ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines factors that may affect teachers' sense of well-being. It focuses on what seem to erode teachers' professional identity, autonomy, efficacy and well-being. The book attempts to provide, in J. S. Bruner's terms, a narrative account of intentions, actions and consequences. It examines how teachers' beliefs about both their role and what they can do are shaped. The book explores how teachers' beliefs are influenced by their psychological and organisational contexts. It discusses on what education and educational systems, as exemplified in a country that is in thrall to capitalism's current manifestation, neoliberalism, may actually do for/to people. The book discusses the nature of teachers' professional identities and some of the factors that shape these. It suggests that identities as epiphenomena can be misleading, stereotypical or prejudicial and may also be disrespectful of the diversity of our experiencing of each other.
