Gender Positioning in Teacher Education in England: new rhetoric, old realities.

The article analyzes gender positioning within the micro-politics of the socio-educational context of teacher education in England. It examines data from the life experiences of student teachers in the context of Initial Teacher Training in Physical Education. Physical education is primarily focused on work on the body, regulated and controlled through the ritualised practices of sports and physical activities. The green paper of the New Labour government "Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change," reflects the government's proposals to modernize the teaching profession. There was an establishment of a performance management system by the government, which involves restructuring of the teaching profession, the introduction of annual appraisal and performance related pay. Student teachers in Initial Teacher Training Program are encouraged to develop particular pedagogical/professional approaches to teaching. They are being advised by their teachers and mentors to orient themselves toward a masculinised teaching identity. This identity concentrates on confrontational, authoritarian and didactic pedagogical approaches associated with hegemonic masculinities.