The purpose of this study is to investigate the development of pre-service teachers´ professional identity through online anticipatory reflections. Reflection is a cognitive process of (re)constructing expertise, awareness or knowledge (Korthagen, 2001), and perceived as a pivotal notion in teacher training and development (Wopereis, Sloep, & Poortman, 2010). Research studies suggest that reflective writing have a magnitude effect on teacher identity development process (Izadinia, 2013), which in turn affect many decisions teachers make in relation to curriculum, classroom management, lesson plans and materials (Noormohammadi, 2014). Additionally, reflection is essential for improving teaching methods and improvement in teaching methods influences identities (Graham & Phelps, 2003). Reflection not only promotes individual (aspirant) learning process and professional development but also prepares the ground for educational change and reform (Griffiths, 2000).

“Self-reflection” has a crucial place in teacher education programs and the professional development of teachers (Noormohammadi, 2014). Lester (1998) argued that reflective teachers easily link theory to practice, and reflection is a substantial factor, which has a role on the success of inexperienced teachers since it affects teacher persistence, retention and resilience. Also, reflective writing develops a teacher’s sense of self-efficacy, job satisfaction and ability to create stronger communication with colleagues (Braun & Crumpler, 2004). Additionally, teacher candidates can form their identities by self-reflection because internalizing the profession and creating a link between theory and practice is tied to telling and retelling the stories if the teacher is inexperienced (Binks et al., 2009).

Anticipatory self-reflection is a future-oriented self-reflection which allows reflective writers to criticize themselves in the context of the possible occurrences they may face in the future (Van Mannen, 1995). In the literature, there exist studies emphasizing the importance and positive effects of anticipatory reflective practices in the teacher education process (e.g. Wilson, 2008). In addition, there are studies of math teacher identity development focusing on aspects of beliefs, knowledge, and emotions in the area of mathematics (e.g., Skog & Andersson, 2015), and expertise in a specific subcategory such as subject matter expertise, didactical expertise, pedagogical expertise necessary to be a good teacher (Dede & Akkoc, 2016).  However, intervention studies focusing on the effect of reflections on teacher identity development at pre-service level are few.  In addition, the impact of online reflections on professional identity development is studied even to a lesser degree.

Accordingly, this study focuses on an intervention aimed to investigate the development of teacher identity through online anticipatory reflections during pre-service education. The following research questions guided the study: (1) What impact do weekly online anticipatory reflections have on pre-service teachers’ professional identity development? (2) How do pre-service teachers perceive their experiences on online anticipatory reflections in relation to their professional identity development?

In this study, Bejiaard, Verloop and Vermunt (2000)’s teacher identity model which define teacher identity under three major areas (subject matter expertise (SME), didactical expertise (DE), pedagogical expertise  (PE)) was utilized as a framework to define math teacher identity. SME refers to a mathematics teacher' capability of explaining the reasoning behind math topics and understanding of misconceptions; DE refers to a mathematics teacher' organization ability of topic in line with students' capability of mathematics; and PE refers to the ability of teaching, communication and classroom management skills (Beijaard et al., 2004).

Following an equally weighted concurrent mixed-method design, a single group quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design was used for the quantitative strand while semi-structured interviews were used for the qualitative strand. For the intervention, a ten-week module involving anticipatory reflections was designed and integrated into a must course of the pre-service elementary math education program of a state university in Turkey. The participants received prompts as weekly assignments affecting 10% of the grade. Before the intervention, the participants were given tutoring about blogging, WordPress and Edmodo for 5 hours, owned their blog pages and posted first blogs. Throughout the following ten weeks, they received weekly prompts organized following the teacher identity framework of Bejiaard et al. (2000). The topics of the seventh and eighth weeks were about pedagogical expertise, the fourth and sixth weeks were didactical expertise, the third and fifth weeks were subject matter expertise and the first, ninth and tenth weeks were on teacher professional development. All prompts were composed of the reflective questioning method generated by Rolfe, Freshwater and Jasper (2001). The participants of the study included the students who were registered for the must course offered only to 3rd-year students in the program. A total of 31 students (13% male, 87% female) took part in the intervention study, and seven participated in semi-structured interviews. The data collection involved a scale (ETIM) given to the students at the beginning and end of the intervention. ETIM is a three-dimensional five-point Likert scale generated by Friesen and Besley (2013) to measure the participants’ understandings of the early development of their teacher identity. In addition, a semi-structured interview schedule was used involving questions on the pre-service teachers’ perceptions about the intervention process and their professional identities in terms of SME, DE and PE. All participants responded to both pre and post-intervention surveys, and seven pre-service teachers (5 female, 2 male) participated in interviews. The pre and posttest results were analyzed through paired sample t-test in response to the 1st RQ while the qualitative data were analyzed through thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) in response to 2nd RQ. The identity development framework of Bejiaard et al. (2000) was used to to analyze the quantitative data, and part of the interview data. Except for the 1st question, all interview data were subjected to inductive thematic analysis. The results of both strands of the method were integrated in the presentation of results and discussion.

The quantitative analysis of the differences between the pre and post-intervention results responding to the first research question, through the paired-sample t-tests for each sub-dimensions indicated that there existed a significant difference between the pre and the post-intervention scores of self-categorization (MD=-0.22, SD=.62, t(30)=-1.96, p.05) and confidence/self-efficacy dimensions (MD=-0.26, SD=.81, t(30)=-1.77, p.05) while there existed no significant difference in the natural inclination towards children and teaching dimension (MD=-0.12, SD=.54, t(30)=-1.22, p>.05). The results of the paired-samples t-test conducted on teacher identity as a single dimension also indicated a significant difference between the pre and post-intervention scores (MD=-3.36, SD=7.55), t(30)=-2.47, p.05). The thematic analysis of the interview data indicated that pedagogical expertise, didactical expertise, and subject matter expertise were priorities for all pre-service teachers as critical competencies. The pre-service teachers found pedagogical expertise and didactical expertise most important for a strong teacher identity. Affordances of the intervention and the feedback were also explored through the interviews conducted at the end of the intervention. The affordances included (1) inclining to think on education-related issues such as educational philosophy, being a teacher and teaching, (2) making aware not only of their existed beliefs, thoughts, and knowledge also of the cultural diversity, (3) changing existed perception about educational issues, and (4) facilitating a sense of engagement to the profession by inquiring who they are as potential teachers, what their main values and their feelings are. In short, pre-service teachers found the intervention meaningful and instructive. The workload created a problem for some participants, therefore they suggested preparing intervention with a more flexible timeline to give time to think on the weekly topics more deeply. The value of more peer interaction was also highlighted.

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