholarly and educational work is inherently meaningful and worth pursuing. This thesis calls on the sector to engage in sustained dialogue about what it means to be a research-engaged teacher educator working within the university in the 21st century. It urges universities to recognise the distinct pressures facing teacher education and to consider how they might cultivate an academic culture that values and respects the contributions of those whose work bridges the arenas of schooling and higher education. At an individual level, it emphasises the importance of claiming the title of teacher educator and encourages practitioners to confidently assert their specialised role within the wider educational landscape.