Examining Preschool Teachers' Professional Identity As Socially Shared And Constructed

Author(s):

Anitta Melasalmi(presenting / submitting)Jukka Husu

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

10 SES 06 B, Professional Identity and Teacher Education (Part 1)

Paper Session to be continued in 10 SES 07 B

Time:

2016-08-24

15:30-17:00

Room:

NM-Theatre N

Chair:

Susann Hofbauer

Contribution

EXAMINING PRESCHOOL TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL IDENTITIES AS SOCIALLY SHARED AND CONSTRUCTED

Abstract

Literature on teacher education emphasizes the importance of identity in teacher development, particularly related to issues such as teacher transitions to and within working life, but also issues concerning teacher agency and awareness of possibilities to shape ones’ own professional development. Teacher identity formation is multifaceted phenomena, influenced by both external contexts and internal factors. This study focuses on the making of shared professional identity of preschool teachers’. We view the evolving shared teacher identity through the frame of sociocultural perspective, particularly emphasizing the relational nature of identity. This kind of narrative identity is embedded within evolving stories that a teacher constructs to make sense and meaning out of his or her professional practices. Drawing on positioning theory and based on narrative autobiographical stories, we pose a question: How teacher’s shared identity work influence their professional beliefs and practices? In particular, we focus on two issues: First, which factors construct teachers’ shared professional identities?; and second, how the named factors of shared professional identity build up and shape teachers’ professional identity? Preliminary findings indicate that early childhood teachers’ shared professional identities are developed and negotiated through the frames of professional challenges and supports, developmental demands and constrains of their working contexts. Together these frames shape early childhood educators’ professional roles and pedagogical practices. The results will highlight factors related to the development of professional identity, effecting positively or negatively – either giving support to individual professional growth and empowerment or having a decreasing effect on teachers’ professional identity and agency in early childhood contexts.

Key words: teacher identity, professional development, agency, teacher narrative.

THE AIMS

The concept “professional identity” is generally understood as an impression of one self as a professional agent based on one’s life history (Eteläpelto and Vähäsantanen, 2006). Based on research (e.g., Beijaard, Meijer and Verloop, 2004; Flores and Day, 2006) we view professional identity as dynamic and ongoing process through which professionals constantly form and re-form their beliefs and practices. The relational nature of identity holds that individuals are not the only constructors of their identity, rather, identity is been viewed as co-constructed with interested others (Reeves, 2009). Professional identity can be expressed as shared identity, associated with a sense of common experiences, understandings and expertise, shared ways of perceiving problems and possible solutions to them (Evetts, 2003).

In their review on professional identity, Trede, Macklin and Bridges (2012) found that most studies focused on various forms of self-regulation, agency and self-authorship in professional identity development. The notion raised the interest and the need to know more about identity negotiations between individuals and their communities (Eteläpelto, 2009). It is know that during teacher’s career these negotiations are remarkable factor in teachers’ work commitment, success and satisfaction (e.g., Sharp and Draper, 2000; Avraamidou, 2015).

The current study aims to explore how teacher’s shared identity work influence their professional beliefs and practices? In particular, the study focuses on two issues: First, which factors construct teachers’ shared professional identities?; and second, how the named factors of shared professional identity build up and shape teachers’ professional identity?

Method

METHODOLOGY To inquire into teachers’ experiences on shared professional identities, we drew on narrative research from an interpretivist perspective studying the autobiographic narratives of teachers. Narratives have been identified as forms especially suitable to become the locus of expression, construction, and enactment of identity (De Fina, 2003), thus autobiographic approach offers a medium for investigating the idiosyncratic and shared aspects of human life span (Ruth and Kenyon, 1996). Two kindergarten teachers participated, one having teaching experience over forty years and the other teacher over thirty years. The long working experience offered a possibility to explore teachers’ professional experiences as autobiographic narratives. To explore the lived experiences and professional identities of teachers, we chose an interviewing approach. Semi-structured interviews covered the central topics of identity and participants were first asked to tell about their professional identity – how they see themselves as a teachers and how their careers have started. The data was analyzed thematically, within the process using both inductive and deductive coding (Boyatzis, 1998). After multiple readings, the analysis of the data was performed inductively by coding emerging themes of different minimal narratives of the raw data. Inductive coding was done from transcribed teacher stories analyzed line by line. Themes were gathered as categories of emerging factors using computer program NVivo.

