ABSTRACT
In spite of extensive research into teacher–pupil relations and pupil–pupil relations, there has been almost no systematic research into teacher–teacher relationships. Since teachers seem to be even more sensitive and resistant to research on teacher–teacher relations than to investigations of teacher–pupil relations, it is not surprising that few researchers have had the courage to embark on this difficult field. Yet the social relationships of teachers form an important part of being a teacher; it is the teacher's colleagues who in many respects control and influence his induction into the profession. The teacher's conception of himself, his values and attitudes to many aspects of education may, as I have indicated in earlier chapters, be influenced by his relationships with his colleagues and his superiors and thus influence the teacher's behaviour in the classroom and his relationship with the pupils. Life in the staffroom and its impact upon the teacher constitutes one of the most significant gaps in our knowledge of social processes within the school. This is particularly true with respect to a teacher's first post, since it is at this point that a teacher's conception of himself as a teacher is most firmly developed.
