Educator Identity Research Articles

Uncovering the discursive ‘borders’ of professional identities in English early childhood workforce reform policy

The early childhood workforce in England has experienced periods of policy attention and more recently policy neglect. During the past two decades (2000–2022) the extent of interest in workforce policy has fluctuated with episodes of investment followed by phases of disinvestment. Throughout this period, early childhood educators have been subjected to multiple, often conflicting and shifting demands upon them, which have evolved with varying political priorities. This paper builds on earlier analyses and exposes how neoliberal logic has been advanced in the intervening years and continues to permeate the terrain. Through a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of nine English early childhood workforce policies numerous, dominant, institutional discourses and reciprocal obligation are discerned. This analysis uncovers how policies of standard setting, credentialising and surveillance create discursive borders which are established and maintained to create the ‘ideal’ professional identities of early educators. It is contended that these conceptual and discursive borders delimit versions of professional identities and thereby curtail capacity to imagine and act beyond such boundaries. The paper concludes that identifying and naming these borders are important prerequisites for contestation of such institutional discourses and for asserting alternative subject positions.

(Un)Modeling the Way: Reflecting on the Complexity of the Leadership Educator Identity for Culturally Relevant Facilitation

A leadership educator's identity development is central to the Culturally Relevant Leadership Learning (CRLL) and socially just leadership process. Understanding one's own social and leadership identities is foundational to how an educator approaches (or avoids approaching) the five CRLL contextual dimensions (Bernard Jones et al., 2016; Milem et al., 2005). The educator identity exploration allows for the individual to ask themselves important questions to consider issues of power and privilege that inherently influence the learning environment. The current piece details how to deconstruct and reconstruct one's own identities by (un)modeling the way – empowering non‐dominant voices and ways of leading in the learning environment. It also showcases powerful tools for educators to foster an inclusive CRLL environment.

Profiling Academic Research on Language Teacher Identities

Within the field of TESOL, language teacher identity (LTI) has been the focus of a myriad of studies in the previous two decades. Researchers need to trace back in order to move forward, it is an essential step towards a comprehensive understanding of what has been done in LTI research. This review article provides an overall literature review on conceptual approaches of how identity is defined and perceived in the context of recent history. It is then followed by an analysis of dominant trends on recent studies of Language Teacher Identity to profile what, why, when, and who constitute seminal works in LTI research by tracing scholarly literature from 1975 to the present. A dataset retrieved and analyzed from Scopus was further correlated using Vantage Point software. The findings not only revealed the conceptual approaches, dominant trends, and methodological development in LTI research, but also identified the underexplored areas in transnational teacher identities, teacher educator identities, and online teacher identities, which provided implications for future LTI research directions.

EXHIBITION ACTIVITY IN CONTEXT INFORMATION AND ANALYTICAL SUPPORT OF NATIONAL EDUCATION MODERNIZATION

The article systematizes and highlights the role of exhibition processions in the field of national education. The results of the influence of these measures on the formation of the national identity and self-awareness of educators are revealed. Examples of the main educational exhibitions of Ukraine are given. Exhibition activity with the participation of the NAES of Ukraine as a toolkit of information and analytical support for the modernization of the educational sector is presented. The influential role of exhibitions on the formation of the image of an innovative educator and his development as a personality has been determined. The purpose of the publication is to present the current results of the final stage of planned scientific research on the topic «Bibliographic and analytical support of the activities of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine regarding the scientific and methodological support of modernization and reform of education». The authors update the process of studying the problem of educational exhibition activity as one of the effective tools of quality information and analytical support for the modernization and reform of the educational sector of Ukraine. They focus attention on the role of exhibition activity in the formation of the image of both an educator (researcher, innovator, etc.) and directly of an educational institution, a scientific institution. Also, a number of documents of the current legislation of Ukraine regarding the organization of exhibition activities, including in the educational sphere, are given. With the use of content analysis methods of scientific and practical, scientific, informational and reference, etc. sources, as well as event analysis of exhibition activity, systematization and generalization of the obtained research results. Accordingly, the authors present the practical results of analytical investigations regarding the latest publications. Certain aspects from the experience of researchers who focus their own considerations on the study of exhibition processes in their scientific works are also reviewed. In this way, the problem of educational exhibition activity in the context of informational and analytical support and its influence on the formation of the image of both educational institutions and scientific institutions, as well as each researcher, practitioner educator, and everyone who tries to present their own exhibits of practical activity and scientific research in the exhibition environment for positioning the acquired experience and knowledge.

