Learning in the Practicum: Shaping Professional Identity in Initial Teacher Education
2021, 66, No. 4
Publication date
Publishing model
License type
Field
Discipline
Language of publication
Downloads
PDF 194 KB
Number of views:68
Number of downloads:27
Crossref citations:0
Altmetric score:0
Abstract
This study considers the role of the practicum in supporting professional identity development in the initial stage of teacher education. Employing an interpretative paradigm and a qualitative methodological approach (Lincoln & Guba, 2000), data were collected from a purposive sample of student teachers (n = 6) in the first year of study, using individual semi-structured interviews and episodic documents. The findings show that emerging teacher identity was informed but also challenged by the participants’ engagement with pupils, other teachers and visiting tutors. Collectively, these influences effected shifts in the participants’ constructs on teaching and prompted change in their perception of themselves and others as teachers. The study provides for an improved understanding of teacher growth in the first stage of career development. By so doing, it makes a valid contribution to the discourse on initial teacher education to better inform teacher educators and policy makers in relation to teacher professional learning.
Keywords:
Bibliography
Akkerman, S., & Meijer, P. (2011). A dialogical approach to conceptualising teacher identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27, 309-319.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.08.013
Ambrosetti, A. Allen Knight, B., & Dekkers, J. (2014). Maximising the potential of mentoring: A framework for pre-service teacher education. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 22(3), 224-239.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13611267.2014.926662
Bakhtin, M. (1981). The dialogic imagination. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Baldwin, S., Buchanan, A., & Rudisill, M. (2007). What teacher candidates learned about diversity, social justice, and themselves from service-learning experiences. Journal of Teacher Education, 58(4), 315-327.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487107305259
Bassey, M. (1981). Pedagogic research: On the relative merits of search for generalisation and study of single events. Oxford Review of Education, 7(1), 73-94.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0305498810070108
Beauchamp, C., & Thomas, L. (2009). Understanding teacher identity: an overview of issues in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 175-128.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03057640902902252
Beijaard, D. (1995). Teachers' prior experiences and actual perceptions of professional identity. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 1(2), 281-294.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1354060950010209
Beijaard, D., Meijer, P., & Veloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers' professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 107-128.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2003.07.001
Boreen, J., Johnson, M., Niday, D., & Potts, J. (2000). Mentoring beginning teachers. York, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
Brandt, C. (2008). Integrating feedback and reflection in teacher preparation. ELT Journal, 62(1), 37-46.
https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccm076
Brannick, T., & Coghlan, D. (2007). In defence of being "Native". The case for insider academic research. Organizational Research Methods, 10, 59-74.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428106289253
British Educational Research Association. (2011). Ethical guidelines for educational research. London: BERA.
Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Capel, S. A. (1997). Changes in students' anxieties and concerns after their first and second teaching practices. Educational Research, 39, 211-228.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0013188970390208
Clandinin, D., Huber, J., Huber, M., Murphy, M., Murray Orr, A., Pearce, M., & Steeves, P. (2006). Composing diverse identities. Narrative inquiries in the interwoven lives of children and teachers. London: Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203012468
Cochran-Smith, M. (1991). Learning to teach against the grain. Harvard Educational Review, 61(3), 279-310.
https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.61.3.q671413614502746
Cochran-Smith, M. (2004). The problem of teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 55(4), 295-298.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487104268057
Coldron, J., & Smith, R. (1999). Active location in teachers' construction of their professional identities. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 31(6), 711-726.
https://doi.org/10.1080/002202799182954
Cooper, K., & Olson, M. (1996). The multiple 'I's' of teacher identity. In M. Kompf, R. Bond, D. Dworet, & T. Boak (Eds.), Changing Research and Practice: Teachers' Professionalism, Identities and Knowledge (pp. 78-89). London: Falmer Press.
