Exploring the Impact of Teacher Professional Development on a Veteran Science Teacher's Professional Identity: A Case Study

• In Event: Teacher Identity and Motivation: Concepts, Research Designs, and Empirical Examples

Abstract

Objective
Professional development calls upon teachers to consider new action possibilities. Yet, it is not uncommon for teachers to emerge from PD experiences unchanged. Our purpose was to use the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI) as a theoretical lens for examining processes underlying teacher learning and motivation for change of practice during a professional development (PD) institute.

Theoretical Perspective
We drew on the DSMRI (Kaplan et al., 2012), and its basis in identity development (Opfer & Pedder, 2011), teacher identity (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004), motivation (Maehr & Braskamp, 1986), and dynamic systems (Kunnen, 2012) to highlight the importance of the teacher’s a-priori identity system in framing perceptions of the PD and the PD events that trigger changes within and among the identity system components. It guided us to situate the teacher’s PD experiences within other life experiences that the teacher construed as personally meaningful, which in turn, framed change in identity model components and emergent alignments and misalignments among these components. Finally, the model called for attention to the role-based nature of identity, leading us to focus on the teacher’s construction and integration of the roles of teacher, PD participant, and scientist.

Methods and Data Sources
Data were pre-, mid- and post-institute interviews with one male mid-career high school physics teacher. Interviews solicited personal narratives from which model components were identified. Analysis included deductive (model-guided) and inductive (data-driven) qualitative content analysis of each interview (Zhang & Wildemuth, 2009), summary case analysis of each interview, and cross-interview analysis to identify change in model components and their interrelations. Interview data were analyzed to consensus by three trained researchers. Institute video and audio recordings and journal responses served as points of triangulation.

Findings
The dynamic, contextualized nature of the teacher’s learning and motivation was manifest in all four identity model components. At pre-institute, alignment was noted among: (1) self-perceptions based in constructions of personal experiences as a struggling, perseverant high-school and college student; (2) personal epistemology that included beliefs about the roles of hands-on experiences, the role of the teacher as a group leader, and learning as a journey; (3) purpose and goals that included setting high standards and expectations from students; and (4) action possibilities that involved teacher-driven instruction, close monitoring of students’ understanding, and motivational mentorship. PD-institute experiences such as taking on the role of a student during an science inquiry project, and participating in an assessment creation activity, triggered reconsideration of identity components such as beliefs about assessment and purposes of instructing and assessing students. PD experiences in scientific inquiry prompted renegotiation of self-perceptions as a scientist relative to science teacher. The data indicated that the teacher began considering new instructional action possibilities that corresponded with his new beliefs about learning and about the teacher’s role.

Scholarly Significance
Teachers’ motivation and professional identity are central to students’ engagement and motivation but they receive scant attention in PD (Luehmann, 2007). Our approach may offer new insights into variations in teacher change as it occurs through PD experiences.

Author

• Joanna K. Garner, Old Dominion University