Narrative Habitus, Field Conflict, and the Hybrid Habitus of Public-School Teachers in Denmark

In recent years, the teaching profession has experienced significant changes, driven by a global trend toward market-oriented policies in public education (Lea, 2019). In Denmark, Act 409 (2013-2014) accelerated this shift, emphasizing efficiency, goal-setting, and performance management (Rasmussen, 2015). These changes have placed considerable pressure on teachers' professional habitus, creating tensions between established practices and the demands of new policies.
While extensive research has examined the pressures of public-sector reform (Evetts, 2011; Klette, 2002) and the resulting deprofessionalization of teachers (Carlgren & Klette, 2008; Moos, 2016; Pors, 2014), less attention has been paid to how teachers actively navigate these habitus tensions (Nairz-Wirth & Feldmann, 2019). This study extends the application of Bourdieu's framework (1990; 2000) in the context of professions and organizations (e.g., Noordegraaf, 2011a; 2011b; Nairz-Wirth & Feldman, 2019; 2021) by introducing the concept of narrative habitus (Ernst & Jensen Schleiter, 2021; Fleetwood, 2016; Jones, 1998; Koll & Jensen, 2023). By combining Bourdieu’s notion of habitus with narrative theory (Bruner, 1987; Ricoeur, 1984), we examine how teachers construct temporal self-understandings within their professional field, as master narratives pertaining to the field are contested by competing logics.
The study is based on 20 interviews conducted using the methodology of narratives of practices (Rouleau, 2015). Preliminary findings reveal that the tensions in teachers' habitus gave rise to diverse response strategies (Abrahams & Ingram, 2013, 2015; Koll, 2021). Some strategies resulted in cleft and destabilized habitus, while others translated into a hybrid habitus (Abrahams & Ingram, 2013, 2015; Nairz-Wirth & Feldmann, 2021), allowing teachers to reflexively adapt and navigate under new field conditions. This study advances our understanding of habitus conservation and change by focusing on the conditions under which habitus tensions translate into a hybrid habitus. Additionally, we discuss the implications of these insights for leadership in Danish public schools.