This text provides a discussion of the meaning of teacher professionalism and how it can be improved.

Editorial Preface, 1 Teachers' Professional Lives: Aspirations and Actualities, 2 Teachers' Work, Restructuring and Postfordism: Constructing the New 'Professionalism', 3 Teacher Professionalism and Curriculum Control, 4 Are Professional Teachers a Good Thing?, 5 Historical Notes on the Barriers to the Professionalization of American Teachers: The Influence of Markets and Patriarchy, 6 Using Drawings to Interrogate Professional Identity and the Popular Culture of Teaching, 7 Teacher Professionalism in Local School Contexts, 8 Student Teachers' Lay Theories: Implications for Professional Development, 9 Women as Teachers: Teachers as Women, 10 Knowledge, Teacher Development and Change, 11 Development and Disenchantment in the Professional Lives of Headteachers, Notes on Contributors, Index