This literature review provides an overview of how teachers have been trained since the late 19th century up to the present day. It considers connections between creativity and teacher identity. The author concludes that teachers’ professional identities have changed significantly over the last century and are now more complex and multi-faceted than previously, because of the growing range of expectations and relationships that teachers now experience. He suggests a reinvention of the role may be timely, to create a flexible, confident sense of autonomous practice, open to collaboration and partnership, yet fuelled by a clear understanding of the unique and valuable contribution to society that teachers make through the education of children.
The review identifies five areas that could be developed to contribute to a reconstructed professional identity: teacher collaboration and enquiry, pupil voice, community engagement, exploiting new technologies and creative partnerships. It recommends that these strands are taken into account in initial teacher education, early professional development as well as in CPD for experienced teachers and school leaders.