Towards a Bad Bitches’ Pedagogy

In this paper, I present a personal narrative approach, grounded in Connelly and Clandinin’s ontological and epistemological stance that “humans are story-telling organisms”1 to discuss my construction of a uniquely working class Black feminist educator identity. This narrative inquiry is an adapted counter-methodological researcher approach that was born out of an interlinkage of my explorations into the histories of Black women educators, hip hop feminisms, and Higginbotham’s respectability politics,2 as it is understood in popular cultural terrain, and as the concept contrasts with and complements notions of (dis)respectability. I situate the paper within a critical hip hop feminist framework and access raunch aesthetics’ use of the sartorial and performative bad-assedness to understand how I have come to craft a transgressive teacher identity. By embracing a vernacular transgressive archetype of the bad bitch pedagogue, I analyze and complicate my own intersectional identity as a working-class Black woman who navigated an adversarial bourgeoisie traditionalist educational system as a teacher, unwed custodial parent, cultural worker and advocate for Black youth.

Revisiting English as a foreign language teachers' professional identity and commitment in social media-focused professional development.

These days, technology advancement has inspired a large number of educators to employ social media in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context. But, some EFL educators are yet unwilling to use such chances, because they are left untrained. Therefore, applying professional development (PD) in this field appears necessary as it is regarded as the main cause of improving educators’ education activity, and proposing new education approaches. To strengthen the academic investment in educators’ professional learning, comprehending elements affecting educators’ performance of learning from PD is vital. Lower commitment degrees were specified as an element that impedes EFL educators from employing social media in EFL education. Moreover, developing the professional identity (PI) of educators is an important issue that straightly pertains to educators’ performance, which assists educators both in comprehending their professional lives and presenting them with a framework to elucidate, expand and contemplate their professional activities. Stimulated by the interest in research on social media-focused courses, this review inspects how teachers’ commitment and identity affect EFL teachers’ implementation of social media in PD. In a nutshell, implications for stakeholders of the study are presented. Indeed, the social media as an impotent device should be incorporated in PD programs to develop both teachers’ commitment and identity. Faculty members should establish workshops, and seminars to arrange for a platform for teachers to use social media to support learning.

Feeling like ‘the ham of the sandwich’: The contested professional identities of school-based early childhood educators in Chile

Present-day early childhood educators face the challenge of producing their professional identities in highly neo-liberal contexts, negotiating contested discourses on professionalism, education quality and the overall purpose of early childhood education. While it has been suggested by critical scholarship that the early childhood workforce responds to these challenges by developing a unified professional identity, the author contends that particular contexts of practice (such as schools) and the schoolification of early childhood education may produce fragmentation within the workforce. This is crystallised in the figure of the school-based early childhood educator, whose professional practice lies somewhere between that of a kindergarten educator and a schoolteacher. As school-based early childhood education is not perceived as proper early childhood practice by kindergarten educators, school-based educators struggle to identify with this group of practitioners. Drawing on a psychoanalytically informed qualitative study with early childhood educators, the author discusses some of these tensions and proposes the notion of liminal identity (an intermediate space of becoming where identities – among other possibilities – may be examined and reimagined) as a starting point for the exploration of this emergent type of professional subjectivity in the context of an increasing provision of early childhood education in school settings. The author calls for a destabilisation of oversimplified understandings of the relation between educators and their contexts of practice, and the acknowledgement that educators experience and respond to the struggles of the profession in diverse and complex ways.

