‘You Care More if You Work Yourself to Death’: Exploited Altruism and Other Adverse Factors Affecting the Culture Within an English Higher Education Initial Teacher Training Team

This paper shares the ways in which Higher Education Lecturers (HELs) in Initial Teacher Training (ITT) at an English university perceive their workplace culture. Data from 15 questionnaires and 12 semi‐structured interviews underwent thematic analysis. The findings suggest that culture was a preoccupation, with trust, relationships and idealism featuring as sub‐themes within that focus. The attitudes and perceptions underpinning the sub‐themes contributed towards a sense of altruism being exploited by systems and leadership structures. This appeared to be counter‐balanced through reliance upon upstairs/downstairs bonding and exclusions. Micro‐resistance was therefore apparent, but with little impact on improving the strategies and space of ITT. From this study, suggestions are therefore made for all stakeholders in ITT to reflect on their occupation of place, space, strategies and tactics, with an emphasis on developing compassionate leadership.