The Power of Being Remembered on a Teacher's Pedagogical Development

• In Event: 81.033 - MTCC Roundtable Session 38
  In Roundtable Session: 81.033-10 - Lives of Teachers SIG Roundtable: Teacher Candidates and Early Career Studies

Abstract

Teachers often want to be remembered. A bittersweet aspect for teachers lies in the loss of their class at the end of each school year. How we want to be remembered has the power to alter how we operate in the present and plan for the future. Teachers are surrounded by discourses that attempt to identify them in ways they must confront. Often teachers respond by trying to legitimate their ‘rightful’ place in the teaching profession. This study aims to highlight the influence of teaching discourses on the individual teacher’s pedagogical development by answering the question: What do teacher statements on how they want to be remembered tell us about their developing pedagogy and teacher identity?

Author

• Jeff Henning-Smith, University of Minnesota