The Professional Identity In Teacher Education
Author(s):
Conference:
ECER 2012
Format:
Paper

Session Information

10 SES 11 D, Parallel Paper Session

Parallel Paper Session

Time:
2012-09-20
17:15-18:45
Room:
FCEE - Aula 4.3
Chair:
Graeme Hall

Contribution

The project presented here shows the first results of a research about the professional identity that is created in the pre-service education of primary and Early Childhood teachers in 5 universities in Andalusia: Malaga, Jaen, Almeria, Cordoba and Cadiz. We want to know which is the education received by students in the faculties of education in these grades, and the impact of their experiences when they were school students. We also are interested in the way that this education is affected in their professional activity in the future.

The configuration of the professional identity of prospective teachers is a long time process that comes with teachers throughout all their professional life and changes according to circumstances and times in which teachers develop their educational activity. This question can´t be considered an inconsistency due to the professional culture, but the result of an adaptation to the times and situations teachers had experienced.

When we speak about this professional identity, we refer to the disposition and ability of teachers for decision-making at the variety of circumstances and times. The reason to study how this professional identity is constituted is its repercussions in some significant aspects of teachers’ activity as: how to assess, the decision-making about the achievements, mainly the articulation of the innovations, etc. You could say that the professional identity of the teacher is articulated in the synthesis of cultural identity with professional identity.

The reasons argued are enough to analyze, interpret and describe the education that the students of Degree in Early Childhood Education and Primary Education get in the faculties of education, as well as the impact that the previous experiences of students in non-university educational stages have in their education, i.e., the legacy of their teachers. We are interested in analyze which kind of professional identity is raised in this period of the education of the novice teachers.

Furthermore, the analysis of the above mentioned process will allow us to know and to reflect on the professional education model offered by the University and if it makes possible to tackle the demands posed by society or, on the other hand, we continue arguing in classrooms about an encyclopedist model that makes obsolete those models that could be validity if were properly articulate, and cuts the availability of teachers to guess most of the innovation possibilities thoroughly designed. In order to do this, we start from a socio-constructivist model, based on socio-critical tradition and use autobiographical accounts of students in different stages of their education

Method

The research will be carried out with students' autobiographical accounts of Degree in Early Childhood and Primary Education. These accounts focus on their school experience like school students. This experience takes place over 12 to 15 years in the education system, which is a significant and relevant experience about what school work, the value of school, etc. mean. In short, these accounts display the processes that subjects have passed, which shaped, early, their identity like teachers. This early identity faces, along university studies, with the identities instituted by the university teacher education. The results of the analysis and interpretation of these accounts will be worked in discussion groups with members of the university academic community (authorities, teachers and students) as well as the educational system (authorities, representatives of professional groups, teachers, etc.). Our aim is to have a comprehensive view of the type of education that is being given to our future teachers, and how this education is affecting their work future and their vision of the profession as well as the dimensions involved: learning, teaching, knowledge, students, school curriculum, and so on.

Expected Outcomes

We hope to get some clues that allow us to assess what kind of professionals we are forming in the Faculties of Education and how this education is affecting the educational system as a whole. What is the role of education of future teachers to generate innovative proposals in schools? Is it possible to consider other education models, which encourage attitudes of change and innovation in future teachers? Can you modify the professional model of students according to their school experience, from a "practical" level? What role does the theoretical and academic education play in the model of teacher that students acquire in their time at university? It is expected to provide insights into the conflict experienced by graduates of the Degrees of Early Childhood and Primary Education on their way to teaching practice. With this information we can reconsider some curricular and organizational policies of schools. Finally, students involved in research have the opportunity to reflect on their education and formation like professional of education, so that will have effects on their formation process.

References

Alsup, J. (2006). Teacher identity discourses. Negotiating personal and professional spaces. Mahwat, N. J.: Lawrence Erbaum. Beijaard, D.,Meijer, P. y Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering the research on teachers´ profesional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20 (2), pp. 107-128. Burn, K. (2007). Professional Knowledge and identity in a contested discipline: challenges for student teacher and teacher educators. Oxford Review of Education, 33 (4), pp. 445-467. Connelly, F. Michael y Clandinin, D. Jean (2000). Narrative inquiry. Experiencie and story in qualitative research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Dahlgren, M. A. y Chiriac, E. H. (2009). Learning for professional life: student teacher´s and graduated teacher´s views of learning, responsibility and collaboration. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(8), pp. 991-999. Day, Ch., et al. (2006). Variations in the work and lives of teachers: relative and relational effectiveness. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 12(2), pp. 169-192. Feiman-Nemser, S. (2001). From Preparation to Practice: Designing a Continuum to Strengthen and Sustain Teaching. Teachers College Record, 103(6), 1013-1055. Kincheloe, J. L. (2001). Hacia una revisión crítica del pensamiento docente. Barcelona: Octaedro. Goodson, Ivor F. y Sikes, Pat (eds) (2001), Life History Research in Educational Setting: Learning from Lives. Buckingham: Open University Press. MacKenzie, Sarah K. (2011). Playing Teacher: Artful Negotiations in the Pre-service Classroom. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 12(1), Art. 30, http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1101306. Rivas, I. (2009). “Narración, conocimiento y realidad. Un cambio de argumento en la investigación educativa”. En J. I. Rivas & Herrera, D. (eds.) Voz y educación. La narrativa como enfoque de interpretación de la realidad. (pp. 17-36). Barcelona: Octaedro. Rivas, I. y otros (2010). La configuración de identidades en la experiencia escolar: Escenarios, sujetos y regulaciones. Revista de Educación. nº 353, septiembre-diciembre, pp. 197-209

Author Information

José Ignacio Rivas (presenting / submitting)
University of Málaga, Spain
Miguel Pérez Ferra (presenting)
UNIVERSIDAD DE JAÉN
PEDAGOGÍA
JAÉN
Universidad de Málaga
Didáctica y Organización Escolar
Málaga
UNIVERSIDAD DE JAÉN
DIDÁCTICA DE LAS CIENCIAS
JAÉN

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