Negotiating Experience and Shifting Identities in Changing School and Classroom Landscapes

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Experience and Story: Becoming a Teacher

Abstract

Drawing on a larger study that explored the lives of teachers in their first year teaching abroad, this paper explores how these teachers negotiated their experience and identity as they encountered new school and classroom landscapes. While each teacher’s story was unique, resonant threads emerged as they came into relation with students, colleagues and the system. These common threads included: arriving with past experiences and stories; bumping with new landscapes; shifting identities and liminal spaces; living and reliving forward. Experiencing different and diverse teaching environments involves bumping against dominant and sometimes conflicting stories and necessitates shifts in personal and professional identity. Teachers need care and advocacy especially during these times of personal and professional change.

Author

• Nicola Gram, The University of Hong Kong