Teachers as Civic Actors: Understanding Intersections of Civic and Teacher Identity in Hungarian Transylvanian Teachers

• In Event: 53.051 - Negotiating Transnational Lives: Teaching in Global Contexts

Abstract

This study, situated in the Transylvanian region of Romania explores the complicated and agentic ways in which Hungarian-identifying teachers make sense of their work. We used an instrumental case study approach in which the phenomenon of interest was teachers’ intersecting civic and teacher identities within the figured world of Transylvania. Findings show that teacher participants enacted a teacher identity in which they saw themselves as educated, responsive, and responsible professionals and that cultural preservation amid globalization is a key aspect of education. Participants clearly articulated their purpose as beyond the teaching of any given content area. They stated education’s purpose, and theirs, was to prepare their students for civic life as Hungarians, Transylvanians, and most notably, global citizens.

Authors

• Kathryn M. Obenchain, Purdue University

• Jeannette Alarcon, University of North Carolina - Greensboro

• Gabriel Badescu, Universitatea Babes-Bolyai