Exploring professional identities: middle leadership in further education colleges

Professional identities in further education (FE) colleges and schools in England have been substantially affected by recent educational reform; additionally, recent reform of provision for the 14-19 age group requires close collaboration between the two sectors. Drawing on case-study data from four English FE colleges, this paper takes as its empirical base an analysis of professional identities of middle leaders in FE colleges in order to explore implications for professional practice in both colleges and schools. Three elements of professional identity are proposed and examined: professional values (What I profess), professional location (The profession to which I belong) and professional role (My role within the institution). These are used to explore commonality, difference and differential status across middle managers holding a range of roles in FE, and a model for analysing professional practice is proposed. The study indicates problems of professional identity that need to be resolved if the two sectors are to learn from, and work with, each other.