ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on teacher portraits to represent perceptions of their experiences, actions and responses in relation to school improvement. Portraiture was appealing as an appropriate way of exploring, organising and representing teachers’ stories, representing the essence of professional lives within complex and multi-faceted school and political settings. The portrait evidence revealed discontinuity between teachers’ views and experiences in relation to the formal school improvement agenda and their commitment to improvements that they felt were needed. Iterative analysis of the portrait texts revealed remarkable consistency in this respect, from teachers’ narratives and from what was revealed by the elicitation tools. Teachers preferred to spend more time on planning and investigating fresh, interesting and relevant approaches to learning than on evidencing them. Linked to holistic outcomes, teachers continually emphasised the centrality of developing and nurturing positive relationships with students.
