Ethical practice within a longitudinal exploration of teacher identity:SUPPORTING RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS THROUGHOUT THE COMPLEX TRANSITION FROM PRE-SERVICE TO EARLY CAREER TEACHER

Overview of the presentation

Personal motivation to explore teacher identity

Introduction to the methodological approach of the research

Discussion of teacher identity as a conceptual lens

Introduction to this study and the participants

A brief explanation of the processes of identity formation for these participants through their data

How ethical practice shaped the data collected and the sense that could be made of it

Experiences of early career teaching:My developing beliefs and perceptions of teaching

Educationally disadvantaged (Category 1) primary school

Significant areas of unpreparedness (curriculum, pedagogy, student behaviour management, student diversity and need, high accountability)

Disinterest in the complex experiences of temporary relief, short-term contract and early career permanent teaching staff

Confronting experiences challenged beliefs about teaching and about self

High turnover of these inexperienced staff (sometimes within days)

These realities appeared to be anticipated and accepted by more-experienced teaching colleagues, principals and school leaders

Were some of us ‘cut out’ for teaching and some others not?

Research focus:Aims and central question

What are the perceptions and subjective responses of South Australian early career teachers which lead to the construction of professional identities that facilitate early career traction or exit?

Explore how teacher identity formation occurs throughout the

early career phase

Explore how contemporary

contexts of teaching influence teacher identity formation Explore the

experiences of early career teachers that

contribute to identity formation

Qualitative traditions focusing attention:Critical Ethnography, Narrative Inquiry, Phenomenology, Grounded Research

1. recognizing the value of qualitative designs and methodologies, studies of human experiences that are not approachable through quantitative approaches

2.  focusing on the wholeness of experience rather than solely on its objects or parts

3. searching for meanings and essences of experience rather than measurements or explanations

4. obtaining descriptions of experience through first-person accounts in informal and formal conversations and interviews

5. regarding the data of experience as imperative in understanding human behaviour and as evidence for scientific investigations

6. formulating questions and problems that reflect the interest, involvement, and personal commitment of the researcher

7.  viewing experience and behaviour as an integrated and inseparable relationship of subject and object and of parts and whole. (Moustakas, 1994, p. 21)

Conceptualising teacher identity

Teacher identity has been difficult to conceptualise, with a variety of definitions and perspectives contributing to the discourse (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009; Beijaard, Meijer & Verloop, 2004).

Within the fields of anthropology, sociology and education, the concept of identity has been gaining acceptance and coherence. (Varghese, Morgan, Johnston & Johnson, 2005)

Sachs (2001)

Watson (2006)

Maclean & White (2007)

Sfard & Prusak (2005)

Akkerman & Meijer (2011)

Sachs (2005)

Research participants:Pathways to teaching

Participant 

Qualifications Career EntryTeaching

ExperienceYear Levels

TaughtCurriculum

Areas Taught

Adele B.Ed.(Secondary)

School leaver 1st Year Year 8 - 10 English / Italian / Integrated Studies

Alice B.A. / Grad.Dip.Ed. (JP/Primary)

Mature-aged 2nd Year Reception / Year 1

Primary (generalist)

Amelia B.A. / Grad.Dip.Ed.(Early Childhood)

School leaver 2nd Year Reception Junior Primary (generalist)

Amy B.Sc. (Hons) / Grad. Dip.Ed. (Secondary)

Mature-aged 1st Year Year 8 - 12 Information Technology / Science

Bailey B.Ed.(JP/Primary)

Mature-aged 1st Year Year 4 / 5 Primary (generalist)

Brock B.A. / B.Teach (Secondary) School leaver 1st Year Reception - Year 10

Malaysian

Christian B.A. / Grad.Dip.Ed. (Secondary)

School leaver 1st Year Year 8 - 11 English / History

Damien B.A / Grad.Dip.Ed. (Secondary)

School leaver 1st Year Year 8 - 11 Mathematics / Science

Emily B.Ed. (JP/Primary)

School leaver 1st Year Year 1 / 2 Junior Primary (generalist)

Kingsley B.Ed. (Middle / Sec.)

School leaver 1st Year Year 8 - 11 Physical Ed. / Science / Cultural Studies

Lilly B.Ed. (Middle / Sec.)

