The being of a teacher: teacher pedagogical well-being and teacher self-care

This article adopts a phenomenological-oriented approach to explore the perceptions of a small cohort of teachers about teacher pedagogical well-being (TPWB), the experience of which is intimately connected with a teacher’s sense of self-care. Existing Finnish research on this topic informed the design of semi-structured interviews across two schools. The findings were analysed initially with reference to the existing research. It identified management and collegial support, as well as student engagement as cornerstones for TPWB. In order to extend the analysis beyond the existing research, the Foucaudian optic of governmentality was introduced, in particular, Stephen Ball’s application of it for education. This highlighted the extent to which the experience of TPWB, of teachers’ sense of self-care, can be impacted by the culture of performativity. Significantly, it also emerged that a teacher’s capacity for self-definition, for reflexivity, can offer a mantle of resistance for the being of a teacher, especially at a time when they are being subjected to governance by performativity.