Investigating the personal in professional development: Analysing Bulgarian educators' narratives of change in their professional lives during a period of post soviet educational reforms

This thesis explores the development of a group of teacher trainers’ professional lives following their involvement in a teacher training project in Bulgaria in the 1990’s. The study investigates if and to what extent the trainers perceived their professional lives to have developed as a result of their involvement in the project. The researcher returned to the group of trainers 15 years after the project end to ascertain the long term impact of the project on their professional lives.This study uses a qualitative methodology focusing on narratives collected from semi structured interviews conducted over a three year period with six of the original trainers from the project. The data from the interviews was analysed using three different approaches, and a software analysis package was also used.The research findings show that although the changing political and education context in the 1990’s impacted on the trainers’ professional lives, the project was the springboard to help them develop and reformulate their professional lives. Findings show that involvement in the project had many unanticipated outcomes. Although it was emotionally challenging for some, involvement in it gave them confidence, extra status and helped some gain prestigious posts. It therefore substantially affected the trainers’ professional lives.The research concludes that interventions which involve a change process have a positive and long lasting impact on the participants which is rarely acknowledged. It proposes that for projects to be successful, sustainable, and inclusive, more attention should be paid to the intended participants by involving them at all levels of the planning process. Additionally, it is suggested that an evaluation of the long term impact of a project on its participants should be embedded in any project design