Mature-aged 2nd Year Reception Junior Primary (generalist)

Louise B.Ed. (Early childhood)

School leaver 2nd Year Reception / Year 1

Junior Primary (generalist)

Melanie B.A. / B.Ed. (Secondary) School leaver 1st Year Year 8 - 9 Italian / English

Sally B.Ed. (Hons)(JP/Primary)

Mature-aged 3rd Year Year 8 - 12 Hospitality / Cultural Studies

Research participants:Employment history and status

Ph

ase

1

Ph

ase

2

Ph

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3

Ph

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4

Teacher

Identity

Professional contexts

Common & unique

experiences

Professional & personal networks

Beliefs, concepts & perceptions

Teacher identity:Infl uential factors

Teacher identity:Characteristics Dynamic Multi-faceted Discontinuous Malleable

Ethical research practice: How and why it supported this exploration

Teacher identity formation was found to be dynamic, multi-faceted and discontinuous: Bailey’s data revealed contradictions, vulnerabilities, success, progress and failure

Participants often concealed significant areas of struggle as they wanted to position themselves for future success: Melanie reached breaking point before she sought help

Isolated incidents unsettled the participants: Christian and his throw-away line in the staff room

Relationships took time to establish and so reliable data took time to generate: Amy took until term 3 to contribute personally significant data

Vulnerabilities had to be approached delicately: Adele loved her role and her school but wanted to distance herself from problematic staff

Some of the participants’ experiences were confronting: Alice’s choice to leave teaching mid-year and mid-contract

Principals and school leaders needed to be negotiated with tact: Emily’s feelings of abandonment and isolation were attributed to school staff however these staff sometimes sought information about her

Observations sometimes contradicted interview data: Damien’s perceptions of his relationships with students

Data collection needed to be responsive to the needs of the participants: Amelia always scheduled interviews outside of school hours to eliminate the possibility of having to be observed.

The participants needed someone to confide in: All of the participants expressed how important it had been for them to share their experiences, perceptions, vulnerabilities and responses to teaching with someone who was not connected to their on-going employment opportunities

ReferencesA k k e r m a n , S . F . , & M e i j e r , P. C . ( 2 0 1 1 ) . A d i a l o g i c a l a p p r o a c h t o c o n c e p t u a l i z i n g t e a c h e r i d e n ti t y . Te a c h i n g a n d Te a c h e r E d u c a ti o n , 2 7 ( 2 ) , 3 0 8 - 3 1 9 .

B a n d u r a , A . ( 1 9 9 7 ) . S e l f - e ffi c a c y : T h e e x e r c i s e o f c o n t r o l . N e w Yo r k , N Y: W. H . F r e e m a n .

B e a u c h a m p , C . , & T h o m a s , L . ( 2 0 0 9 ) . U n d e r s t a n d i n g t e a c h e r i d e n ti t y : A n o v e r v i e w o f i s s u e s i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e a n d i m p l i c a ti o n s f o r t e a c h e r e d u c a ti o n . C a m b r i d g e J o u r n a l o f E d u c a ti o n , 3 9 ( 2 ) , 1 7 5 - 1 8 9 .

B e i j a a r d , D . , M e i j e r , P. C . , & V e r l o o p , N . ( 2 0 0 4 ) . R e c o n s i d e r i n g r e s e a r c h o n t e a c h e r s ' p r o f e s s i o n a l i d e n ti t y . Te a c h i n g a n d Te a c h e r E d u c a ti o n , 2 0 ( 2 ) , 1 0 7 - 1 2 8 .

D e p a r t m e n t o f E d u c a ti o n S c i e n c e a n d T r a i n i n g . ( 2 0 0 2 ) . A n e t h i c o f c a r e : E ff e c ti v e p r o g r a m m e s f o r b e g i n n i n g t e a c h e r s . C a n b e r r a , A C T : C o m m o n w e a l t h o f A u s t r a l i a .

G e e , J . P. ( 2 0 0 0 ) . I d e n ti t y a s a n A n a l y ti c L e n s f o r R e s e a r c h i n E d u c a ti o n . R e v i e w o f R e s e a r c h i n E d u c a ti o n , 2 5 ( 1 ) , 9 9 - 1 2 5 .

M a c l e a n , R . , & W h i t e , S . ( 2 0 0 7 ) . V i d e o r e fl e c ti o n a n d t h e f o r m a ti o n o f t e a c h e r i d e n ti t y i n a t e a m o f p r e - s e r v i c e a n d e x p e r i e n c e d t e a c h e r s . R e fl e c ti v e P r a c ti c e , 8 ( 1 ) , 4 7 - 6 0 .

M o u s t a k a s , C . ( 1 9 9 4 ) . P h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h m e t h o d s . T h o u s a n d O a k s , C A : S A G E P u b l i c a ti o n s .

