Learning to Be a Teacher: Experience, Professional Values, and the (Re)Discovery of the Profession

• In Event: Teacher Identity and the Contemporary Development of Teachers in Educational Systems Globally

Abstract

Learning to be a teacher is a complex and multi-dimensional process associated not only with the acquisition of professional knowledge and competences but also with (re-)constructing beliefs, motivations, and aspirations. A growing body of literature has highlighted personal, social, and cognitive dimensions of identity formation linked to the (re)interpretation of own experiences, biography and ways of be(com)ing a teacher (AuthorC, 2006; Beauchamp and Thomas, 2009; Nickel and Zimmer, 2018). AuthorA (2019, p. 3) has discussed the process of learning to teach as an identity making process related to “one’s own biography, aspirations, learning history, and beliefs about education but also hopes, dreams, and ideals student teachers bring with them to teacher education”. Additional research highlights tensions that occurred in identity development in the context of practice and the role-negotiation required in such a process (Anspal, Leijen, and Löfström 2018; AuthorC, 2020, 2021). While there is vast research on identity linked to the transition from student to teacher and around the early years of teaching, less is known about initial teacher education as a context for developing teacher identity (Beauchamp and Thomas 2009; Timostsuk and Ugaste 2010; Schepens et al. 2009; Nickel and Zimmer 2018).

This paper draws on a wider research project in Portugal focusing on identity development in initial teacher education. It aims to understand student teachers’ self-image about themselves as teachers-to-be; examine the learning experiences that shape and reshape their process of becoming a teacher via identity development; and investigate how they make sense of their own journey to become teachers over time. These goals are particularly relevant after the implementation of the Bologna Process was adopted in Portugal. A master’s degree in teaching is now required for all entrants into teaching (from preschool to secondary school) following an initial degree the in subject knowledge to be taught (e.g., biology). This new configuration of teacher education as a two-phase process has implications for student teachers’ process of learning to teach—and is the context within which this study sits.

Data were collected through interviews with and written narratives by student teachers. Analyses of these accounts highlighted (a) ways that student teachers revisited their own experiences as students, (b) how they discussed their role by clarifying their sense of purpose for becoming a teacher, and (c) made their beliefs more explicit. The (re)discovery of the teaching profession and the teachers’ role in it was marked by idealism and hope but also by scepticism and negativity as they came to know the complexities and practicalities of teaching in contemporary school systems and their classrooms. These and other elements demonstrate that identity formation is a non-linear process marked by contradictions, tensions, and doubts (Zimermann et al. 2012) but also filled with personal aspirations and hopes. In addition, the kinds of learning experiences in which they engage—alone or with others—and how they make sense of those experiences significantly shape their identity.

Author

• Maria A. Flores, Minho University, Portugal