ABSTRACT
To put the notion of personal identity in the forefront of an understanding of teachers implies a need to examine theories of both adult and professional change, and the links that have been made between them. Now teachers, as adults, enter the profession with closely-defined values, beliefs and attitudes which, in the tradition of symbolic interactionism, form the closely-defended core of their personal identities. One possible way to unravel the relationship between professional and personal development is to examine what influence the individual's 'substantial' self has upon his/her career development. Finally, a number of the longest-serving teachers, assured by their job-satisfaction and proven competence of the match between self and occupation, turned for further self-development to impact concerns; in particular they sought for hierarchical positions which would enable them to influence and spread their ideas to others.
