The System of Teachers’ Professional Advancement and Potential Threats to Building Their Identity Within Its Framework

Professional identity combines some elements of personal and social identity in the area of goals, values, principles and measures. The paper focuses on the reflection of ambiguity of creating teachers’ professional identity during educational reform. The new system of teachers’ professional advancement has been in place in Poland for more than ten years. We have conducted complex empirical research aimed at comprehensive evaluation of that system (teachers, heads of schools and local authorities were surveyed). The theoretical framework is constructed on the concepts of the contemporary narrative theories of Ch. Taylor, A. Giddens, P. Ricoeur. There is a yawning gap between the path of improvement of quality imposed by the formal requirements of the system and the needs and educational aims formulated by teachers themselves, stemming from their everyday practice. The research provided important implication for educational policy, such as: a necessity for combining statutory requirements with particular school needs and teachers’ individual development.