Figured Worlds of Learning to Teach: Identity and Disequilibrium in Early Career Trajectories

• In Event: 35.081 - Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: 35.081-7 - The Lived Experiences and Identities of Educators

Abstract

This longitudinal study explored the career decisions of four highly qualified teachers through the concept of figured worlds (Holland, Lachtcotte, Skinner & Cain, 1998). Data compiled over four years, from the start of their preparation program through the first years of teaching, included interviews, observations, coursework and program materials, participants’ assessments and pupils’ work. Within- and cross-case analyses suggest that no single teacher attribute nor workplace condition alone determine teachers’ career decisions; rather, how teachers were able to refigure their identity within their figured world of teaching shaped career trajectory. The need for pre-service preparation and professional development to navigate cultures of schools, as well as multilayered policy reform acknowledging the complexity of teachers’ figured worlds are discussed.

Authors

• Cindy Jong, University of Kentucky

• Lisa Andries D'Souza, Assumption College

• Dianna L. Gahlsdorf-Terrell, Saint Anselm College

• Joan Barnatt, Elon University

• Ann Marie Gleason