"I Think I Am a Researcher Now": Professional Identity Development Through Disciplinary Discourse Practices

• In Event: 52.064 - Ethic, Equity, and Opportunity

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between professional identity development of educational psychology graduate students and their disciplinary discourse practices. Qualitative methods were used to track 34 students at different stages of their programs, marked by important signposts of progress in their graduate studies. Findings highlight how graduate students, throughout their program, develop their professional identity through disciplinary discourse practices in various situations. As a result of grounded theory methods, the central phenomenon of professional identity development became the organizing focus, influenced by disciplinary discourse practices that were grounded in coursework, and research and writing projects. Disciplinary communication skills, including oral and written forms, served to build academic and personal relationships with others as well as to an imagined future community.

Author

• John Park, The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor