Ulla Karin Nordänger

Who Dares to Disconnect in the Age of Uncertainty? Teachers' Recesses and "Off-the-Clock" Work.

This article addresses teachers’ use of their professional time. With the support of substantive grounded theories from two separate studies—focusing on two ‘invisible’ parts of teachers’ work: recesses and off‐the‐clock work—we aim to conceptualize some patterns in contemporary work of teachers and discuss them in the light of changing working conditions in a time of insecurity. Our findings indicate differences in how teachers handle a work environment characterized by uncertainty and provide an elaborated explanation of how recent changes in working conditions have affected teachers’ apprehension and work performance. The discussion points to novel means to understand and re‐frame reasonable and sustainable working conditions for teachers.

Better Safe than Sorry? Risk and Educational Research

This paper presents the argument that education and the teaching profession have been saturated by a new form of risk consciousness and risk consideration. The aim is to shed light on this issue and present a number of empirical examples and questions of interest in educational research. Furthermore, the paper presents some of the central theories regarding risk and an attempt is made to relate these theories to an epistemological framework. The article also emphasizes the problems and issues that arise from the way teachers think, experience and manage risk in their daily work, and examines how this affects their didactic intentions and, in the long run, also the pupils’ learning potential. It is the intention of the authors, in the scientific as well as in the professional discussion, to reintroduce the positive connections between teaching and risk zones, as well as between professional development and risk taking.

Encounters in Metaphors: Connecting the Bridgeheads of Teachers' Practical Knowledge and Professional Language

Abstract The article discusses the possibility of bridging the gap between the personal and contextual practical knowledge of teachers on the one hand and presumptive generic teacher knowledge on the other. Within the framework of two research projects and with the help of several different methods, data concerning the practical knowledge of teachers have been collected. To begin with, data are related to Martin Buber’s theories regarding experience as insight. Teachers’ will and ability to be present in the classroom, their desire to realise a relationship, is suggested to be a crucial part of their practical knowledge. The article furthermore emphasises the way teachers use metaphors to describe the core of their knowledge. The article discusses how these ways of talking about practice can contribute to professional development. The use of ‘living metaphors’ highlights such a possibility.

“Betwixt and Between”: Leisure-time Teachers and the Construction of Professional Identities

ABSTRACT In 2014, a newly formed group of teachers graduated from Swedish universities. In addition to their qualification as leisure-time pedagogues, their degree includes teaching practical/aesthetical subjects in compulsory school. This group of teachers thus has to relate to dual professional identities and to maintain a balance between the socially oriented leisure-time centres and a goal- and results-driven school. In this article we describe their first two years after graduation, trying to get hold of their negotiation of professional identities and orientation in the professional landscape. Results shows that the graduates try to balance own ideals and hybrid professional intentions against traditional professional identities and labour market conditions and that position in a liminal phase might be crucial for the outcome.