This chapter outlines the theoretical framework underpinning the book and my reasons for adopting it. In the process, I hope to make the nature of my engagement with the issues implicit in the book explicit, as well as to provide an opening for further debate and discussion (Holliday, 2002; Kamberelis & Dimitriadis, 2005; Phillips & Jorgensen, 2002).

The notions of discourse, identity and communities of practice provide an integrated and aligned conceptual framework throughout this study at the levels of epistemology, theoretical principles, methodology, analysis and interpretation (Kamberelis & Dimitriadis, 2005: 15). These theoretical concepts are introduced for their productive capacity, for as Phillips and Jorgensen (2002: 21) note, in the quote cited in the Introduction, 'It is by seeing the world through a particular theory that we can distance ourselves from our taken for granted understandings and subject our material to other questions than we would be able to do from an everyday perspective.' It is critical therefore to examine each of these concepts in some depth, to illustrate their appropriateness for researching teacher formation and to highlight their complementary contributions in addressing the questions motivating this study. I begin by examining discourse since in many ways it forms a bridge between the social worlds of communities of practice and identities.

Exploring Discourse

In the introductory chapter I noted the passion with which the student teachers were embracing the discourses of education as one of the sources of impetus for this study. Indeed, among other things, this study is crucially concerned with the power of discourse. However, in order to fully appreciate this productive power, we need to unpack the complex meanings carried by this term.

Discourse, like culture, is one of the most widely used terms in social and educational discussions, and like culture, it is also a term that is often used in different ways though often left undefined (Mills, 2004).