Building Professional Identity during Pre-Service Teacher Education

  • Gemma Torres-Cladera Faculty of Education, Translation and Human Sciences, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Spain
  • Núria Simó-Gil Faculty of Education, Translation and Human Sciences, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Spain
  • Laura Domingo-Peñafiel Faculty of Education, Translation and Human Sciences, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Spain
  • Vanesa Amat-Castells Faculty of Education, Translation and Human Sciences, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Spain
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1070
Keywords: initial training, practicum, teacher identity, tutoring, university

Abstract

This article explores how university learning and the period of school placement can contribute to identity development understood as a dy-namic and evolving process. From this perspective, we understand the teacher’s professional identity as an ongoing process of interpretation and re-interpretation of experiences that are shaped in professional spaces of relationship with others, where each person makes different processes of identification, representations, and attributions, creating a spiral of continuous construction or reconstruction. It is thus a phe-nomenon of social interaction. Data collection involved eight students, their school tutors, and university teachers within the framework of 4th-year school placements. Data analysis was organised around three dimensions of the research project: the teacher him/herself, the bond between students and the educational community, and the relationship between the school and the university. The results highlighted the need to improve the practicum, especially at the university level. Both school and university tutors are crucial in promoting and guiding dialogi-cal processes of knowledge construction with oneself, others, and the world. However, the university has an added responsibility in this key relational process; university tutors must improve their role as media-tors between students and school tutors to contribute to the develop-ment of the teaching identity in a complex and dynamic way.

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Published
2021-09-28
How to Cite
Torres-Cladera, G., Simó-Gil, N., Domingo-Peñafiel , L., & Amat-Castells, V. (2021). Building Professional Identity during Pre-Service Teacher Education. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 11(3), 35–54. https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1070
Issue
Vol 11 No 3 (2021): The Contexts and Processes of Shaping Teacher Identity
Section
FOCUS

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