‘I think you need to be empathetic and have good interpersonal skills’: The particularities of narrating an inclusion identity

In the paper I will explore the impact for teachers’ identity of undertaking professional development designed to enhance provision for children identified as having dyslexia, in line with the recommendations made in the Rose Review (2009). I take as a departure point for my analysis Lave and Wenger’s (1991:109 & 121) concept of ‘participation in communities of practice’ to investigating how the process of ‘talking about and within practice’ can inform professional identity. The data reported upon was gathered through focus groups and narrative life history interviews conducted with teachers on a Specialist Dyslexia Training for Teachers Programme. I will identify and investigate the ways in which teachers who work with dyslexic pupils view themselves as distinct to other teachers, as having different attributes and particular motivations for pursuing their chosen career paths. These findings will be reviewed and I argue that although narrating an inclusion identity can enable teachers to feel integrated into a specific community of practice, tensions also arise from perceptions that they inhabit a distinct positioning in the school community.