Teacher agency and identity commitment in curricular reform

This study explores how teachers enact agency to facilitate their professional development during curricular reform at a Chinese university. An analysis of data derived from life history interviews with eight language teachers complemented with field notes reveals differential agentic choices and actions. The teachers' learning, teaching and research endeavours in relation to the new curriculum are directed by various identity commitments and enacted in highly individualised ways, as mediated by their prior experiences. By situating teachers' agency in their individual professional trajectories, this study conceptualises interaction of teacher agency and identity commitment to professional development during curricular reform.     

Professional identity creation: Examining the development of beginning preservice teachers' understanding of their work as teachers

The importance of reflection in supporting the continued professional learning of preservice practitioners is well recognised. This study examines one aspect of the outcomes of preservice teachers' reflection: the development of their own self-image as a teacher. In making the transition from student to teacher, preservice teachers create their own professional identity. Their ability to articulate this identity is examined through a new construct, a “teachers' voice”. A teachers' voice, develops when preservice teachers interpret and reinterpret their experiences through the processes of reflection. A teachers' voice is articulated as part of the persons' self-image. The construct, a teachers' voice, was investigated by examining changes in preservice teachers' contributions in an online discussion forum. Two complementary approaches of content analysis were applied. Both methods revealed changes in preservice teachers' levels of engagement and showed that in the first semester of preservice teacher education, the majority of preservice teachers moved towards a more professional stance in their contributions.     

Positional identity and science teacher professional development

The aim of this study was to understand the positional identity of three African American secondary science teachers. Positional identity was operationally defined in terms of race, ethnicity, economic status, gender, religion, and age. Positional identity was posited to inform why diverse teachers with differing knowledge and experiences in science exist. An analysis of the findings suggested that the teachers' positional identity was defined beyond race, ethnicity and gender. Although the three science teachers came from very similar social backgrounds and were members of the same racial/ethnic group (African American), their positionality manifested itself in different ways: meanings of their life experiences; orientations to professional development; and future career goals in science education. Thus they possessed multiple positional identities that intersected in various ways which resulted in them having different perceptions of the world and subjectivities as science teachers. Implications included addressing positional identity and the creation of professional development models that are framed around incorporating teacher identity in addition to furthering teachers' personal and professional advancement within science education. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 684–710, 2008     

Student teachers’ professional identity: A review of research contributions

Twenty-two empirical studies on student teachers' professional identity were selected for this review. In this paper we present important implications for current and future research on student teachers' professional identity by focusing on the discussion of key-issues associated with it. We also discuss the studies’ contributions and implications for initial teacher education and future research. Based on this discussion, we present a working definition of professional identity and consider which are the current emerging research issues.     

Performance,structure and ideal identity: Reconceptualising teachers' engagement in online social spaces

In recent years, teachers have turned to online social spaces for peer‐to‐peer interaction in increasing numbers. This online engagement has been highlighted by both practitioners and academics as having important implications for teachers' professional learning and development. However, there is a need to move beyond instrumental discourses that simply discuss engagement and technology in terms of costs and benefits, and analyse the complex social contexts in which engagement takes place. Therefore, presenting data from a digital ethnography of three online social spaces used by teachers, this paper uses professional identity as an analytical framework in order to understand teachers' online engagement in holistic terms in a way that acknowledges the messy social realities in which teachers work. It then presents a new theoretical framework for conceptualising teachers' professional identity that develops the concept of embedded ideal identity and takes into account context, social complexity, structure and agency.     

Teacher agency and professional learning in cross-cultural teaching contexts: Accounts of Chinese teachers from international schools in Hong Kong

This study examined how teacher agency shaped professional learning in cross-cultural teaching contexts. Interviews with 14 Chinese language teachers showed that teacher agency varied in different dimensions of professional learning. Social suggestions, power relations, teachers' professional and social positioning and the imposed identity and social roles in the school contexts interacted to shape teacher agency. The findings suggest both creating school cultures and structures that value and share diverse discursive and pedagogical practices and managing teachers' professional identity and self-positioning to enhance teachers' agency to engage in mutual learning and remaking of their work practices.     

