The influence of neo-liberalism on education, which informs state expectations and visions for teacher identity, poses several navigational challenges on teachers. In such circumstances, teacher identity as a way of making sense of oneself is further shaped by the state’s expectations and their vision of an ideal teacher. This study explored the longitudinally national representation of teacher identity in Finland and India. The distinct educational and sociopolitical contexts of Finland and India offer a valuable framework for examining how contrasting systemic influences shape teacher identity. Moreover, research on teacher identity and its contextual development have been overlooked between these countries. To understand this interplay between systemic influences and identity, the study operated with the research question: How does the representation of teacher identity in government policy documents for teacher education compare between Finland and India?

The representation of teacher identity in the official documents of Finland and India for teacher education was understood through Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The Finnish documents included the Government Decree on University Degrees and Professional Specialisation Programmes (MEC, 2004) and the second edition of Teacher Education Development Programme (MEC, 2022). The Indian documents included the National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE, 2009) and the National Education Policy (NEP, 2020). The study adopted Fairclough’s (1995) three-dimensional model of discourse analysis as an analytical tool to explore the dimensions of social practice, discursive practice, and text.

The analysis of the selected texts showcased that, in Finland, the discourses of competence, university inclusion, aspirations, and teacher shortage suggested a teacher identity of a competent research-oriented teacher. In India, the discourses of neglect, inadequacy, isolation, and urgency suggested an attempt to reconnect teacher identity with the national ethos and traditional values. The ideal teacher identity was stable across the examined Finnish documents but varied between the Indian documents. 

The Finnish discourses showcased an overt reliance on research at the expense of practical community-based teaching which places their teacher identity at crossroads (Hansén et al., 2023). It calls for reimagining teacher identity, possibly drawing strength from the discourses of competence, university inclusion and aspirations. On the other hand, Indian discourses appeared consequential and hegemonic in nature. That is, the state’s neglect leads to teacher inadequacy and teacher isolation, which are further manifested in a constant urgency to improve the teaching profession. The implications for Indian teacher identity, hegemonically shaped by systemic neglect, corporatization, institutional isolation, and policy-practice disconnects (e.g., Batra, 2014), position teachers more as technical functionaries than as empowered professionals. This diverging contextual identities should however not be reduced to the binary of good or bad; it should be reasoned through context and the lack of national immunity to the consequences of teacher shortage against evolving global influences on national development. 

The study argues that national definitions of teacher identity depend on the capability of the state to afford and provide education, which has a large imprint on the avenues for teachers’ professional development and support. Moreover, the evolutionary nature of teacher identity mandates a constant re-evaluation of the individual-context interplay by teachers, teacher educators, preservice teachers, educational and state institutions for effective teacher development.

The study adopted an interpretivist stance to critically explore teacher identity represented in Finnish and Indian policy documents. As an analytical tool, CDA assists in highlighting and curbing emerging inequalities by exploring the relation between discourse and the social realities of power relations, ideologies, and social identities (Fairclough, 2012). It does so by emphasizing on semiotics, linking language and society, and arguing any legitimization of power and inequalities (Cohen et al., 2018). It further uncovers the biases in policies by foregrounding dominant and alternative discourses and may assist a simultaneous comparative study through the process of critical inquiry (Tracy, 2013). The study adopted Fairclough’s (1995) three-dimensional model of discourse analysis as an analytical tool for CDA. The dimensions include social practice, discursive practice, and text. To comprehend the representation of teacher identity, the first layer reveals the educational and teacher-related developments in Finland and India, thereby explaining their individual sociocultural contexts. The second layer reveals coexisting and interconnected discourses about teachers to interpret its possible effects on how teacher identity is understood. The third layer describes the representation of teacher identity in the examined documents by adopting the textual analysis features of modality and evaluation (see Fairclough, 2003). Modality and evaluation enable a nuanced understanding of the commitment expressed by the authors of the examined documents towards their truth and desirability about teacher identity. Modality is assessed using assertive and declarative sentences or questions, highlighting what these authors believe as truth in their arguments. Evaluation is assessed through statements showcasing the aspects these authors qualify as desirable or undesirable. Modality and evaluation thus help to analyse the beliefs about teacher identity communicated in the examined policy documents and the particular language used to effect such communication of beliefs.

The analysis of the selected texts for Finland showed that the ideal teacher identity is that of a competent research-oriented individual, shaped through four discourses. The discourse of competence rationalised the emphasis on professional accountability over performance accountability, which was further supported by the discourse of university inclusion making teacher education a prominent part of university spaces. These discourses enabled the discourse of aspiration suggesting that a global aspirational education model may have strengthened a relatively stable teacher identity in Finland since the 1970s (see Elstad, 2023). However, the parallel discourse of teacher shortage implied that a relatively stable teacher identity and an aspirational educational model still demand reconfiguration alongside evolving national and global contexts (Säntti et al., 2023). The analysis of the selected texts for India indicated four discourses representing an ideal teacher identity premised on traditional and performance-oriented values. The discourse of neglect represented the negligible position of teachers in the larger educational discourse. The discourse of inadequacy worked as a ratification for the disinterest of the state and inviting private entities to optimise resources. India’s disregard toward teacher education was further demonstrated by the discourse of isolation from universities while its intentions toward teacher identity were observed in the discourse of urgency. The Indian discourses appeared consequential and hegemonic in nature. This consequential nature of the identified discourses demonstrated how identity development in India remains a secondary concern due to the preoccupation with and urgency to restore the profession of teaching (see Batra, 2014; Sriprakash, 2012; Takker & Ramchand, 2022). The analysis thus showcased how certain policy discourses in Finland and India, which are influenced by their respective sociopolitical and demographic aspects, define the teacher these nations expect.

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