ABSTRACT
The creation in England of the ‘excellent teacher’ grade in September 2006 looks like an important moment in the increasing recognition of the importance of expert teaching, and it may well be. However, the previous establishment of the advanced skills teacher role in 1998, some ten years before, partly suggests an uncertainty in deciding what to call ‘expert teachers’ and also equally complex issues around role defi nition; what do you do with expert teachers once you are sure you have correctly identifi ed them? The establishment of these two named categories also demonstrates how reluctant teachers and policy-makers are to use the term ‘expert’.
