Different Location or Different Map? Investigating Charter School Teachers' Professional Identities

• In Event: 35.081 - Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: 35.081-7 - The Lived Experiences and Identities of Educators

Abstract

This qualitative study of early career charter school teachers investigates how these teachers construct their professional identities, and how these conceptualizations influence their views of career and the teaching profession. Utilizing thematic analysis, our findings suggest that many charter teachers articulate a professional identity that places their work as separate and often more effective than teachers in traditional public schools. Many also conveyed that effective teaching requires long hours and extreme personal sacrifice. While this identity helped to build participants sense of value, it also narrowly framed effective teaching. As such, though many participants reported feeling overburdened in their role, they did not feel they could teach in alternative venues, and so would leave teaching in the next few years.

Authors

• Chris Torres, Michigan State University

• Jennie Weiner, University of Connecticut