How can a dialogue support teachers’ professional identity development? Harmonising multiple teacher I-positions

The present study uses Dialogical Self Theory to explore the extent to which a dialogue supports teachers' professional identity development. Using a narrative approach that includes interviews, observations of educational activities and collective meetings, insight is gained into teachers’ I-positions, meta-positions and promoter positions. The findings suggest that a dialogue, in which teachers talk about boundary experiences and articulate I-positions, stimulates teachers to reflect on their teaching behaviour from a meta-position and enables them to harmonise their multiple I-positions. Moreover, it stimulates teachers to develop their identity as a teacher and to change their teaching behaviour.     

Primary teacher identity,commitment and career in performative school cultures

The research reported here maps changes in primary teachers' identity, commitment and perspectives and subjective experiences of occupational career in the context of performative primary school cultures. The research aimed to provide in‐depth knowledge of performative school culture and teachers' subjective experiences in their work of teaching. Themes in the data reveal changed commitments and professional identities. The teachers who had an initial vocational commitment and strong service ethic were the older teachers in the sample. While some of the younger teachers expressed vocationalism in the form of wanting ‘to make a difference’, they also stressed the importance of time compatibility for family‐friendly work and child care. In the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ of school life a number of factors supported some of the teachers' initial commitments, thus, providing ‘satisfiers’ in their work. However, some factors impacted negatively on teacher commitment. The psychic rewards of teaching provided the main basis of commitment and professional work satisfaction. Teacher strategies in performative school cultures highlighted the impact and saliency of testing regimes. There was evidence, however, of teacher mediation of policy and their investment in a more creative professional identity in their involvement in nurturing programmes and creative projects. Whether the schools and teachers developed creative approaches to increase test scores or to ameliorate the worst effects of testing they demanded increased effort and commitment from the teachers. Teachers in the contemporary context, who had in many cases experienced a career in another occupation prior to teaching, seemed much more adept and realistic in both recognising and managing their range of parallel commitments and identities. They have become more strategic and political in defending their self‐identities. Some evidence suggests their priorities have been to hold on to their humanistic values and their self‐esteem, while adjusting their commitments.     

Gender Politics and Conceptions of the Modern Teacher: Women,identity and professionalism

The main purpose of this paper is to critique the concepts of 'teacher professionalism' and 'professional identity' as they are currently manifest in the field of teaching and teacher education from two related feminist perspectives. In the first instance, feminist critiques of liberal democracy are drawn upon to expose the gendered assumptions which underlie dominant conceptions of the 'professional' teacher. Particular attention is paid to the now dominant view of the teacher as a rational and instrumental actor, and its gendered dimensions are explored. Second, the gender dualisms which reside at the heart of the concept 'teacher professionalism' are identified and discussed. The discussion is then widened to examine the role of gender politics in shaping the epistemological premises upon which teacher professionalism is developed and its more formative role in the exploitation of women teachers' labours. Drawing upon examples of current feminist research and my own preliminary empirical data, the paper concludes by presenting an alternative conceptual framework for assessing the gendered nature of identity formation in teaching.     

A conceptual discussion of lesson study from a micro-political perspective: Implications for teacher development and pupil learning

Lesson study has been implemented as a viable approach to support teachers' professional development. Yet, this approach has not been thoroughly examined in relation to key micro-political power relations that are arguably endemic to the use of this collaborative learning model. Accordingly, this paper discusses post-structural concepts that might be used to envision and underpin how teachers come to engage with their students, with their peers, and with external consultants. Taken together, the findings in this paper illustrate how a micro-political perspective can be linked with teachers' professional development as well as their practices of identity construction.     

Getting recognised: Teachers negotiating professional identities as learners through talk

This paper presents findings from a qualitative study on teachers' negotiation of professional identity through talk with colleagues at an urban, public, Midwestern school in the United States. The purpose of the research was to identify discourse strategies the teachers used to negotiate local significances for their professional identities. Analysis and findings demonstrate that the teachers made and recognised identity bids to accomplish the professional identity of teacher as learner, using a range of discourse strategies, including two genres of reflective talk. Implications for our understanding of teachers as knowledge-producers and how this can inform teacher education and education policy are considered.     

