The Impacts of Teachers' Professional Identity on Purposes and Organization of Group Work

• In Event: Cross-Continental Perspectives on the Lives of Teachers

Abstract

A sea of research on collaborative learning has suggested effective and unproductive ways of using groups in classrooms. This paper focuses on teacher characteristics, particularly on identity in the subject and teachers’ own learning experiences, and how these characteristics are related to their implementation of group work. Using lesson observations, stimulated-recall (SR) interviews framed by cultural-historical theory, teachers’ understandings and rationales of group work reflected their intentions in teaching. The findings throw light on the complexity of teachers and pedagogy, and the impacts of past experiences on the formation of professional identity and beliefs about teaching. Implications for teacher development and future research directions will be drawn.

Author

• Jessica Chan, University of Oxford