This paper is linked to a doctoral study focusing on the impact of international networking and knowledge exchange on the professional identity of teachers. It explores the experience of teachers from the Balkans working with colleagues in the UK. Outlined is a conceptual framework which illuminates how identity is constructed within a professional community that crosses national boundaries. It is suggested that teachers who are working with colleagues from other nations find this to be deeply rewarding. Previous studies have portrayed professional relationships as being by definition unequal when involving nations in differing economic positions (Paine & Zeichner, 2012) but these have not presented the entire picture. In fact the levels of self-efficacy and self-confidence amongst teachers engaged in such programmes from all nations can be very high. The paper explores the proposition that these teachers may not primarily be interested in transferring practice but may have a broader democratic agenda reflecting a self-perception as skilled professionals and societal leaders. The data for this paper was drawn from interviews with three teachers from Balkan nations who have been involved in working on and developing teacher leadership programmes in their own settings in connection with a larger international programme, the International Teacher Leadership initiative (Frost, 2011). The discussion of data includes an exploration a series of inter-related themes that emerged from these interviews. These encompass a discussion of the extent to which these teachers share a common professional identity; whether this therefore constitutes a professional community and whether involvement in this project was significant in shaping their professional identity in other ways. Also discussed are issues and challenges related to the exchanging of knowledge between teachers working in different cultural contexts.

Frost, D. (2011) Supporting teacher leadership in 15 countries: the International Teacher Leadership project, Phase 1 - A report, Cambridge: Leadership for Learning Paine, L. and Zeichner, K. (2012) The Local and the Global in Reforming Teaching and Teacher Education in Comparative Education Review 56 (4) 569-583