Changing Technologies or Changing Identities? The Effects of Online Teaching on Educator Identity in Vietnam During COVID-19

Changing Technologies or Changing Identities? The Effects of Online Teaching on Educator Identity in Vietnam During COVID-19

From classroom teacher to teacher educator: Critical insights and experiences of beginning teacher educators from Jamaica, England and United Arab Emirates

This exploratory study sought to investigate how beginning teacher educators (BTEs hereafter) constantly examine and reframe their identities when transitioning from being a classroom teacher to being a teacher educator of pre-service teachers. Through interviews of nine participants selected from Jamaica, England and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the paper presents a cross-cultural discourse. Beginning teacher educator identities were examined using Goffman’s Impression Management Framework (1968). Findings presented highlight the experiences and expectations that underpinned the beginning teacher educators’ period of transition from K-12 teaching to teaching pre-service teachers. Although educational research acknowledges that social perception processes are relevant in understanding and evaluating situations, impression management has not been used as a lens to understand beginning teacher educator experiences so far. This study attempts to open new perspectives in understanding how BTE identities are shaped and redefined in the higher education context and discusses implications for teacher education.

Exploring factors that impact physical science doctoral student role identities through a multiple case study approach

AbstractWe explore how physical science doctoral students navigate their role identities throughout their graduate programme. Physical science doctoral students take on many academic roles in addition to the role of scientist, including researcher, educator, and student. When social expectations of roles become internalized, they become role identities. We examined doctoral students' academic role identities as a complex system to unpack factors that constrain the behavior and define the nature of doctoral students' academic role identities. This multiple case study used open‐ended reflective questions and narrative‐style interviews with eight physical science doctoral students to explore how physical science doctoral students navigate their role identities throughout their graduate programme and the factors that may influence these identities. Responses to the reflective questions and narrative interview transcripts were qualitatively coded and salient themes are drawn through cross‐case analysis. Themes were compared across data sources to further validate the findings. Participants ascribed the most value to researcher and student identities and the least value to an educator identity. Time spent in a role, institutional recognition, advisor relationships, community in graduate school, and interest were factors that participants perceived to influence their role identities, along with the gender identity of women. Implications highlight the ways in which institutions may be able to support doctoral students in graduate school, including increased support for time management, equitable opportunities for authentic research experiences, equitable support in advisor relationships, and the importance of intentionally fostering community within science departments.

Professional Identity Formation of Medical Educators: A Thematic Analysis of Enabling Factors and Competencies Needed.

ContextProcess of identity formation in any profession is a unique journey and is influenced by many internal and external factors. The factors which enable the development of professional identity of medical educators have been sparsely studied.AimThe aim of this study was to identify the factors which influence the professional identity formation (PIF) of medical educators and the competencies needed to develop such identity, through their self-reflection.Materials and Methods:A descriptive exploratory study was designed and executed through self-administered Google Forms having open-ended questions. Themes were generated and concept map was designed.ResultsInternal zeal, mentoring, networking, self-directed learning, supportive workplace environment, and recognition at the workplace were some of the subthemes generated as influencing factors enabling PIF as a medical educator. Some of the competencies reported were subject knowledge, leadership skills, self-directed learning, and ability to carry out educational scholarship projects.ConclusionThe study elucidates various factors influencing PIF of medical educators, as reflected by medical educators themselves. Institutional policies can be framed accordingly to facilitate the process of PIF of medical educators.

English as a Foreign Language Teachers' Identity and Motivation: The Role of Mindfulness.

Teaching is a career with a high rate of anxiety and burnout in all phases of teaching with specific challenges related to the feature of language education. The concept of motivation can be an important basic mechanism since educators who are not motivated are distressed because of the anxious characteristic of the education profession. Moreover, educator identity is a new issue that has built a perspective to examine educators’ growth by thinking about who they are as well as how they perform what they perform in a specific situation. Recently, programs that are based on mindfulness are known as efficient interventions enhancing motivation and decreasing tension in people. Given the prominence of mindfulness in educational settings and its neglected role in foreign language learning, the contemporary review attempts to inspect the function of mindfulness on English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ motivation and identity. Subsequently, some pedagogical recommendations for the educational representatives such as teachers and teacher trainers are offered.

