In the literature it is often argued that the human self and his/her identity are produced, maintained and modified in interaction and discourse (Fischer & Goblirsch 2006). Identity reflects the meanings a person has constructed of the perceived reality and one’s relation to it. As Yrjänäinen (2011) states in her study, identity defines the ways in which the teacher student interprets the teachership, including the rights and obligations entailed by it, and, on the other hand, in what ways she or he acts in the teaching profession. In this paper, we describe professional identity as narratives constructed, maintained and modified in discourses with the social and cultural context (e.g. Fischer & Goblirsch 2006). Consequently, we assume that a teacher’s identity is constructed through a narrative process built upon experiences as a teacher (Yrjänäinen & Ropo 2013). To respond to the symposium’s research questions, we collected narratives from Finnish pre and in-service teachers. Informants were divided into two groups. The first one was asked to create a narrative of an ideal teacher. The second group was asked to describe a teacher who is not an ideal teacher. The informants were both primary and secondary teachers. The collection and analyses of the data are still underway. We expect the results to have implications on both pre-service and in-service teacher education.

Beijaard, D., Meijer, P. & Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and teacher education 20, 107–128. Cote, J. & Levine, C. 2002. Identity formation, agency, and culture: a social psychological synthesis. Mahwah (NJ): Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Fischer, W., & Goblirsch, M. (2006). Biographical structuring: Narrating and reconstructing the self in research and professional practice. Narrative Inquiry 16(1), 28-36. Yrjänäinen, S. (2011) But, really, are we the right sort of people for this?” The puzzle of subject teacher education and the teacher student’s professional practical capabilities. Tampere University: Acta Universitatis Tamperensis 1586. Yrjänäinen, S. & Ropo, E. (2013) Narratiivisesta opetuksesta narratiiviseen oppimiseen. (From narrative teaching to narrative learning) In Ropo, E. & Huttunen, M. (Eds.) Puheenvuoroja narratiivisuudesta opetuksessa ja oppimisessa. (Conversations on narrativity in teaching and learning) Tampere University Press.