teacher identity

Hello, all. Just a few thoughts today on the development of teacher identity--I conducted a research study a few years back which focused on interviews with three pre-service (and then first year) English teachers. They, like you, struggled with negotiating their "personal" or "core" identities and subjectivities with this sense of "teacher." Often the participants in the study felt torn between who they felt they _really_ were (their hobbies, ways of speaking and acting, personal lives) and what the teaching profession and the so-called "teacher" identity demanded that they be. Even when this difference was not emphasized by their instructors or supervisors, the new teachers _felt_ it and hence felt a sense of insecurity, discomfort, and even confusion as they moved into their new professional role.

So what helped them make the transition successfully? The new teachers had to find a way to integrate their personal subjectivities with their newly-felt professional obligations. They couldn't completely banish their "old" selves; they had to find a way to bring their personal selves into their professional role in a productive way. For example, while you may not want to share every detail of your personal life with your students, you may want to share some details that intersect with class discussions, literature you are reading, etc. While you may not want to share everything you do on weekends, you want to allow your personal passions to inform your professional life when you can (e.g., bringing in pictures from your recent vacation to London when studying Shakespeare or describing your own experience in a first year writing class when teaching writing). The key is not to create two separate identities so that you feel fragmented as a person and like you are always playing some kind of fake role when you teach. There must be some kind of harmony among your various "selves." I know that's easier said than done, but I think it's important.

Janet