Our teachers: Collected memories of primary education in Derbyshire schools from 1944 - 2009

This paper presents findings from narrative interviews undertaken with 24 narrators who attended primary school in the decades from 1944 - 2009. Deductive themes were first selected by examining the quantity of content and relevance to the study. Four deductive themes were drawn from the narrators’ recollections: Our Teachers; The Lessons We Learned; Our Friendships and the Games We Played and finally The Books we Read. The focus of this paper is on the findings from one of the deductive themes: Our Teachers. Once the stories had been transcribed, they were analysed for inductive themes. These were identified as: Pupil-teacher relationship, noted across each of the decades. A gendered workforce, reflected in each decade, except 1999-2009. Teacher personality was common across all decades. Corporal punishment was common in the decades from 1944-1987, but not present after 1987. Finally, Teacher professionalism was a prevalent theme in most decades except 1999-2009. Key findings related to the connections that come with the relationship the teacher forms with their pupils. Teachers who break the mould are well remembered by pupils. The nature of the primary school workforce has changed since 1944, and is now perceived as being female dominated. Because of changes to legislation, the role of the teacher has evolved, the changes in professional behaviour are noted in the narrators’ stories, from decade to decade.