Academic Identities and Communities of Practice in a Professional Discipline

Y

11

College Faculty; Communities of Practice; Professional Development; Teacher Characteristics; Foreign Countries; Design; Conflict; Educational Practices; Organizational Development; Intellectual Disciplines

10.1080/13562510902898817

1356-2517

This paper explores the dynamics surrounding the formation of academic identities in a context where the nature of academic work is contested both as a result of tensions within the discipline and in response to pressure from both the institution and the field of higher education. It is based on a case study which investigated the process of academic identity formation at the micro level of a department at a South African university. The study revealed a complex relationship between identity construction and participation within the particular configuration of teaching, professional and research communities of practice that defined the academic field in the department. Multiple identity trajectories were evident, indicating the role of individual agency, despite the dominance of a professional community of practice within the department. The arrival of new academics in the department without professional practice experience was found to have created the possibility of a changed notion of the academic within the discipline. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

As Provided

23

2009

EJ858139