“It Changed How I Feel About Being a Teacher”: COVID-19’s Effect on Teacher Identity Development

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: What Now? Exploring Dilemmas of Teacher Practice (Table 15)

Abstract

This study draws upon anonymous survey responses from 122 full-time, public-school teachers Massachusetts collected at the end of the pandemic-impacted 2020-2021 school year to investigate the way that perceptions of teachers and the work of teaching in news, public, and policy forums impacted teacher identity. Mockler’s (2011) three dimensions to teacher professional identity comprise the conceptual framework.
One finding includes the lack of value and respect from the political dimension of teacher professional identity had significant impact, pandemic-induced realities had an overwhelmingly negative effect on teacher identity. Another finding includes that the professional dimension of teacher identity sometimes served as a mediating factor.
Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Author

• Erin Nerlino, Clark University