Drawing upon findings of a four-year national research project on variations in the work and lives of teachers in England, this paper provides empirical evidence which contributes to understandings about the importance of resilience in teachers' work. The experience of resilience as perceived by teachers in this research was that it was neither…

In this article, we reflect upon what research and other evidence tells us about the effects of many years of sustained, centrally initiated government reforms upon teachers' work, lives and effectiveness. It is important to note that whilst the general intentions of school reform are almost always to improve standards of teaching, learning and…

Whilst much research on teachers' lives has focussed on their early years in the profession, much less attention has been paid to those in their later years, so called "veteran" teachers. Yet, many of these are likely to hold positions of responsibility in the school, receive greater remuneration and have experienced the impact of more…

This paper is based upon a unique mixed methods 4-year research project which focused upon the variations in teachers' work, lives, and effectiveness of 300 elementary and secondary school teachers in a range of 100 schools across seven regions of England. Its findings challenge linear conceptions of teacher development and expertise and provide…

This article gives just a taster of a large-scale in-depth longitudinal research project, "Variations in Teachers' Work, Lives and Effectiveness", funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and conducted by a joint team from the University of Nottingham and the Institute of Education, London. The authors outline the…

The VITAE project is a four-year (2001-2005) research study, commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills, conducted with 300 teachers in 100 schools in seven local education authorities in England. The project aimed to identify factors that may affect their work and lives over time and how these factors may, in turn, impact on their…