Expected Outcomes

RESULTS The 1st research task produced a detailed exploration of the constructed narrative themes, containing issues which shape teachers’ shared professional identities. The four themes making of a teachers’ shared professional identities are; i) teachers’ professional values and beliefs, ii) teachers’ professional action, iii) teachers’ experienced feedback in and from their professional communities, and iv) experienced consequences in teacher agency. The full paper will present theme in more detail. The 2nd research task identified four in-depth approaches in the making of teachers’ shared professional identities. First, the intertwining of teachers’ values and beliefs and teachers’ experienced feedback in and from their professional communities strengthened teachers’ commitment to their professional goals and promote their willingness to change and develop in their profession. Second, the experienced consistency between teachers’ values and beliefs and their professional actions endorsed teachers’ self-efficacy, self-esteem and job-motivation. Third, the quality of feedback teachers received from their peers contributed significantly their professional agency and had a positive impact on teachers’ responsibility and trust, and further encouraged their active participation in their work, Fourth, in consequence, when teachers felt that the previous conditions in their professional communities supported their work, they reported heightened team cohesion and they actively contributed to professional dialogues in their workplaces. The full paper will present these relational interpretations of shared identities in more detail. Implications, practice or policy The preliminary results show that teachers’ shared professional identity was a complex, negotiated phenomenon, affecting and affected in daily contexts. Positive shared professional identity had both personal and communal factors, e.g., willingness to changes, collective efficacy and professional development. Negative shared professional identity had an effect to e.g., depersonalization, low self-esteem, low job-motivation and role conflict. This study offers valuable view to both teacher education and in-service teachers in questions related to professional development.

References

Avraamidou, L. (2015). Stories of self and science: preservice elementary teachers’ identity work through time and across contexts. Pedagogies: An International Journal. DOI: 10.1080/1554480X.2015.1047837 Beijaard, D., Meijer, P. C., & Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers' professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(2), 107-128. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2003.07.001. Boyatzis, R. E. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: thematic analysis and code development. Thousand Oaks: Sage. De Fina. A. (2003). Identity in narrative: A study of immigrant discourse. Amsterdam/Philadelpia: John Benjamins. Eteläpelto, A., & Vähäsantanen, K. (2006). Ammatillinen identiteetti persoonallisena ja sosiaalisena konstruktiona [Professional identity as personal and social construction]. In A. Eteläpelto, & J. Onnismaa, Ammatillisuus ja ammatillinen kasvu (Eds.). Aikuiskasvatuksen 46. vuosikirja. Dark Oy: Vantaa. Evetts, J. (2003). The sociological Analysis of Professionalism. Occupational Change in the Modern World. International Sociology, 18(2), 359-415. Flores, M. A., & Day, C. (2006). Contexts which shape and reshape new teachers' identities: a multi-perspective study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22(2), 219-232. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2005.09.002 Reeves, J. (2009). Teacher investment in learner identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(1), doi:10.1016/j.tate.2008.06.003 Ruth, J-E., & Kenyon, G. (1996). Biography in Adult Development and Aging. In J. E. Birren, G. M. Kenyon, J-E. Ruth, J. Schroots & T. Svensson (Eds.), Agining and Biography. (pp. 1–20). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Sharp, S. & Draper, J. (2000). Leaving the register: Scottish teachers lost to the profession, 1997−1998. Journal of In-Service Education, 26(2), 247−266.

Author Information

Anitta Melasalmi (presenting / submitting)

University of Turku

Department of Teacher education

Rauma

Jukka Husu

University of Turku, Finland

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