Teacher’s Identity Development Through Reflection

Abstract

The aim of a person’s professional development is a gradual awareness of one’s own personality, professional and life activity and its planning and perfection, readiness to analyse oneself and find a personally significant meaning in a particular professional activity that defines and forms a person's professional identity. In today's world, the key to successful professional activity is a strong development of self-identity. As reflection makes human actions more meaningful, raises awareness and suggests changes in attitudes, behaviours, actions in individual and professional contexts throughout life, the aim of this study is to reveal how Latvian teachers, working in different educational institutions and with several years of pedagogical experience, understand the essence of teacher’s professional identity by analysing their past, present and future teaching practices. The teaching experience of research participants – 80 Master’s students of Liepaja University, study programme General Education Teacher, are summarized applying a thematic analysis method, which allows to determine the factors influencing one’s own identity, sources of experience, weaknesses, ways for overcoming the obstacles, and specificity of the teacher’s identity. The research questions deal with teachers’ self-reflection, self-perception as educators, and professional activities that shape their professional identity. The research results describe teachers' reflections on their pedagogical activities, revealing several professional identity perfection dimensions, such as social responsibility, attitude change, search for alternative solutions, assessment of progress, and others.