https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315043227-10
Cresswell, J., & Plano, C. V. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Crotty, M. (1998). The foundations of social research. Meaning and perspective in the research process. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Dall'Alba, G. (2009). Learning professional ways of being: Ambiguities of becoming. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 41(1), 34-45.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2008.00475.x
Dall'Alba, G., & Barnacle, R. (2007). An ontological turn for higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 32(6), 679-691.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070701685130
Economic and Social Research Council. (ESRC) (2017). Research ethics guidance. Retrieved from https://www.ukri.org/councils/esrc/guidance-for-applicants/research-ethics-guidance/
Edwards, A., & Protheroe, L. (2003). Learning to see in classrooms: What are student teachers learning about teaching and learning while learning to teach in schools? British Educational Research Journal, 29(2), 227-242.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0141192032000060957
Friesen, M., & Besley, S. (2013). Teacher identity development in the first year of teacher education: A developmental and social psychological perspective. Teaching and Teacher Education, 36, 23-32.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2013.06.005
Giddens, A. (1994). Beyond left and right. The future of radical politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hagan, M., & Eaton, P. (2020). Teacher education in Northern Ireland: Reasons to be cheerful or a 'Wicked Problem'? Teacher Development, 24(2), 258-273.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2020.1751260
Kelchtermans, G., & Hamilton, M. (2004). The dialects of passion and theory: Exploring the relation between self-study and emotion. In J. Loughran, M. L. Hamilton, V. Kubler LaBoskey, & T. Russell (Eds.), International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (pp. 785-810). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6545-3_20
Kyriacou, C., & Stephens, P. (1999). Student teachers' concerns during teaching practice. Evaluation and Research in Education, 13(1), 18-31.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09500799908666943
La Paro, K., Van Shagen, A., Kin, E., & Lippard, C. (2018). A systems perspective on practicum, experiences in early childhood teacher education: Focus on interprofessional relationships. Early Childhood Education Journal, 46, 365-375.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0872-8
Lay, K., & McGuire, L. (2010). Building a Lens for Critical Reflection and Reflexivity in Social Work Education. Social Work Education, 29(5), 539-550.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02615470903159125
Leeferink, H., Koopman, M., Beijaard, D., & Schellings, G. (2019). Overarching professional identity themes in student teacher workplace learning. Teachers and Teaching, 25(1), 69-89.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2018.1527762
Lincoln, Y., & Guba, E. (2000). Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions and emergingin fluences. In Y. Lincoln & E. Guba (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 163-188). Thousand Oaks, A: SAGE Publications.
MacLure, M. (1993). Arguing for your self: Identity as an organising principle in teachers' jobs and lives. British Educational Research Journal, 19(4), 311-322.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0141192930190401
Mead, G. (1962). Mind, self and society: From the standpoint of a social behaviourist (C. W. Morris, Ed.). London: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1934).
Mutton, T., Burn, K., & Haggar, H. (2010). Making sense of learning to teach: Learners in context. Research Papers in Education, 25(1), 73-91.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02671520802382912
Newby, P. (2010). Research methods for education. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Olsen, B. (2008). How reasons for entry into the profession illuminate teacher identity development. Teacher Education Quarterly, 35(3), 23-40.
Priestley, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2013). Teachers as agents of change: Teacher agency and emerging models of curriculum. In M. Priestley, & G. Biesta (Eds.), Reinventing the curriculum: New trends in curriculum policy and practice (pp. 187-206). London: Bloomsbury Academic.
https://doi.org/10.5040/9781472553195.ch-010
Reynolds, C. (1996). Cultural scripts for teachers: Identities and their relation to workplace landscapes. In M. Kompf, W. R. Bond, D. Dworet, & R. T. Boak (Eds.), Changing research and practice: Teachers' professionalism, identities and knowledge (pp. 69-77). London: Falmer Press.
https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315043227-9
Roberts, J., & Graham, S. (2008). Agency and conformity in school-based teacher training. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 1401-1412.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.01.003
Ryan, T. (2005). When you reflect are you also being reflexive? Ontario Action Researcher, 8(1), 1-5.
Sachs, J. (2005). Teacher education and the development of professional identity: Learning to be a teacher. Oxford: Routledge.
Shavit, P. (2019). The contribution of reflective thinking to the professional development of pre-service teachers. Reflective Practice, 20(4), 548-561.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2019.1642190
Smagorinsky, P., Cook, L., Moore, C., Jackson, A., & Fry, P. (2004). Tensions in learning to teach: Accommodation and the development of a teaching identity. Journal of Teacher Education, 55(1), 8-24.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487103260067
Tang, S., & Chow, A. (2007). Communicating feedback in teaching practice supervision in a learning-oriented field experience assessment framework. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(7), 1066-1085.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.07.013
Urzua, A., & Vasquez, C. (2008). Reflection and professional identity in teachers' futureoriented discourse. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(7), 1935-1946.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.04.008
Wang, J. (2001). Contexts of mentoring and opportunities for learning to teach: A comparative study of mentoring practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(1), 51-73.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(00)00038-X
Wegerif, R. (2008). Dialogic of dialectic? The significance of ontological assumptions in research on educational dialogue. British Educational Research Journal, 34(3), 347-361
https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920701532228
Other articles from the issue
Contents
- Roma; higher education; intersectionality; empowerment; resilience; inclusion
Strengthening Identity and Social Responsibility among Roma University Students
- collegiality; collaboration; academia; professional value; job-related well-being; social and emotional intelligence
Collegiality as a Fundamental Professional Value in an Academic Setting: A Case Study in a Teacher Education Institution in a Small Island Developing State
Similar publications
Contents
- Roma; higher education; intersectionality; empowerment; resilience; inclusion
Strengthening Identity and Social Responsibility among Roma University Students
- collegiality; collaboration; academia; professional value; job-related well-being; social and emotional intelligence
Collegiality as a Fundamental Professional Value in an Academic Setting: A Case Study in a Teacher Education Institution in a Small Island Developing State