The temporal dimension as a dialogical resource for teachers’ professional development and fulfillment

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a qualitative interview study of professional identity of 38 Italian teachers close to retirement. Through a dialogical analysis of the interviews, the authors trace the trajectory of the teachers’ voices along a temporal axis, to retrieve the history of the voices and the connections to a specific period of the teachers’ careers. In particular, the authors focus on how the interviewees dealt with problems and dilemmas in their professional lives and solved their feelings of professional inadequacy. This study highlights the importance of the time dimension in relation to teacher professionalism, in particular with regard to identity resources to overcome critical moments in their careers.