An ecological examination of teachers' emotions in the school context

This qualitative case study discusses teachers' emotions, in particular two elementary teachers in a school serving a high-poverty, high-minority population. Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological system framework, we examined how these teachers' internal psychological characteristics transact with external environments to produce emotions. Both teachers experienced unpleasant emotions such as disappointment and frustration in their daily work. However, instead of dwelling on the unpleasant emotions, they shifted their thinking to consider ways they could achieve more favorable outcomes. Our findings showed that these coping strategies were deeply connected to their individual psychological biographies, specifically their pedagogical beliefs and well-developed professional identity.     

National identity and its relationship with teachers' historical knowledge and pedagogy: the case of Taiwan

National identity is one of the most important forms of ideology that affects human behaviours. Yet, the issue of whether it influences history teachers' subject matter knowledge or teaching practice is overlooked most of the time. With regime change in Taiwan, history curriculum and textbooks are no longer dominated by a China-centred narrative; more Taiwanese history is included in the curriculum. Given the fact that the Taiwanese are split on the issue of national identity, it is important to understand if and how teachers vary in their historical knowledge and instruction. This study examines the issue by investigating the relationships between Taiwanese junior high school history teachers' national identities, their subject matter knowledge and teaching practices. The result indicates that teachers' national identities significantly relate to their historical knowledge and conceptions about history, but bear no relationship to their teaching approaches. Pro-independence teachers have significantly more knowledge in both Taiwanese and Chinese histories and have better conceptions about the nature of history, but they do not necessarily choose to provide students multiple perspectives and interpretations. The implications for democratic citizenship education and teacher education are discussed.     

‘That's not treating you as a professional’: teachers constructing complex professional identities through talk

Public debates about the role of teachers and teacher performance place teachers at the center of a range of national and local discourses. The notion of teacher professional identity, therefore, framed in a variety of ways, engages people across social contexts, whether as educators, parents, students, taxpayers, voters or consumers of news and popular media. These highly contested discourses about teachers' roles and responsibilities constitute an important context for research on teachers and teaching, as researchers and educators ask how changes to the teaching profession affect teacher professional identity. This article investigates the identity talk of three mid‐career teachers in an urban, public school in the USA, to better understand how the teachers used language to accomplish complex professional identities. Research approaches to teacher identity often focus on teacher narrative as a key tool in identity formation. The analysis presented here extends our understanding of language as a resource in teacher identity construction by using discourse analysis to investigate how speakers use implicit meaning to accomplish the role identity of teacher. The analytical lens draws on an interdisciplinary framework that combines a sociological approach to teacher as a role identity with an investigation of language as a cultural practice, grounded in the ethnography of communication. The analysis focuses on how teachers use specific discourse strategies – reported speech, mimicked speech, pronoun shifts, oppositional portraits, and juxtaposition of explicit claims – to construct implicit identity claims that, while they are not stated directly, are central to accomplishing teacher as a role identity. The analysis presented here focuses on the particular implicit role claim of teacher as collaborator. Findings show that, in their identity talk, the teachers strategically positioned themselves in relation to others and to institutional practices, actively negotiating competing discourses about teacher identity by engaging in a counter discourse emphasizing teachers' professional role as knowledge producers rather than information deliverers, collaborative, rather than isolated, and as agents of change engaged in critical analysis to plan action. Awareness of how these counter discourses operate in the teachers' conversation helps us better understand the cultural significance of identity talk as a site for the negotiation of the significances for the role identity of teacher. In addition, the notions of role identity and implicit identity claims offer an accessible way to talk about the complexity of teacher identity, which can be helpful for increasing awareness of the importance of teacher identity in teacher education and professional development, and in bringing teachers' voices more prominently into the debates over education.     

