Staple Their Head to a Standard’s Flower: Teacher Identity in an Era of Accountability

• In Event: Accountability Reforms Experienced by Teachers and Administrators

Abstract

There is a growing debate across the country about how to evaluate teachers and what the teaching profession should look like. Given the contentious landscape surrounding who should be teaching, what a good teacher looks like, and how to evaluate teachers, questions arise around how practicing teachers construct their professional identities amid this context. This study seeks to address this question by investigating how and from where do teachers construct an understanding of what in means to be a professional in current educational contexts. This study builds on the body of teacher professionalization and professionalism research and uses social practice theories of identity construction to understand how teachers are constructing their professional identities amid current educational contexts.

Author

• Rebecca Buchanan, University of California - Santa Cruz