Background, problem and research questions

One of the essential mechanisms that presumably has substantial impact on discourses on teacher professionalism and their identity formation is national curriculum. In January 2010 the Estonian Government has legalized new curricula for 9-year compulsory and general secondary education. Since regaining indepence in 1991 and already before this the Estonian government has approved three national curricula for general education: in 1989, 1996 and 2002. There are some analyses about the Estonian curriculum reforms, their political and ideological premises and characteristics (Ruus and Sarv, 2000, Ruus et al, 2008) but we have not any reliable knowledge about the impact of these reforms on teachers' professionalism

There is available a significant information about the Estonian teacher's and students' perceptions of school life (Sarv...) and about the Estonian teachers' values and practices in international comparison (TALIS project). This research shows some paradoxes: lack of consistency between teachers' and students' perceptions of school life, and our teachers' contradictory positioning in the international context (the best classroom climate among 23 countries but poor self-efficacy indicators).

It has become clear that the following factors have a decisive role on the formation of teachers' professional identity: their personal self-concept, their emotional life, narratives and discourses on teacher professionalism, teachers' self-reflection and agency (Beauchamp and Thomas, 2009) We suppose there is an implicit, hidden discourse on teacher professionalism in national curriculum and this functions as one of the most important links between educational, including teacher policies and teachers' professional identities. We are interested in answering to 3 questions: 1) which are the main characteristics of the Estonian teachers' professional identities?, 2) which is the implicit "portrait" of teacher professionalism in the Estonian national curricula (1989-2010), which are the main changes?; 3) how does the two match?  

Beauchamp, C.; Thomas, L. (2009). Understanding teacher identity:an overview of issues in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education. Vol 39, No 2, June 2009. 175-189. Ruus, V-R., Sarv, E.-S. (2000). Changes in Estonian School Curricula (1987-1999) and Thoughts about the Future. Bryan T. Beck and Annabelle Mays (eds). Challenge and Change in Education. the Experoience of the Baltic states in the 1990s. science Publishers. Ruus, V.-R. , Henno, I. Eisenschmidt, E. Loogma, K., Noorväli, H., Reiska, p., Rekkor, S. (2008) Reforms, Developments and Trends in Estonian Education during Recent Decades. Jaan Mikk, Marika Veissson, Piret Luik (eds). Reforms and Innovations in Estonian Education. Peter Lang.