A review of research on student teachers' professional identity

This article presents a review of 29 empirical studies to identify the main foci of research on student teachers' identity, the methodologies used and their major findings. The reviewed studies were found to investigate four broad factors: the contribution of: (1) reflective activities, (2) learning communities, (3) context and (4) (prior) experiences. Reflective practices and interviews were found to be mainly used by researchers as data collection tools and the findings were mainly reported to be changes in components of student teachers' identity, including their cognitive knowledge, sense of agency and voice. Questions raised in this review and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Teachers' assessment of students' research skills

Today, teachers are expected to develop complex skills, such as research skills, in their students while implementing new views on learning and teaching and using authentic assessment strategies. About these new assessment strategies there is much debate and teachers are vulnerable in using them. We studied upper secondary education natural and social science teachers' practices using two surveys and two rounds of expert panel judgement on teacher‐submitted assessment‐related material and information. Our study shows that there are grounds for concern regarding the clarity of teachers' assessment criteria, the consistency between teachers' goals, assignments, and criteria, and the validity and acceptability of teachers' assessment practices. The extent to which it is justifiable to judge teachers' assessment practice by professional quality criteria is discussed, and suggestions are given as to the main quality criteria for formative and summative assessment and as to ways in which teachers could improve their assessment practices.     

Teachers' perceptions of national identity and its intersection with gender: a phenomenological study in a conflict society

The aim of this study is to investigate Greek-Cypriot teachers' perceptions regarding the role that national identity and its intersection with gender play in representations of the past. Drawing on data deriving from forty individual interviews and analysed through the lens of intersectionality theory, it is shown that: although all teachers were able to recognise the role of national identity in representations of the past in the Cyprus conflict, the majority of these teachers were not equally aware of the gender politics in representations of the past. The participants seemed to be willing to take responsibility for the ways in which they represented the national identity, but they were not willing to assume responsibility for their gendered representations; instead, these representations were deemed ‘unconscious’ or a ‘product of tradition’ or the ‘natural order’ and, thus, not within their control. The paper ends with a discussion of how this study informs educational research and teacher professional development, concerning the intersection of national identity and gender in relation to issues of collective memory.     

Promoting ethnic identity development while teaching subject matter content: A model of ethnic identity exploration in education

This grounded theory study was conducted to investigate how two veteran social studies teachers, one African American and one Japanese American, incorporated opportunities for students to explore their ethnicity while learning subject matter content. Four themes emerged that form the basis of a model that provides teachers with strategies for assisting students as they learn about their ethnic groups through existing subject matter curricula. These data, and teachers' reports of sustained student engagement when exploration of cultural heritage was incorporated into the curriculum, provide warrant for including instruction in ethnic identity exploration in teacher preparation programs.     

Teachers' Prior Experiences and Actual Perceptions of Professional Identity

Abstract

After a review of literature, 14 items were generated which represent teachers' professional identity. The participating teachers (n = 28) were requested to express and clarify their actual perception for each item. In addition they were asked to draw so‐called story‐lines from the present to the past and to clarify the highest and lowest points in these lines. The respondents were secondary school teachers with an average teaching experience of 21 years. All of them perceived their actual professional identity as positive. The teachers' stories of their experiences demonstrate so‐called progressive rather than regressive lines in their careers. Some teachers also demonstrate so‐called stability story‐lines, i.e. lines without high(est) and low(est) points. It is argued that—in the long term—these and other research findings can be relevant to those who are responsible in schools for the further development of teachers' careers.     

Pre-service teachers' ethical stances on unethical professional behaviors: The roles of professional identity goals and efficacy beliefs

By considering the mediating roles of efficacy beliefs, this study examined whether pre-service teachers' ethical stances on student-related unethical teacher behaviors significantly differed according to the levels of their professional commitment when they received bogus negative feedback for their teaching competencies. Pre-service teachers (n = 128) were assigned to either experimental groups (i.e., high commitment-negative feedback/low commitment-negative feedback) or control groups (i.e., high commitment-no feedback/low commitment-no feedback). The results revealed that pre-service teachers' ethical stances on unethical teacher behaviors significantly differed according to their professional commitment. Notably, this result was significantly explained by the mediating roles of efficacy beliefs.