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Class consciousness, power, identity, and the motivation to teach

This paper is the first of its kind to draw on classic Marxist class theory to analyse a set of narratives of contemporary primary school student teachers in the UK to ascertain the ways in which class history and class-consciousness sculpt perceptions and aspirations in teaching. Eight student teachers were interviewed in depth at intervals during their PGCE course. They were selected on the basis of their perceptions of being or coming from working class families. A thematic analysis of emergent categories was applied to the interview data collected as part of an iterative research process.