Reforming the education system for the quality of education and competitiveness enhancement, the issues of the teacher’s professional identity is in the hands of teachers, researchers and politicians themselves  (Avidov-Ungar, & Forkosh-Baruch, 2018;  Jonker et al., 2018;  Penny, 2018).

In the profound research carried out in 2017 it has been concluded that the issues related to identity have been emphasized in the documents planning sustainable development of Latvia, forecasting that identity, its diversity, resilience and changeability will become one of the society’s challenges of the 21^st century, also focusing on the teacher’s professional identity and the need for the development of professional identity support system.

In the education development guidelines 2014-2020, within the framework of the action direction “Enhancement of Pedagogue and Academic Staff’s Motivation and Professional Capacity” it has been planned to provide development of teachers’ professional competence, which in the research context in compliance with the modern theoretical cognitions also includes enhancement of professional identity (Medveckis, 2017).

The researchers have emphasized the need for a targeted compensating and preventing strategy development in education in the context of lifelong education, setting development of teacher’s professional identity as a significant resource for its successful implementation.

Professional identity as one of the criteria of the teacher’s competence (Bernhardsson, & Lattke 2009; Garrido et al., 2014) is an important factor, influencing professional development and quality of education.

The ability to   transform is the quality inherent to teacher’s professional identity, and transformation of identity is related to complex social relations, impact of age and cultural environment, stepping out of the personality’s level and moving towards the research of mezzo and macro social relations, studying the teachers’ life activity, which is affected by personality and public resources, thus it is necessary to improve and develop an efficiently functioning support system for their increase. 

In the context of the research along with European experts’ suggestions reform the education system of Latvia, promoting inclusive education and introducing a gradual implementation of a competence approach learning content and, consolidating resources for  teachers’ quality assurance in education in all stages of the education system, a functioning support system for the enhancement of elementary, secondary, vocational and special education, as well as the higher educational establishment teachers’ professional identity on the cognitions based on scientific research, on structured Self-support and  Community-support. Self- expression (Being of identity: Self-representation ) and Self-realization (Being of identity: Competing selves) are important in Self-help concept for teachers when getting involved in construction, deconstruction and reconstruction of their professional identity (Fitzmaurice, 2013; Sheridan, 2013) as a way of their own and world perception, relying on certain values, opinions and attitudes, as well as the reconstructed identities as  awareness of the organized activity and lifestyle (Doing of identity: Roles), taking on roles (McNaughton & Billot, 2016). In its turn Community-support includes learning communities, supportive relationships, reflective activities and research (Izadinia, 2014).

The applied research model of support teacher’s identity enhancement is based on the integration of teacher identity’s personal and professional aspects on the personality, mezzo and macro level, for what time and resources are necessary (Leijen et al., 2014). 

Aim of the research: Analyse support resources and identify the good practice in their application in professional identity enhancement of elementary, secondary, vocational and special education teachers, as well as the teachers of higher educational establishments.

Research issues:

• What do teachers of Latvia think of professional identity?
• Do teachers in Latvia relate professional identity with professional competence?
• What support and expectations do teachers in Latvia have for professional identity enhancement?
• What is the system of good practice in the field of inclusive education in Latvia?

According to the regulations about the teachers’ profession and job list (Regulations No 354 about the Teachers’ Profession and Job List, 2011) in the survey six independent target groups of teachers took part from the whole Latvia: • 310 pre-school teachers, • 382 elementary education teachers, • 391 secondary school teachers, • 346 vocational education teachers, • 347 special education teachers, • 365 teachers of higher educational establishments. In the research a representative selection was developed for provision of the quantitative research’s scientific strength, applying internationally accepted methods of the selection’s validity calculation (Fisher et.al., 1995), without exceeding the selection mistake for 5%. The empirical data acquisition method - a survey has been applied for the enhancement of teacher’s professional identity of the support resources in the context of the education reform in Latvia, the survey has been structured in three parts – respondents’ profile, closed questions on the internal and external support resources and the open question about the good practice in its application for the teachers’ professional identity enhancement. In the quantitative cross-section research on the Likert Scale of 4 points 2,141 respondents were offered to assess the criteria and indices of the teacher’s professional identity enhancement identified due to the theoretical analysis: Self-support (Being of identity: Self-representation, Being of identity: Competing selves, Doing of identity: Roles) and Community-support (learning communities, supportive relationships, reflective activities, research). Incongruity of the empirical division to the normal (p=0.000), on the basis of the outcomes of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov’s Test for empirical division determination, determined the choice and application of the non-parametrical data processing methods - Kruskal-Walis H Test to find differences between the criteria and indices depending on the respondents’ profile and Kendall correlation analysis for determination of relationships between indicators for the quantitative data processing of the programme in the SPSS environment.

Teacher’s job prestige in Latvia is still comparatively low; teacher’s professional identity is not a significant value; there is no distinct link between the professional competence and professional identity. The results of Kendall correlation analysis for determination of relationships between indicators show that there is a positive correlation, between • Self – support and Community – support (p≤0.05; r=0.85); • Being of identity: Self – representation and Reflective activities (p≤0.05; r=0.91); • Doing of identity: Competing selves and Supportive relationships (p≤0.05; r=0.59); • Learning communities and Doing of identity: Roles (p≤0.05; r=0.63). Statistically important differences among the respondents’ groups have been noticed in all criteria and indices for teacher’s professional identity enhancement (p≤0.05). The outcomes of the Kruskal-Walis H Test confirm that: • elementary education teachers tend to assess higher Self-support; • vocational education teachers tend to assess higher Community-support; • teachers of higher educational establishments tend to assess higher Being of identity: Self-representation in comparison with special education teachers, learning communities and reflective activities, as well as research; Quality of education and growth of the educational establishment depends greatly on the priorities defined by the state, for whose support the resources are concentrated. Due to the impact of the above-mentioned factors the resources allocated for the pre-school and elementary education teachers’ professional identity enhancement do not comply with the set requirements for quality assurance by education policy makers; teachers’ self-initiative and self-education are the determinant. In general teachers in Latvia have felt more self-support, but their expectations are more related to Community-support. There are various projects and initiatives to promote professional identity development of pedagogues in the field of inclusive education. European structural funds have been an important support for vocational education teachers and teachers of higher educational establishments.

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