An ethico-political analysis of a national teacher competence framework: Unravelling a ‘preferred’ teacher identity

In recent years, as evidenced in the transnational proliferation of codified competence frameworks for teacher education purposes, we have seen the increased politicisation and regulation of the task of teaching and what it means to be a teacher. Making the case for an ethico-political conceptualisation of teacher identity and, using a Foucauldian-based framework of ethico-political identity, we apply a discourse analysis approach to unravel a ‘preferred’ teacher identity construction using Ireland's national teacher competence framework, the Initial Teacher Education Criteria and Guidelines for Programme Providers as an illustrative case. Findings illuminate this identity as: (i) telos vis-à-vis embodying national objectives via critical engagement underpinned by knowledge surfaces and a temporal appreciation of policy; (ii) ethical substance vis-à-vis seven modes of engagement animated in two interdependent phases with unique practice dynamics and policy emphases; (iii) discursive authority sources that utilise three major modes of sense-making; and (iv) self-practices as confessional dialogue and self-writing. Considering codified teacher competence frameworks as politics of truth in teacher education, we make the case for macro ethico-political identity work as a valuable analytical tool for policy analysis in teaching and teacher education.