Session Information
01 SES 17 C, Research on Teacher Identity
Paper Session
Contribution
Teacher identity has been conceptualized as a second-order construct, as a set of meanings connected to the professional roles of teachers, each meaning reflecting a part of what teacher identity is (Hanna et al., 2020). Professional teacher identity is a role identity (Brenner et al., 2018), socially constructed and preserved (Burke & Stets, 2009). A teacher role identity preserves the impression management (Goffman, 1959) in relation to authority and hierarchy of educational field. The role performance is influenced by many factors, including mindset (Yeager & Dweck, 2020) and context (Turner et al., 1994). Therefore, cultural dimensions and differences (Hofstede, 2011) are important social contributors to the construction of teacher identity. A broaden perspective to cultural differences reveals the contribution of national and organisational cultures to teacher identity.
The construction of teacher identity can be set in initial teacher education and may increase student teachers learning potential (Nias, 2002) and decrease the risk of dropout before graduation or shortly after (Hong, 2010), or safeguard the quality of education avoiding burnout and dropout (Den Brok, Wubbels, & Van Tartwijk, 2017). Nevertheless, a cross-cultural approach to teacher identity describes different patterns of learning and professional development and factors contributed to these specific patterns.
The research question is whether there are differences in the exposed patterns in the development of professional identity among student teachers from Romania, Poland, and Georgia.
The first aim of this research is to investigate the teacher identity of student teachers from the perspective of motivation, self-image, self-efficacy, task perception, and cultural dimension at individual level.
The second aim is to analyse the differences in the exposed patterns of identity profession of student teachers exploring the background of the teacher identity construction.
Method
Participants and procedure The research involves data collection from three independent samples of totally 300 student teachers from similar education institutions in Romania, Poland, and Georgia. Ethical approval will be granted by the Ethics Committee of Transilvania University of Brașov, Romania. All student teacher respondents will provide informed consent before the measurement instrument was administered online, in February, from 1st to 28th, 2023. The online administration of the survey will be supervised by a researcher and will last on average 15 minutes. The exposure of teacher identity patterns will allow a deepen analysis in each participant country. Interviews with enablers and stakeholders will be carried out. A comparative case-study will be provided. Measurement instrument The Teacher Identity Measurement Scale (TIMS) assess student teachers’ professional identity (Hanna et al., 2020). The instrument decomposes teacher identity in four domains (motivation, self-image, self-efficacy, and task perception, and follows the requested procedure of scale development (e.g., DeVon et al., 2007; Kline, 2011). The Cultural Dimension at Individual Level Robertson & Hoffman (1999) Scale evaluates cultural dimensions at the individual psychological level (Culpepper, Stephen& Watts, 1999). The validated Likert-scale instruments were translated from English to Romanian, Polish and Georgian using standard procedure of translation and back translation (Sperber, 2004). Some items were adapted to the Romanian, Polish and Georgian languages, and contexts.
Expected Outcomes
The measurement of the professional identity of student teachers will expose relevant patterns in the development of professional identity of the participants, that will be used to support and manage study programs and activities to increase their involvement in learning and commitment to learning tasks. Country comparison for Hofstede’s cultural dimensions enhance the following scores: power-distance: 68 Poland – 90 Romania – estimated 65 for Georgia; individualism: 60 Poland – 30 Romania – estimated 41 for Georgia; masculinity: 64 Poland – 42 Romania – estimated 55 for Georgia; uncertainty avoidance: 93 Poland – 90 Romania – estimated 85 for Georgia; long term orientation: 38 Poland – 52 Romania – estimated 38 for Georgia; indulgence: 29 Poland – 20 Romania – estimated 32 for Georgia. Since there are dimensions with important scores differences, a deepen analysis will show relevant aspects regarding the implications of cultural differences on learning and professional development. Furthermore, cultural differences explain authority management, tolerance towards diversity, purpose of education etc. (Hofstede, 2011). After the delimitation of the identity patterns in Romania, Poland, and Georgia, statistical analysis will be provided. T-tests will enhance whether there are significant differences between the three independent samples. The qualitative sequence of the study will allow to explore in depth the specific contexts of professional identity construction, even though there are common historical, social, and cultural backgrounds in the three countries. The methodological limitation of this research consists in self-reported data and gender inequalities caused by teaching is mostly a feminine profession in Romania, Poland, and Georgia. The finding will support educational strategies, interpersonal relationships, organizational management, and educational policies regarding higher education curricula.
References
Brenner, P.S, Serpe, R.T., & Stryker, S. (2018). Role-specific self-efficacy as precedent and product of the identity model. Sociological perspectives, 61, 57-80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121417697306 Burke, P.J., & Steets, J.E. (2009). Identity theory. Oxford University Press Culpepper, R., Stephen, F., & Watts, L. (1999). Measuring cultural dimensions at the individual level: an examination of the Dorfman and Howell (1988) scales and Robertson and Hoffman (1999) scale. Academy of Strategic and Organizational Leadership Journal, Volume 3, Number 1, 1999 Den Brok, P., Wubbels, T., & Van Tartwijk, J. (2017). Exploring beginning teachers’ attrition in Netherlands. Teachers and Teaching, 23(8), 881-895. http://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2017.1360859 DeVon, H.A., Block, M.E., Moyle-Wright, P., Ernst, D.M., Hayden, S.J., Lazzara, D.J., et al. (2007). A psychometric toolbox for testing validity and reliability. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 39, 155-164. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1547-5069.2007.00161.x Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Hanna, F, Oostdam, R, Severiens, S.E., & Zijlstra, B.J.H. (2019). Assessing the professional identity of primary student teachers: Design and validation of the Teacher Identity Measure Scale. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 64 (2020) 100822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2019.100822 Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1014 Hong, J. (2010). Pre-service and beginning teachers’ professional identity and its relation to dropping out the profession. Teaching and teacher education, 26(8), 1530-1543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.06.003 Nias, J. (2002). Primary teachers talking: A study of teaching as work. Oxford, United Kingdom: Routledge Sperber, A.D. (2004). Translation and validation of study instruments for cross-cultural research. Gastroenterology, 126, S124-S128. https://doi.org.10.1053/j.gastro.2003.10.016 Turner, J. C., Oakes, P. J., Haslam, S. A., & McGarty, C. (1994). Self and Collective: Cognition and Social Context. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20(5), 454–463. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167294205002 Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2020). What can be learned from growth mindset controversies? American Psychologist, 75(9), 1269–1284. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000794
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