Problematizing teacher educator identity development of university-based teacher educators in China

• In Event: Educator Identity Development in University Settings

Proposal

Objectives or purposes

Research has found that teacher educators often carry on multiple roles and identities in their practice (Newberry, 2014; Trent, 2013; Williams, 2014). Despite recent research interest, the lives of teacher educators, especially how teacher educators perceive themselves professionally, are still relatively under-researched (Goodwin & Kosnik, 2013). This study investigated the complexity of professional identity of Chinese university-based teacher educators (UBTEs) and factors that have influenced their professional identity construction. UBTEs in this study are defined as faculty members who work with prospective teachers in higher education institutions.

Conceptual framework

In this study, we conceptualize professional identity of teacher educators as consisting of three dimensions: cognition, perceived acceptance, and behavior propensity. Cognition shows individuals’ understandings of the type of teacher educators they desire to become and the knowledge and skills that they believe to be essential (Cochran-Smith, 2005; Trent, 2013). Perceived acceptance refers to teacher educators’ attitudes towards and reflections of their roles. This dimension also reflects the recognition from the institutions, which influences teacher educators’ sense of belonging (Lunenberg & Hamilton, 2008). Behavior propensity refers to the enacted behavior of teacher educators, such as teaching practice, conducting research, and engaging in professional development activities.

Methodology and Data Sources

An online survey was sent to 208 current university-based teacher educators in seven provinces in China. The survey included 10 multiple choice questions and six statements. Purposeful sampling was used to identify participants who have been actively working in university-based teacher education programs for at least one year. Respondents were asked to answer the questions and indicate how well each of the six statements was aligned with their own experiences, using a five-point Likert scale. 183 responded (response rate 87.98%) and 153 (73.56%) were valid. Six participants were later invited to participate in open-ended, semi-structured interviews. The survey data were analyzed in SPSS 20.0. ANOVA and post hoc tests (LSD) were performed to examine differences among participants. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using NVivo.

Findings

Four different yet interrelated identities were identified from the survey results. The majority of the participants believed that teacher educators were first college teachers, followed by researchers, teacher of teachers, and teachers in the generic sense. However, when asked how they perceived their roles as teacher educators in practice, more participants chose college teachers and teachers in the generic sense than teachers of teachers and researchers. Participants in the interviews also reported that they viewed themselves as a particular type of (college) teachers but not necessarily as teachers of teachers. This identification may also be due to the fact that K-12 teaching experience is not a necessary condition for becoming a teacher educator in China—less than 15% of the participants started their careers as school teachers.

Under the dimension of cognition, the participants believed that pedagogy, teaching methods, subject knowledge were most essential for teacher educators. However, merely half (51.63%) of them believed that they possessed sufficient pedagogical knowledge and less than 40% of them believed that they had competent knowledge in teaching methods and subject content. This perceived lack of pedagogical knowledge may also explain why the participants do not first see themselves as teachers of teachers.

We also investigated the factors that had impact on participants’ professional identity. ANOVA tests showed a positive correlation between years of working and the level of professional identity, especially perceived acceptance and behavior propensity, both of which were statistically significant at 0.01 level. Senior faculty members (full and associate professors) reported higher levels of cognition and behavior propensity than junior faculty members (teaching assistants1 and lecturers) at 0.01 level and teaching assistants showed the lowest level of perceived acceptance. In addition, participants with doctoral degrees had significantly higher scores across all three domains at 0.01 level than those with master or bachelor degrees. Participants who were most satisfied with their current team members, developmental potential, and the institutional support also showed stronger professional identity.

Significance

The results of this study show the complex nature of the professional identity of UBTEs in China and the discrepancy between their desired roles and the roles they carry on in their practice. This study in particular indicates that many participants take up the “college teachers working with prospective teachers” identity in their practice, which is different from teacher-turned teacher educators frequently studied in current literature. Therefore, this study calls for more in-depth investigations and complex understandings of the group called “teacher educator”, especially those who come to the fields from diverse academic and professional trajectories.

Note: 1. In China, Teaching Assistant is lowest academic rank in colleges and universities. An instructor is first appointed as teaching assistant before being promoted to lecturer and professorship.

References

Cochran-Smith, M. (2005). Teacher educators as researchers: Multiple perspectives. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(2), 219-225.
Goodwin, A. L., & Kosnik, C. (2013). Quality teacher educators = quality teachers? Conceptualizing essential domains of knowledge for those who teach teachers. Teacher Development, 17(3), 334-346.
Korthagen, F. (2001). Teacher education: A problematic enterprise. In F. Korthagen, J. Kessles, B. Koster, B. Langerwarf, & T. Wubbels (Eds.), Linking practice and theory: The pedagogy of realistic teacher education (pp. 1-19). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Lunenberg, M., Hamilton, M. L. (2008). Threading a golden chain: An attempt to find our identities as teacher educators. Teacher Education Quarterly, 35(1), 185-202.
Newberry, M. (2014). Teacher educator identity development of the nontraditional teacher educator. Studying Teacher Education, 10(2), 163-178.
Trent, J. (2013). Becoming a teacher educator: The multiple boundary-crossing experiences of beginning teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 64(3), 262-275
Williams, J. (2014). Teacher educator professional learning in the third space: Implications for identity and practice. Journal of Teacher Education, 65(4), 315-326.

Authors

• Weijia Wang, University of Washington

• Yiting Chu, University of Washington