The Transition From Paraprofessional to Teacher: The Paraprofessional's Voice

• In Event: 61.051 - Lives of Teachers SIG Showcase Paper Session

Abstract

We examined the lives of paraprofessionals studying to become certified teachers through a work-based teacher education program. In this qualitative study, eight participants shared supports and challenges encountered during their transition via interviews, university coursework, and classroom observations over a two-year period. The findings revealed that beyond the roles they enacted on the job, the paraprofessionals’ abilities to gain teaching expertise and manage the power relations involved in a new role were influenced by their abilities to leverage sociocultural funds of knowledge and their social and academic support network. The factors paraprofessionals identify as affecting how they accomplish this transition in the school environment will inform school administrators’, teacher educators’, and policymakers’ efforts to build this source of quality teachers.

Authors

• Lindsay K Lightner, Washington State University

• Judith A. Morrison, Washington State University