A veteran female teacher losing professional footing in a "New" South African school

Abstract

This article uses a hybrid of ethnography and discourse analysis combined with an aspect of contemporary narrative inquiry to make sense of a veteran teacher's story. Interview and free discussion data were collated to capture the turning points in the teacher's history. These turning points are discussed, using the analytical categories of 'footing', 'positioning' and 'voice'. In this framing, her history is captured as that of a veteran who loses her footing and who longs for a past in which she was a "starred teacher" whose practice was applauded. The analytical device used presents not only glimpses of her history, but also of her positioning and what has become for her a volatile educational environment in which her identity is in flux.