The Construction of Professional Identity in the Workplace: A Case Study of Hong Kong Teachers

The work people do influences how they perceive themselves and is part of their personal identity. In post-industrial societies where work roles and skill demands often change rapidly, workers are expected to accept shifting job roles and new workplace practices. Being clear about one's identity at work helps provide a personal sense of security, enhances organizational commitment and increases efficiency. This study will investigate how teachers in a school unit in Hong Kong construct their professional identity and their coping behaviour when adapting to shifting roles and changing work demands. The research task is complex as it involves marrying (a) a set of theoretical constructs emanating from seminal work in a range of different work settings with (b) patterns of educational practice shaped by the individual school environment. An intensive case study of teachers in a school in Hong Kong is of particular interest due to the prototypical nature of the teaching profession within the community service sector, a body of workers subjected of late to major reforms to which they are expected to respond by modifying practice and adjusting roles. The past decade of education reform in Hong Kong has triggered a wave of institutionally driven imperatives which have sought to redefine and reinvigorate education and the work of the teacher. Teachers are faced with rapid changes and expanding work role processes that inevitably influence their professional identity. A case study of teachers in Hong Kong will help illuminate the kind of theoretical accounts that serve as antecedents to tangible change; the processes involved; the coping behaviour adopted; and whether there are outcomes generalisable to other occupations. A qualitative research approach is proposed: two-wave longitudinal field research conducted in a 'through train' primary and secondary school unit in Hong Kong. The main body of data will derive from in-depth personal interviews with teachers and school administrators, unobtrusive but focussed observation of practice and access to archival information. In the first instance, the findings should help school management to formulate realistic, human resource policies that are likely to succeed. From a wider public perspective, the outcomes should have implications for vocational training policies. From an academic point of view, the outcomes will contribute to knowledge about the dynamics of human behaviour in rapidly changing work conditions and environments; contribute to theory building in the realm of management in the public sector in general; to the teaching profession in particular.