From vocational worker to vocational teacher: a study of identity transition and loss

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article addresses the transition from vocational worker to vocational teacher in a Norwegian higher institution. Specifically, the vocational worker identity is examined to obtain a deeper knowledge of how trainee teachers describe the transition from vocational worker to vocational teacher. Previous research has highlighted the challenges of this transition and pointed out the struggle to align the vocational work-based identity with the teacher identity. Relatively little attention, however, has been paid to the aspect of detachment in the process of transition from a vocational worker role to the role of teacher of a vocational subject. Through the analysis of focus group interviews with Norwegian trainee teachers, feelings of loss and ‘letting something go’ expressed by the trainee teachers reveal an important dimension in characterising the aspect of detachment in a transition. This analysis highlights the importance of exploring the vocational identity and the influence of the prior vocation in the transition to vocational teacher and the important role of teacher education in assisting trainee teachers of vocational subjects to successfully navigate this transition.