Identity Agency in Progress: Teachers Authoring Their Identities

• In Event: 31.035 - Teacher Identity Development Situated in Dynamic Social and Cultural Contexts

Abstract

Teachers’ professional identities have been widely recognized as the key resource through which teachers make sense of their work (Author, 2013). Social and cultural contexts and especially changes in those are interpreted by individual teachers in the light of their conceptualizations of themselves as professional actors (Vähäsantanen, 2015). The development of this resource is equally sensitive to social and cultural contexts in which it takes place. Identity learning also includes a strong component of agency, since teachers are motivated actors in developing their identities in relation to social context (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004).

Despite this recognition and theoretical understanding of the contextual nature of identity development, few studies have offered a longitudinal perspective on the processes involved in teachers’ identity development. In my presentation I aim at offering an advanced conceptualization of the ways in which teachers author their identity development processes in relation to different social contexts suggesting different designated identities to individuals. I use examples from two longitudinal research projects on pre-service and in-service teachers’ identity development to illustrate the teachers’ efforts to maintain and develop their professional identities across time and space (Author, 2013, 2016; Author et al., 2016b). I also identify two agentic dynamics in professional identity development: renegotiation and defense.

The two suggested agentic dynamics play different roles in maintaining the teachers’ relationship with the social and cultural environment. The renegotiating process provides the teachers the possibility to restore the imbalance between themselves and the environment by transforming their perception of themselves and their social context. This behavior can then lead in further additive development in teacher identities with increased confidence and responsibility. The agentic dynamics of defense, in contrast, are characterized by teachers’ attempts to maintain balance and resist identity renegotiation by mentally distancing themselves from their environment. These dynamics are typically resorted when designated identities are felt impossible to accept and the original identity is felt increasingly important in the changing context. As a consequence, this behavior has a tendency to restrain teachers’ agency in the social context and inhibit the sense of professional satisfaction. The paper concludes with a discussion of the meaning of these agentic dynamics for teacher development and motivation.

Author

• Maria Ruohotie-Lyhty, University of Jyväskylä