Becoming a primary school inspector: an autoethnographical exploration of a shifting professional identity

The experience of a sudden change in professional roles and duties from teacher to inspector prompted a process of self-reflection on the experience of a shift in professional identity. I was interested in the key supports to the formation of my new inspector identity, among them my established past identity as a teacher; what were the key experiences in my professional journey which have established and foregrounded my identity as an inspector? <br><br><br>The ongoing process of self-reflection was given expression through the autoethnographic use of personal journal writing completed mainly over a six-month period in 2020.

These journal entries documented reflections on my day-to-day experiences as a primary school inspector along with narratives and reflections on key historical moments regarding my professional identity formation. In line with an autoethnographic methodology, a thematic analysis of my journal writing informed the construction of a semi-structured interview schedule designed to test out ideas, topics and themes arising from my writing with a sample of primary school inspectors, principals, and teachers. <br><br>This study draws on the analyses of my journal writing and participant interviews to shed light on the heretofore unexplored area of inspector professional identity formation.