Shadows and Light: Professional Women Educators Transitioning to Academe

Many professional women educators make the transition from school settings to academe after significant graduate work in their field(s). This transition, which often occurs on a mid- to late-career trajectory, places such individuals within liminal spaces on many levels as they inevitably must navigate unfamiliar, often alien, territory that frequently does not recognize or respect the experiences with which they enter their new university contexts. The collaborative autoethnographic study we embarked upon involved examining our own experiences of making this transition. By revisiting an academic year’s worth of recorded conversations and analyzing them through an ecofeminist lens, we considered the lessons we had learned through engaging in a program renewal process and designing and co-teaching new courses in our first few years as faculty, as well as how these lessons impacted our emerging identities as new teacher educators. Our findings included three broad lessons learned: Beware of Institutionally Invisible Work; This is not High School, Dorothy; and Two Heads and Hearts are One. These lessons taught us to navigate the shadow places (Plumwood, 2008) of academe, including the delegitimization of teaching, nurturing and service work and the dematerialisation (Plumwood, 2008) associated with such delegitimization, and to embrace the light we found rooted in interconnectedness, an ethic of care, and our mutual recognition of the other. Moreover, these lessons offer others in the field ways of understanding the difficult transition to academe undertaken by professional women educators and the complexity of academic/teacher educator identity formation. Keywords: professional women educators, ecofeminist, institutionally invisible work, teacher educator identity, transition to academe, program renewal, collaborative autoethnography, borderland discourse, mutual recognition, shadow places, ethic of care

Participation in a Resident-as-Teacher Rotation: Motivations of and Impacts on Faculty Coaches.

Coaching in medical education is increasingly used for trainee development for a variety of skills, including improving trainee teaching skills through resident-as-teacher programs. Faculty who serve as coaches commit significant effort to the coaching role, often without protected time or support. Little is known about faculty motivations to participate in coaching programs or how the coaching experience affects the faculty. This study explored faculty coaches' motivations to participate as coaches in a resident-as-teacher rotation and the impacts they experienced as a result of their participation. In this qualitative study, authors conducted 14 semistructured interviews in 2019 with faculty coaches from a single resident-as-teacher program in Boston, Massachusetts. Authors analyzed the transcripts using thematic analysis to develop a conceptual framework. Faculty coaches' motivations for initial participation included a sense of honor; a sense of duty; perception of competence; interest in promoting medical education; and desire for increased connectedness. These motivations all related to a larger theme of educator identity. Coaches identified 3 main impacts from participation: improvement in their own teaching, personal satisfaction from helping others and seeing improvement in their learners, and increased connectedness. These impacts affirmed the coaches' educator identity and led to ongoing motivation to participate. They also contributed to the coaches' well-being at work. Faculty were initially motivated to participate as coaches in a resident-as-teacher rotation based on their identity as educators. The benefits achieved-improvement in own teaching, personal satisfaction, and increased connectedness-affirmed their educator identity and led to ongoing participation and increased well-being at work. These motivations and impacts are important to consider as future programs are developed and coaches are recruited for programs across undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education settings.

Understanding Identity Development as a Science Teacher Educator Through Shifts in Pedagogical Equilibrium

This article reports research investigating the identity development of a science teacher educator (STE) (Author 1) through the lens of pedagogical equilibrium. Despite previous experience as a secondary science teacher and STE, Jennifer found herself questioning her feelings of legitimacy and relevance when teaching pre-service primary science teachers. Identifying moments of disturbance in her pedagogical equilibrium, and working with a critical friend to analyze her ideas and experiences, she began to develop her professional self-understanding, contributing to improved feelings of credibility, and professional identity development. Emerging from this study, Jennifer experienced two important shifts in her perspective and understanding of her role. The first shift concerned recognizing the different sources that comprised her “authority of experience” as a STE, while the second shift involved learning to see pre-service teachers in her classes as future teachers, rather than students. These shifts in perspective were facilitated through applying self-study as the research methodology. The study provides insights into the identity formation processes of an early career teacher educator, as well as the value of pedagogical equilibrium and self-study for exploring teacher educator identity.

