A profession in crisis: status, culture and identity in the further education college

Abstract The current crisis in the further education sector has highlighted that professional group's marginality and low status. Though many professional groups would have had difficulty withstanding the kind of pressures that have been brought about by the Further and Higher Education Act (1992), it is argued here that the FE teaching profession was particularly vulnerable. The skills, qualifications and experiences of FE teachers, the nature of their work and the kind of cultures that exist in colleges are examined here in an attempt to show that the professional group lacks closure and is not clearly demarcated. In addition, the many cultures of the FE workplace, reflecting the many different occupations and roles of FE teachers, co-exist uneasily. Such factors, combined with the lack of a requirement for formal teacher training, are helping to prevent the emergence of a clear professional identity for the FE teacher, at a time when one is badly needed. Though some possibilities may exist within certa...