R i c h a r d s , L . ( 2 0 0 9 ) . H a n d l i n g q u a l i t a ti v e d a t a : A p r a c ti c a l g u i d e ( 2 n d e d . ) . L o n d o n , U K : S A G E .

S a c h s , J . ( 2 0 0 1 ) . Te a c h e r p r o f e s s i o n a l i d e n ti t y : C o m p e ti n g d i s c o u r s e s , c o m p e ti n g o u t c o m e s . J o u r n a l o f E d u c a ti o n P o l i c y , 1 6 ( 2 ) , 1 4 9 - 1 6 1 .

S a c h s , J . ( 2 0 0 5 ) . Te a c h e r e d u c a ti o n a n d t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f p r o f e s s i o n a l i d e n ti t y : L e a r n i n g t o b e a t e a c h e r. I n P. D e n i c o l o & M . K o m p f ( E d s . ) , C o n n e c ti n g p o l i c y a n d p r a c ti c e : C h a l l e n g e s f o r t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g i n s c h o o l s a n d u n i v e r s i ti e s . O x f o r d , O X F : R o u t l e d g e .

S f a r d , A . , & P r u s a k , A . ( 2 0 0 5 ) . Te l l i n g i d e n ti ti e s : I n s e a r c h o f a n a n a l y ti c t o o l f o r i n v e s ti g a ti n g l e a r n i n g a s a c u l t u r a l l y s h a p e d a c ti v i t y . E d u c a ti o n a l R e s e a r c h e r , 3 4 ( 4 ) , 1 4 - 2 2 .

V a r g h e s e , M . , M o r g a n , B . , J o h n s t o n , B . , & J o h n s o n , K . A . ( 2 0 0 5 ) . T h e o r i z i n g l a n g u a g e t e a c h e r i d e n ti t y : T h r e e p e r s p e c ti v e s a n d b e y o n d . J o u r n a l o f L a n g u a g e , I d e n ti t y & E d u c a ti o n , 4 ( 1 ) , 2 1 - 4 4 .

W a t s o n , C . ( 2 0 0 6 ) . N a r r a ti v e s o f p r a c ti c e a n d t h e c o n s t r u c ti o n o f i d e n ti t y i n t e a c h i n g . Te a c h e r s a n d Te a c h i n g : T h e o r y a n d P r a c ti c e , 1 2 ( 5 ) , 5 0 9 - 5 2 6 .

Professional identity thus is a set of attributes that are imposed upon the teaching profession either by outsiders or members of the teaching fraternity itself. It provides a shared set of attributes, values and so on that enable the differentiation of one group from another.

(Sachs, 2001, p. 153)

Professional Identity:A sorting device

Teacher

Identity

The importance of the concept of professional identity lies in the assumption that who we think we are influences what we do, i.e. there is a link between professional identity and professional action (in a sense, professional action is doing professional identity.

(Watson, 2006, p. 510)

Professional Identity:A guiding set of beliefs

Teacher

Identity

people’s legitimate participation in a profession; their occupation of a professional ‘role’ and ability to control the practices, language, tools and resources associated with that role; the ideals, values and beliefs that lead them to commit to a profession; the unique way in which they personify their professional role as a result of the experiences that have influenced them through their career; and the representation of themselves as a professional that they project both to themselves and to others

(Maclean & White, 2007, pp. 47-48)

Professional Identity:A reflection of roles, actions & behaviour

Teacher

Identity

Metaphorically speaking, identifying is an attempt to overcome the fluidity of change by collapsing a video clip into a snapshot.

Based of this assumption, identity talk makes us able to cope with new situations in terms of our past experience and gives us tools to plan for the future.

(Sfard & Prusak, 2005, p. 16)

Professional Identity:An attempt to understand ourselves

Teacher

Identity

‘being someone who teaches’, or ‘teacher identity’, cannot be seen as an end point, but instead should be defined as an ongoing process of negotiating and interrelating multiple I-positions in such a way that a more or less coherent and consistent sense of self is maintained throughout various participations and self-investments in one’s [working] life.

(Akkerman & Meijer, 2011, pp. 317-318)

Professional Identity:A process

Teacher

Identity

[Teacher identity] provides a framework for teachers to construct their own ideas of ‘how to be’, ‘how to act’ and ‘how to understand’ their work and their place in society. Importantly, teacher identity is not something that is fixed nor is it imposed; rather it is negotiated through experience and the sense that is made of that experience.

(Sachs, 2005, p. 15)

Professional Identity:A framework

Teacher

Identity