31.035 - Teacher Identity Development Situated in Dynamic Social and Cultural Contexts

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium highlights the situated nature of teacher identity and how teachers navigate and negotiate their identity in the midst of dynamic social, historical, and cultural contexts. Teachers must carefully negotiate their sense of self between opposite and often competing aspects of identity. Lack of cohesion among these aspects is likely to create tensions depending on how the teacher is situated within time and contexts. In this symposium, we will discuss a range of theoretical, methodological, and practical approaches focused on unpacking teachers’ identity development within multi-layered contexts. By facilitating dialogue among different scholars, we aim to advance our understanding of teacher identity and develop evidence-based frameworks for fostering effective teacher identities.

Sub Unit

• Division C - Learning and Instruction / Division C - Section 2b: Learning and Motivation in Social and Cultural Contexts

Chairs

• Paul A. Schutz, The University of Texas - San Antonio

• Ji Yeon Hong, University of Oklahoma

• Dionne Indera Cross Francis, Indiana University

Papers

• Professional Identity Matters: Agency, Emotions, and Resilience - Christopher W. Day, University of Nottingham

• Teacher Identity Discourse as Identity Growth: Stories of Authority and Vulnerability - Janet M. Alsup, Purdue University

• Identity Agency in Progress: Teachers Authoring Their Identities - Maria Ruohotie-Lyhty, University of Jyväskylä

• Teacher Identity and Political Instruction - Wayne Journell, University of North Carolina - Greensboro

• The Indispensability and Impossibility of Teacher Identity - Matthew Clarke

Discussant

• Avi Kaplan, Temple University