Abstract
This article reports on a multiple-case study which aims to investigate how novice university teachers construct professional identities as they process and utilize resources to promote professional development. Data were collected from 35 novice university teachers in China through prolonged individual interviews as a major source of data, with journal entries and other written protocols as a supplement. Data analysis reveals three types of resource-mediated identities, that is, resource collectors, resource providers, and resource users. The difference between the three types of identities further shows that resource utilization can be most effectively optimized if teachers display a higher degree of autonomy deriving from their agency and proactively engage with resources to resolve specific problems in self-directed efforts. Suggestions with regard to promoting teachers’ problem awareness and improving organizational management are discussed.
Highlights
Resource, in a traditional sense, is the material of various visible and invisible forms that can be used to promote human development in a particular organization (Boldrini et al, 2019)
Resource Collectors: “I’m Constantly Making Preparations”. Before they began to work in a university, many teachers believed that they would become people who had the easiest access to professional development resources, as can be seen from the following extracts: I believed that the university was where resources were least lacking . . . I thought I would be provided with a variety of professional development resources
It is obvious that these teachers, before beginning to work in a university, identified themselves as novice members who should take for granted external support like professional development resources
Summary
In a traditional sense, is the material of various visible and invisible forms that can be used to promote human development in a particular organization (Boldrini et al, 2019). With reference to the professional development of university teachers, researchers have demonstrated a persistent interest in the outcome of resource investment and placement, on which previous research has produced a large number of implications and suggestions regarding university management policies and administrative improvements (Barnes, 2014; Glover et al, 1996; Gustafsson et al, 1999; Sugrue & Solbrekke, 2017; Weiner, 2016) As resource plays such a pivotal role in the professional development of university teachers, it is important to further examine the effect of resource on their professional identity construction as they process and utilize resources to promote professional development. Previous studies have rarely investigated the resource issue from the lens of teacher identity construction as a complex cognitive and social process (Bostock, 2019)
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