Recruiting and Recognizing Multiple Socially Situated Identities: Consonance and Contradiction in the Pedagogy of a Male Pre-Service Early Educator

Abstract

In this article the author uses a socially situated view of identity to take a close look at how one male pre-service early educator shapes his professional identities during a fieldwork experience in a kindergarten classroom. In organizing his pedagogy and relationships this pre-service teacher simultaneously draws from his personal experiences and the discourses of his university teacher education program to perform his teacher identity. The synergy created from this crafting of selves brings a multiplicity to the identities this teacher enacts and recognizes, at times causing dissonance between his plans and his practices. This article suggests that taking a socially situated view of identity is necessary for teacher education, as it provides a theoretical framework for pre-service teachers to consider the multiplicity of identities they draw from when shaping their ‘teacher’ identity.