Daring Not to Lead: A Poetic self-study Examining the Tensions of Teacher Educator Identity

ABSTRACT This article simultaneously explores the dynamic nature of teacher educator identity and highlights the methodological potential of poetic inquiry in self-study. Using tensions as a conceptual framework to explore identity as a process of becoming, I draw from a series of found poems to examine my identity as a mid-career teacher educator working in a leadership position at an Australian university. In this article, I assert that poetic inquiry is a vehicle for representing the embodied, emotive aspects of ongoing identity development. I contend that poetic inquiry is a doorway to sharing experiences and understandings of identity in authentic, lived ways that speak back to metanarratives of academic work. Poetic self-study enables us to map the otherwise hidden tensions mediating our identity development and generate collective knowledge of what it can mean to be a teacher educator in higher education contexts.

Language teacher educator identity

Language teacher educator identity

When religion intersects equity and inclusion: Muslim educator affective responses in Ontario public schools

ABSTRACT Ontario education policy articulates an explicit commitment to equity and inclusion for increasingly diverse classrooms. Despite policy commitments, when equity and inclusion intersect with religion, enactments remain underwhelming. This paper draws on the voices of 30 Ontario public school educators, all of whom self-identify as Muslim, to share the ways they affect and have been affected in attempting to enact a responsive pedagogy for faith-centred learners. Through the use of dialogic portraits in two different school boards, the voices of Muslim educators express consistent sentiments of responsibility to advocate for basic religious accommodations while at the same time needing to tread carefully with anything to do with religion in order to not be marginalised by colleagues. Participants in this study reinforce the need for more robust conceptions of equity and inclusion that consider the complexities of the religious identities of learners and educators in public education.

The journey of a critical-oriented ELT curriculum and the identities of teacher educators: a collaborative and analytic autoethnography

ABSTRACT The field of second language teacher education has recently focused on issues of social justice through different interventions in language teaching preparation programmes and the analysis of the identity formation of pre-service and in-service language teachers. However, little is known about the identities of teacher educators in second language teacher education programmes. This article, adopting a social justice and critical perspective, retrospectively focuses on the 28-year journey of an English language teaching preparation BA Programme and the identity of three teacher educators (the co-authors of this article) who have been part of the programme. Zooming in on the views and identity negotiation of these three teacher educators through autoethnographic vignettes, this study analyzes the original design and the two consecutive renewals/reforms of the aforementioned BA programme at a public university located in Oaxaca, the most culturally and linguistically diverse state in Mexico (Author 1). Pursuant to the article’s autoethnographic methodology, by which the researcher or author explores her/his own personal experience as having relevance to the community at large, the purpose of this article is to explore the impact of ELT curricular reforms on the identity of the three teacher educators and the connection between identity and issues of social justice.

The social construction of nurse educator professional identities: Exploring the impact of a community of practice through participatory action research.

AimsThe aim of the study was to explore whether, and how, professional nurse educator identity is co‐constructed by a community of practice.DesignA critical participatory action research (PAR) methodology was used as it extends the principles of action research by seeking purposeful and sustainable social change that recognizes participants as researchers and generators of knowledge.MethodsTwenty‐two sector‐based nurse educators employed as either nurse educators or clinical nurse educators participated in the critical PAR. Multiple methods of data generation were pursued in a cyclic and sequential manner consistent in an action research process. Three distinct phases of the research across 2015–2017 involved the generation of data before, during and after the establishment of a nurse educator community of practice. A social constructionist lens of analysis was used to explore the social and relational outcomes. The COREQ checklist was used to appraise the study report.ResultsA sustained period of community of practice engagement enhanced the participants' relationships and shifted their perceived professional identities towards being validated nurse educators with a stronger collective sense of their roles.ConclusionFor this group of nurse educators, participation in the research resulted in collective meaning‐making, praxis, knowledge generation and the co‐construction of their professional identities.